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59-473: During the first Olympic event in 1896 , number one achievers or winners' medals were in fact made of silver metal. The custom of gold -silver- bronze for the first three places dates from the 1904 games and has been copied for many other sporting events. Minting the medals is the responsibility of the host city. From 1928 to 1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving

118-525: A silver medal . More generally, bronze is traditionally the most common metal used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals in the Olympic Games began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis , Missouri, before which only first and second places were awarded. Minting Olympic medals is the responsibility of the host city. From 1928 – 1968

177-464: A special event open only to Greek sailors , all of which were held on the same day (11 April). Bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games , Commonwealth Games , etc. The outright winner receives a gold medal and the second place

236-408: A Silver Medal "for an outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to UK engineering, which results in successful market exploitation, by an engineer with less than 22 years in full-time employment or equivalent." 1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( Greek : Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896 , romanized :  Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896 ), officially known as

295-451: A boatrace had to be given up. The German rower, Berthold Küttner, wrote several articles about the 1896 Games that were published in his Berlin rowing club's magazine in 1936 and reprinted in the Journal of Olympic History in 2012. He stated that he and Adolf Jäger had lined up for the start of the double sculls event. He further wrote that "The double scull would be the first to start because

354-610: A great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathenaic Stadium overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures, including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However,

413-421: A separate event. These professionals were considered gentlemen athletes, just like the amateurs. Four events were scheduled, but the épée event was cancelled for unknown reasons. The foil event was won by a Frenchman, Eugène-Henri Gravelotte , who beat his countryman, Henri Callot , in the final. The other two events, the sabre and the masters foil , were won by Greek fencers. Leonidas Pyrgos , who won

472-399: A special purpose swimming venue. Four of the 1896 venues were reused as competition venues for the 2004 Games. The velodrome would be renovated into a football stadium in 1964 and was known as Karaiskakis Stadium . This venue was renovated in 2003 for use as a football venue for the 2004 Games. During the 2004 Games, Panathinaiko Stadium served as host for archery competitions and

531-640: A variety of musical offerings provided the backgrounds to the Opening Ceremonies until 1960 , since which time the Samaras/Palamas composition has become the official Olympic Anthem (decision taken by the IOC Session in 1958). Other elements of current Olympic opening ceremonies were initiated later: the Olympic flame was first lit in 1928 , the first athletes' oath was sworn at the 1920 Summer Olympics , and

590-639: The 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris, and, with the exception of the Intercalated Games of 1906 , the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics , 108 years later. During the 19th century, several small-scale sports festivals across Europe were named after the Ancient Olympic Games . The 1870 Olympics at the Panathenaic stadium, which had been refurbished for

649-645: The Games of the I Olympiad ( Greek : Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας , romanized :  Agónes tis 1is Olympiádas ) and commonly known as Athens 1896 ( Greek : Αθήνα 1896 ), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history . Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had been created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin , the event was held in Athens , Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. Fourteen nations (according to

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708-717: The Neo Phaliron Velodrome for cycling and the Zappeion for fencing . The opening ceremony was held in the Panathenaic Stadium on 6 April, during which most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organising committee, Crown Prince Constantine , his father officially opened the Games. Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn , composed by Spyridon Samaras and written by Kostis Palamas . The 1896 Olympics were regarded as

767-402: The horizontal bar event , Alfred Flatow won the parallel bars , and Carl Schuhmann , who also won the wrestling event, won the vault . Louis Zutter , a Swiss gymnast, won the pommel horse , while Greeks Ioannis Mitropoulos and Nikolaos Andriakopoulos were victorious in the rings and rope climbing events, respectively. A regatta of sailing boats was on the program of the Games of

826-549: The individual road race events. Swimming was held in the Bay of Zea , fencing at the Zappeion , sport shooting at Kallithea , and tennis at the Athens Lawn Tennis Club . Tennis was a sport unfamiliar to Greeks at the time of the 1896 Games. The Bay of Zea is a seaport and marina in the Athens area; it was used as the swimming venue because the organizers of the Games wanted to avoid spending money on constructing

885-459: The 100 meters sprint, performed by facial recognition experts of the Chilean forensic police , concluded that Subercaseaux was one of the participants. The day after the official marathon, Stamata Revithi ran the 40-kilometer course in 5 hours 30 minutes, finishing outside Panathinaiko Stadium . However, some of the authors, who believe that "Melpomene" and Revithi are the same person, attribute to

944-514: The 12-hour race, which was completed by only two cyclists, while the road race event was won by Aristidis Konstantinidis . The fencing events were held in the Zappeion , which, built with money Evangelis Zappas had given to revive the ancient Olympic Games, had never seen any athletic contests before. Unlike other sports (in which only amateurs were allowed to take part at the Olympics), professionals were authorised to compete in fencing, though in

1003-462: The 14 participating nations earned medals. On April 6, 1896, American James Connolly became the first Olympic medalist in more than 1,500 years, competing in the triple jump . The United States won the most gold medals, 11, while host nation Greece won the most medals overall, 47. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis . The most successful competitor

1062-533: The Court Loge, where many of the attendees could not hide a laugh about my clothing, Prince George, President of the Committee, praised me for our appearance at the racing track and presented me with the winners medal in bronze. At the same time he also gave me one for Bundesbruder Jäger. The commemorative medal, which each of the participants received, had already been presented to us earlier." He went on to state that

1121-652: The English county of Shropshire . It was here that, in October 1850, the local physician William Penny Brookes founded the Wenlock Olympian Games , a festival of sports and recreations that included athletics and team sports, such as cricket , football and quoits . Coubertin also took inspiration from the earlier Greek games organised under the name of Olympics by businessman and philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859, 1870 and 1875. The 1896 Athens Games were funded by

1180-492: The First Olympiad for 31 March 1896 (Julian calendar). However this event had to be given up. The official English report states: The Regatta could not take place because some special boats embarkation had not been provided for. The German version states: The sailing competitions were cancelled because neither had we provided the special boats for it, nor had foreign applicants registered. Rowing races were scheduled for

1239-404: The Games be held concurrently with the 1900 Universal Exposition of Paris. Concerned that a six-year waiting period might lessen public interest, congress members opted instead to hold the inaugural Games in 1896. With a date established, members of the congress turned their attention to the selection of a host city. It remains a mystery how Athens was finally chosen to host the inaugural Games. In

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1298-574: The Games will be inaugurated in Athens." Coubertin went on to confirm that, "the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these games." Constantine later conferred more than that; he eagerly assumed the presidency of the 1896 organising committee. However, the country had financial troubles and was in political turmoil. The job of prime minister alternated between Charilaos Trikoupis and Theodoros Deligiannis frequently during

1357-519: The Games would be three times higher than originally estimated by Coubertin. They concluded the Games could not be held and offered their resignation. The total cost of the Games was 3,740,000 gold drachmas . With the prospect of reviving the Olympic games very much in doubt, Coubertin and Vikelas commenced a campaign to keep the Olympic movement alive. Their efforts culminated on 7 January 1895 when Vikelas announced that crown prince Constantine would assume

1416-616: The IOC, though the number is subject to interpretation) and 241 athletes (all males; this number is also disputed) took part in the games. Participants were all European or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team , and over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal , while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has converted these to gold and silver, respectively, and awarded bronze medals to third-placed athletes. Ten of

1475-587: The Silver Medal is an award presented to the lowest scoring amateur player at the tournament. In many sports with an elimination tournament, including those with a third place playoff (such as Olympic ice hockey, Olympic soccer, FIFA World Cup ), silver is the only medal given to a team that loses its final game, whereas gold and bronze are earned by teams winning their final matches. Notable athletes such as Jocelyne Larocque (2018 Olympics) removed their runners-up/silver medals right after receiving them; Larocque

1534-459: The athletes would take part in the Games because they happened to be in Athens at the time the Games were held, either on holiday or for work (e.g., some of the British competitors worked for the British embassy ). A designated Olympic Village for the athletes did not appear until the 1932 Summer Olympics . Consequently, the athletes had to provide their own lodging. The first regulation voted on by

1593-654: The competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organising committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the Games with the words (in Greek ): "I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens. Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people." Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn , composed by Spyridon Samaras , with words by poet Kostis Palamas . Thereafter,

1652-535: The curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events virtually impossible. Despite this, Thomas Burke , of the United States, won the 100-meter race in 12.0 seconds and the 400-meter race in 54.2 seconds. Burke was the only one who used the " crouch start " (putting his knee on soil), confusing the jury. Eventually, he was allowed to start from this "uncomfortable position". Chile claims one athlete, Luis Subercaseaux , who competed for

1711-416: The decisions of the ephors". Women were not entitled to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics, because de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and incorrect". Seven venues were used for the 1896 Summer Olympics. Panathenaic Stadium was the main venue, hosting four of the nine sports contested. The town of Marathon served as host to the marathon event and

1770-415: The design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From 1972 – 2000 , Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what

1829-416: The effects of counterfactual thinking on the Olympics. The study showed that athletes who won the bronze medal were significantly happier with their winning than those athletes who won the silver medal . The silver medalists were more frustrated because they had missed the gold medal , while the bronze medalists were simply happy to have received any honors at all (instead of no medal for fourth place). This

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1888-461: The first officials' oath was taken at the 1972 Olympic Games . At the 1894 Sorbonne Congress, a large roster of sports was suggested for the program in Athens. The first official announcements regarding the sporting events to be held featured sports such as football and cricket, but these plans were not finalised, and these sports did not make the final program for the Games. Rowing and sailing events were also scheduled but were cancelled on

1947-410: The first relative of an Olympic champion to become Olympic champion himself. The Paine brothers did not compete in the 25-meter pistol event , as the event judges determined that their weapons were not of the required calibre. In their absence, Ioannis Phrangoudis won. The final event, the free rifle , began on the same day. However, the event could not be completed due to darkness and was finalised

2006-445: The following years, both Coubertin and Demetrius Vikelas would offer recollections of the selection process that contradicted the official minutes of the congress. Most accounts hold that several congressmen first proposed London as the location, but Coubertin dissented. After a brief discussion with Vikelas, who represented Greece, Coubertin suggested Athens. Vikelas made the Athens proposal official on 23 June, and since Greece had been

2065-539: The host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From 1972 – 2000 , Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was originally a Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens Games. Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. In The Open Championship golf tournament,

2124-476: The last years of the 19th century. Because of this financial and political instability, both prime minister Trikoupis and Stephanos Dragoumis , the president of the Zappas Olympic Committee, which had attempted to organise a series of national Olympiads, believed that Greece could not host the event. In late 1894, the organising committee under Stephanos Skouloudis presented a report that the cost of

2183-518: The latter event, became the first Greek Olympic champion in the modern era. The gymnastics competition was carried out on the infield of the Panathinaiko Stadium. Germany sent an 11-man team, which won five of the eight events, including both team events: in the team event on the horizontal bar , the German team was the only entry. Three Germans added individual titles: Hermann Weingärtner won

2242-518: The latter the more favorable time of 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  hours. She was denied entry into the official race as the 1896 Olympics excluded women from competition . The rules of the International Cycling Association were used for the cycling competitions. The track cycling events were held at the newly built Neo Phaliron Velodrome . Only one road event was held, a race from Athens to Marathon and back (87 kilometres). In

2301-627: The legacies of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas and by George Averoff who had been specifically requested by the Greek government, through crown prince Constantine , to sponsor the second refurbishment of the Panathenaic Stadium . The Greek government did this despite the cost of refurbishing the stadium in marble already being funded in full by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier. With deep feeling towards Baron de Coubertin's courteous petition, I send him and

2360-501: The members of the Congress, with my sincere thanks, my best wishes for the revival of the Olympic Games. On 18 June 1894, Coubertin organised a congress at the Sorbonne , Paris, to present his plans to representatives of sports societies from 11 countries. Following his proposal's acceptance by the congress, a date for the first modern Olympic Games needed to be chosen. Coubertin suggested that

2419-425: The nation at the 1896 Summer Olympics. This makes Chile one of the 14 nations to appear at the inaugural Summer Olympic Games. Subercaseaux's results are not listed in the official report, though that report typically includes only winners and Subercaseaux won no medals. Some sources claim that he was entered to compete in the 100m, 400m and 800m events but did not start. An appraisal of a famous photo of series 2 of

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2478-632: The new IOC in 1894 was to allow only amateur athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. The various contests were thus held under amateur regulations with the exception of fencing matches. The rules and regulations were not uniform, so the Organising Committee had to choose among the codes of the various national athletic associations. The jury, the referees and the game director bore the same names as in antiquity ( Ephor , Helanodic and Alitarc ). Prince George acted as final referee; according to Coubertin, "his presence gave weight and authority to

2537-417: The next day, 1 April 1896 (Julian); however, poor weather forced their cancellation. The official English report states: The regatta was therefore postponed to three o'clock in the afternoon. In the afternoon however the storm was still on the increase, some of the lighter embarkations were thrown on the shore by the violence of the waves, and the elements continued to rage with such fury that every idea of

2596-584: The next morning, when Georgios Orphanidis was crowned the champion. The swimming competition was held in the open sea because the organizers had refused to spend the money necessary for a specially constructed stadium. Nearly 20,000 spectators lined the Bay of Zea off the Piraeus coast to watch the events. The water in the bay was cold, and the competitors suffered during their races. There were three open events ( men's 100-metre freestyle , men's 500-metre freestyle , and men's 1200 metre freestyle ), in addition to

2655-474: The occasion, had an audience of 30,000 people. Pierre de Coubertin , a French pedagogue and historian, adopted William Penny Brookes ' idea to establish a multi-national and multi-sport event —the ancient games only allowed male athletes of Greek origin to participate. In 1890, Coubertin wrote an article in La Revue Athlétique , which espoused the importance of Much Wenlock , a rural market town in

2714-429: The only competitor to hit the target with all of his shots. The second event, for military pistols , was dominated by two American brothers: John and Sumner Paine . They became the first siblings to finish first and second in the same event. To avoid embarrassing their hosts, the brothers decided that only one of them would compete in the next pistol event, the free pistol . Sumner Paine won that event, thereby becoming

2773-468: The original home of the Olympics, the congress unanimously approved the decision. Vikelas was then elected the first president of the newly established International Olympic Committee (IOC). News that the Olympic Games would return to Greece was well received by the Greek public, media, and royal family . According to Coubertin, "the Crown Prince Constantine learned with great pleasure that

2832-463: The planned days of competition: sailing due to a lack of special boats in Greece and no foreign entries, and rowing due to poor weather. As a result, the 1896 Summer Olympics programme featured 9 sports encompassing 10 disciplines and 43 events. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses. The athletics events had the most international field of any of the sports. The major highlight

2891-400: The presidency of the organising committee. His first responsibility was to raise the funds necessary to host the Games. He relied on the patriotism of the Greek people to motivate them to provide the required finances. Constantine's enthusiasm sparked a wave of contributions from the Greek public. This grassroots effort raised 330,000 drachmas. A special set of postage stamps was commissioned;

2950-417: The sale of which raised 400,000 drachmas. Ticket sales added 200,000 drachmas. At the request of Constantine, businessman George Averoff agreed to pay for the restoration of the Panathenaic Stadium. Averoff would donate 920,000 drachmas to this project. As a tribute to his generosity, a statue of Averoff was constructed and unveiled on 5 April 1896 outside the stadium. It stands there to this day. Some of

3009-410: The single sculls and race for naval boats were postponed until the following day, then ultimately cancelled when the weather worsened. The International Olympic Committee does not recognize any of this. Held at a range at Kallithea , the shooting competition consisted of five events—two using a rifle and three with the pistol . The first event, the military rifle , was won by Pantelis Karasevdas ,

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3068-407: The track events, the best cyclist was Frenchman Paul Masson , who won the one lap time trial , the sprint event, and the 10,000 meters. In the 100 kilometres event, Masson entered as a pacemaker for his compatriot Léon Flameng . Flameng won the event, after a fall, and after stopping to wait for his Greek opponent Georgios Kolettis to fix a mechanical problem. The Austrian fencer Adolf Schmal won

3127-415: The wind had become much stronger. On a fishing boat we took our double scull to the starting line. We already had problems getting into the double scull because of the swells. From our opponents no one had appeared – although both Greeks and Italians had applied. Because a longer wait for them seemed pointless, the starter told us to sail without competition. "After the official salutation and presentation in

3186-490: The winners, with copper medals given to the runners-up, and no prizes were given to those who came in 3rd place in any events. On Easter Monday 6 April (25 March according to the Julian calendar used in Greece until 1923), the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened. The Panathenaic Stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators, including King George I of Greece , his wife Olga , and their sons. Most of

3245-480: Was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann , who won four events. Athens had been unanimously chosen to stage the inaugural modern Games during a congress organised by Coubertin in Paris on 23 June 1894 (during which the IOC was also created) because Greece was the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games . The main venue was the Panathenaic Stadium , where athletics and wrestling took place; other venues included

3304-644: Was later ordered by the International Ice Hockey Federation official to put her silver medal back on. Some countries present military and civilian decorations known as Silver Medals. These include: The Zoological Society of London awards a Silver Medal "to a Fellow of the Society or any other person for contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology, including such activities as public education in natural history, and wildlife conservation." The Royal Academy of Engineering awards

3363-488: Was originally a Greek game, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens 2004 Games. Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. In a few tournament sports, such as boxing , judo , taekwondo and wrestling , two bronze medals are awarded in each event – one for each eliminated semi-finalist or for the winners of the repechage brackets. In 1995, a study was carried out by social psychologists Victoria Medvec, Scott Madey and Thomas Gilovich on

3422-549: Was the marathon , held for the first time in international competition. Spyridon Louis , a previously unrecognised water carrier, won the event to become the only Greek athletics champion and a national hero. Although Greece had been favoured to win the discus and the shot put , the best Greek athletes finished just behind the American Robert Garrett in both events. No world records were set, as few top international competitors had elected to compete. In addition,

3481-481: Was the finish line for the athletic marathon event. The city of Marathon itself served as the starting point for both marathon events during the 2004 Games. The Zappeion served as the first home of the organizing committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Games from 1998 to 1999, and served as the main communications center during those Games. ‡ The iconic Olympic rings symbol was not designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin until 1912. Note: Silver medals were awarded to

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