Greece at the 1896 Summer Olympics

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Greece at the Olympic Games

Flag of Greece
IOC code:   GRE
1896 Summer Olympics in Athens
Competitors 169 in 9 sports
Medals Gold
10		 Silver
17		 Bronze
19		 Total
46
Summer Olympic Games appearances
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004
Winter Olympic Games appearances
1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1994 • 1998 • 2002 • 2006

Greece was the host nation of the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The number of Greek contestants is commonly cited as 169, but as many as 176 Greeks[1] contested events in all nine sports. The Greeks were by far the most successful nation in terms of total medals with 46, 26 more than the United States. However, their number of first-place finishes (10) was one fewer than the Americans' 11. The Greeks had 172 entries in 39 events. Only 4 events had no Greek entrants—the 400 metres and the high jump in athletics and the vault and the team horizontal bar in gymnastics.

Contents

[edit] Medals

[edit] Gold

[edit] Silver

[edit] Bronze

[edit] Results by event

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

The Greeks entered every event on the athletics program save the 400 metres and the high jump. They took 1 gold, 3 silver, and 6 bronze medals in the sport. It was initially thought that the Greek team had swept the top three places of the marathon event, until it was discovered that Spiridon Belokas had covered part of the distance by cart and was disqualified.

Event Place Athlete Heat Final
100 metres 5th Alexandros Khalkokondilis 12.75 seconds 12.6 seconds
– Georgios Gennimatas Unknown Did not advance
800 metres 3rd Dimitrios Golemis 2:16.8 2:28.0
– Angelos Fetsis Unknown Did not advance
Dimitrios Tomprof Unknown
1500 metres 5th Angelos Fetsis No heats Unknown
6th Dimitrios Golemis Unknown
– Konstantinos Karakatsanis Unknown
Dimitrios Tomprof Unknown
110 metre hurdles – Athanasios Skaltsogiannis Unknown Did not advance
Anastasios Andreou Unknown
Marathon 1st Spiridon Louis No heats 2:58.50
2nd Kharilaos Vasilakos 3:06:03
4th Ioannis Vrettos Unknown
5th Eleitherios Papasimeon Unknown
6th Dimitrios Deligiannis Unknown
7th Evangelos Gerakeris Unknown
8th Stamatios Masouris Unknown
– Ioannis Lavrentis Did not finish
Georgios Grigoriou Did not finish
Ilias Kafetzis Did not finish
Dimitrios Khristopoulos Did not finish
Spiridon Belokas Disqualified
Event Place Athlete Best mark
Long jump 4th Alexandros Khalkokondilis 5.74 metres
– Athanasios Skaltsogiannis Unknown
Triple jump 3rd Ioannis Persakis 12.52 metres
– Khristos Zoumis Unknown
Pole vault 3rd Evangelos Damaskos 2.60 metres
Ioannis Theodoropoulos 2.60 metres
5th Vasilios Xydas 2.40 metres
Shot put 2nd Miltiades Gouskos 11.03 metres
3rd Georgios Papasideris 10.36 metres
Discus throw 2nd Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos 28.95 metres
3rd Sotirios Versis 27.78 metres
– Georgios Papasideris Unknown

[edit] Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Greece had entries in all six cycling events, winning one and taking second place in three more.

Event Place Cyclist Time/Distance
333 metres 2nd Stamatios Nikolopoulos 26.0 seconds
2 kilometres 2nd Stamatios Nikolopoulos 5:00.2
10 kilometres 5th Aristidis Konstantinidis Unknown
– Georgios Kolettis Did not finish
100 kilometres 2nd Georgios Kolettis Unknown
– Aristidis Konstantinidis Did not finish
12 hour race – Georgios Paraskevopoulos Did not finish
Loverdos Did not finish
A. Tryfiatis-Tripiaris Did not finish
Konstantinos Konstantinou Did not finish
Road race 1st Aristidis Konstantinidis 3:22:31
– Georgios Aspiotis Unknown
Miltiades Iatrou Unknown
Konstantinos Konstantinou Unknown
Georgios Paraskevopoulos Unknown

[edit] Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Greek fencers won the top two places in the sabre competition, third place in the amateur foil competition, and in a major upset, Pyrgos defeated Jean Maurice Perronet in the sole match of the masters foil event.

Event Place Fencer Record Touches Round-robin Final
Wins Losses For Against
Foil 3rd Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis 2 1 7 4 2nd
Group A		 Did not advance
4th Athanasios Vouros 2 1 8 4 2nd
Group B		 Did not advance
5th Konstantinos Komninos-Miliotis 1 2 5 7 3rd
Group B		 Did not advance
7th Georgios Balakakis 0 3 3 9 4th
Group B		 Did not advance
Ioannis Poulos 0 3 4 9 4th
Group A		 Did not advance
Masters foil 1st Leonidas Pyrgos 1 0 3 1 None held Won
3-1
Sabre 1st Ioannis Georgiadis 4 0 12 6 1st None held
2nd Telemachos Karakalos 3 1 11 5 2nd None held
5th Georgios Iatridis 0 4 3 12 5th None held
Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent
Austria 2 1 .667
Denmark 2 1 .667
France 2 6 .250
Total international 6 8 .429
Greece 7 7 .500
Total 13 15 .464

[edit] Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

The names of the members of the two teams that competed in the team events are, for the most part, unknown. The vault and the team horizontal bar were two of the four events (the other two in the athletics program) that had no Greek entrants. The Greeks took two of each color medal, with two medals in each of the rope climbing (gold and silver), rings (gold and bronze), and team parallel bars (silver and bronze) competitions.

Event Place Gymnast
Parallel bars – Filippos Karvelas
Ioannis Mitropoulos
Antonios Papaigannou
Horizontal bar – Antonios Papaigannou
Leonidas Tsiklitiras
Pommel horse – Aristovoulos Petmezas
Rings 1st Ioannis Mitropoulos
3rd Petros Persakis
Event Place Gymnast Height
Rope climbing 1st Nikolaos Andriakopoulos 14.0 metres
2nd Thomas Xenakis 14.0 metres
Event Place Team
Team parallel bars 2nd Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos
3rd Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos

[edit] Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Greek shooters dominated the two rifle events and the rapid fire pistol competition, but were largely unable to compete with the Paine brothers of the United States in the pistol events that the two brothers entered.

Event Place Shooter Score Hits
Military rifle 1st Pantelis Karasevdas 2350 40
2nd Pavlos Pavlidis 1978 38
3rd Nicolaos Trikupis 1713 34
4th Anastasios Metaxas 1701 Unknown
5th Georgios Orphanidis 1698 Unknown
7th Georgios Diamantis 1456 Unknown
9th Ioannis Theofilakis 1261 Unknown
11th Alexios Fetsios 894 Unknown
12th Spiridon Stais 845 Unknown
– Aristovoulos Petmezas Unknown
G. Karagiannopoulos Unknown
22 others, names unknown Unknown
Free rifle 1st Georgios Orphanidis 1583 37
2nd Ioannis Phrangoudis 1312 31
4th Anastasios Metaxas 1102 Unknown
5th Pantelis Karasevdas 1039 Unknown
– Antelothanasis Unknown
Georgios Diamantis Unknown
Alexios Fetsios Unknown
Karakatsanis Unknown
Khatzidakis Unknown
Nikolaos Levidis Unknown
Zenon Mikhailidis Unknown
Moustakopoulos Unknown
Pavlos Pavlidis Unknown
Alexandros Theofilakis Unknown
Ioannis Theofilakis Unknown
Nikolaos Trikupis Unknown
– Leonidas Langakis Did not finish
Ioannis Vourakis Did not finish
Military pistol 3rd Nikolaos Morakis 205 Unknown
4th Ioannis Phrangoudis Unknown
– Zenon Mikhailidis Unknown
Georgios Orphanidis Unknown
Pantazidis Unknown
Patsouris Unknown
Pavlos Pavlidis Unknown
Aristovoulos Petmezas Unknown
Platis Unknown
Vavis Unknown
– Pantelis Karasevdas Did not finish
Sanidis Did not finish
Rapid fire pistol 1st Ioannis Phrangoudis 344 23
2nd Georgios Orphanidis 249 20
Free pistol 3rd Ioannis Phrangoudis Unknown
4th Leonidas Morakis Unknown
5th Georgios Orphanidis Unknown

[edit] Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Some of the Greek swimmers' names were not recorded. Greece's only swimming gold medal came in an event in which only Greek swimmers were allowed to compete, as did a silver and a bronze. In the three open events, the Greeks took two silvers and two bronzes, all in the two longer races.

Event Place Swimmer Time
100 metre freestyle – Georgios Anninos Unknown
Efstathios Chorophas Unknown
Alexandros Khrisafos Unknown
Four others, names unknown Unknown
500 metre freestyle 2nd Antonios Pepanos 9:57.6
3rd Efstathios Chorophas Unknown
1200 metre freestyle 2nd Joannis Andreou 21:03.4
3rd Efstathios Chorophas Unknown
– N. Kartavas Unknown
Three others, names unknown Unknown
100 metres, sailors 1st Ioannis Malokinis 2:20.4
2nd Spiridon Chasapis Unknown
3rd Dimitrios Drivas Unknown

[edit] Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Greece earned a silver medal and a bronze medal in the singles tournament. Kasdaglis and Petrokokkinos competed as a mixed team, winning another silver which is not counted in the Greek total.

Event Place Player(s) Round 1 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Singles 2nd Dionysios Kasdaglis Won Won Won Lost
3rd Konstantinos Paspatis Won Won Lost Did not advance
5th Aristidis Akratopoulos Won Lost Did not advance
Konstantinos Akratopoulos Won
Walkover		 Lost
Evangelos Rallis Won Lost
8th D. Frangopoulos Lost Did not advance
Demetrios Petrokokkinos Lost
Doubles 2nd Dionysios Kasdaglis
Demetrios Petrokokkinos		 None held Won Won Lost
4th Aristidis Akratopoulos
Konstantinos Akratopoulos		 Lost Did not advance
Konstantinos Paspatis
Evangelos Rallis		 Lost
Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent
Australia Australia 1 0 1.000
France France 1 0 1.000
Hungary Hungary 1 1 .500
Great Britain Great Britain 1 3 .250
Mixed team Mixed team 1 3 .250
Total international 5 7 .417
Greece 4 3 .571
Total 9 10 .474

[edit] Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics

In the one handed event, weightlifters had to lift with each hand successively. Nikolopoulos was able to list 57 kilograms with one hand, but only 40 kilograms with the other. He was judged to have come in third place in the event between the silver medallist Viggo Jensen who had lifted 57 with each hand and 4th place finisher Versis who had lifted 40 with each, but had not been able to lift 57 with either.

Lifting form was used to break ties in the two handed competition.

Event Place Weightlifter Best lift
One handed 3rd Alexandros Nikolopoulos 57.0 kilograms
40.0 kilograms
4th Sotirios Versis 40.0 kilograms
Two handed 3rd Sotirios Versis 90.0 kilograms
4th Georgios Papasideris 90.0 kilograms

[edit] Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Christopoulos won a battle of endurance against Momcsilló Tapavicza in the quarterfinals of the wrestling tournament. He then had to face Tsitas, who had received a bye in that round. Tsitas won, giving Christopoulos the bronze medal and a shoulder injury. Tsitas then faced Carl Schuhmann in the final. Schuhmann, having had a bye in the semifinals, took two days to defeat Tsitas, the match having to be postponed on account of darkness at the end of 40 minutes in the first day.

Event Place Wrestler Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Greco-Roman 2nd Georgios Tsitas Bye Won Lost
3rd Stephanos Christopoulos Won Lost Did not advance
Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent
Germany 0 1 .000
Hungary 1 0 1.000
Total international 1 1 .500
Greece 1 1 .500
Total 2 2 .500

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The names of 103 competitors are known. Up to 7 unknown swimmers, 22 unknown shooters, and 44 unknown gymnasts competed for a total of 176. Most historians reduce the number of swimmers to 6 unknowns, saying that two of the entries were by the same swimmer, as well as noting that the 104 known competitors include three gymnasts who probably were among the 44 unnamed competitors in the team event. These two changes reduce the total competitors to 172. A comparison of Mallon's tables of multiple-event athletes indicates that he believes 3 of the unknown gymnasts also competed in other sports, reducing the number further to 169, which is the number he uses for Greece, Smyrna and Cyprus.

[edit] References

  • Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
  • Mallon, Bill; & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
  • Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.


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