The First Olympics: Athens 1896

The First Olympics: Athens 1896 is a 1984 US TV miniseries produced by Columbia Pictures Television for broadcast by the NBC network. This television miniseries tells the story of the founding of the modern Olympics by focusing on individuals in several countries and their preparations and eventual competition in Athens in 1896. The two-part mini-series originally aired in the United States on 20 May 1984.

Plot

The preparation and events leading up to the inaugural modern Olympic Games held in Athens, 1896. The movie examines the experience of competitors from different nations, but especially concentrates on the creation of the American team and their trials in getting to the Olympics in Athens.

Cast

• Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee
• David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane, founder of the United States Olympic Committee

• Hunt Block as Robert Garrett, United States athlete
• David Caruso as James Brendan Connolly, United States athlete
• Alex Hyde-White as Arthur Blake, United States athlete
• Hutton Cobb as Thomas Burke, United States athlete
• Jason Connery as Thomas Curtis, United States athlete
• Ian Morton as Ellery Harding Clark, United States athlete
• William Armstrong as William Hoyt, United States athlete
• Aaron Swartz as Herbert Jamison, United States athlete
• Keith Edwards as Albert Tyler, United States athlete
• Terrance Conder as Sumner Paine, United States athlete
• Peter Merrill as John Paine, United States athlete
• Matt Frewer as Francis Lane, United States athlete

• Robert Addie as Grantley Goulding, British athlete
• Benedict Taylor as Edwin Flack, Australian athlete
• Nicos Ziagos as Spiridon Louis, Greek athlete

• Edward Wiley as John Graham, American coach
• Angela Lansbury as Alice Garrett, Robert Garrett's mother
• Honor Blackman as Madam Ursula Schumann
• Gayle Hunnicutt as Mary Sloane
• Bill Travers as Harold Flack
• Virginia McKenna as Annabel Flack

Historical inaccuracies

• James Connolly is told by Coach Graham and the Dean of students at Harvard that he and Arthur Blake will be volunteering for the new U.S. Olympic Team as punishment for fighting with each other. In reality, Connolly was denied a leave of absence to compete in the Games. So, he dropped out and competed anyway.^[1]

• In the series, it is mentioned that Edwin Flack was interrupting his studies at Oxford University to compete in the Games. In reality, he was taking a month's holiday from his job at the accounting firm of Price, Waterhouse, and Company.^[2]

• In the series, three Greek flags are raised after the finish of the Marathon. However, it is not mentioned that the third Greek finisher, Spiridon Belokas was disqualified for riding part of the way in a carriage. His spot was awarded to Gyula Kellner of Hungary.^[3]

• When athletes first competed in the Olympics, they only represented their clubs or their schools. They did not start participating on national teams or marching in a Parade of Nations until the London Games of 1908.^[4]

• The series portrays Robert Garrett as being a participant in the Marathon - he wasn't. Arthur Blake was the only American entrant in the event. He did not finish.^[5][6]

• In an incident similar to the one with an over sized discus, Robert Garrett is seen trying to enter the Olympic Shot Put event with an over sized shot put. In reality, however, unlike the incident with the discus, which is very well documented, there is no record of a similar incident with the shot put ever having taken place.^[7][8]

• James Connolly is portrayed as having emigrated to America from Ireland. That is not the case. He was born in Boston in 1868.^[5]

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

Writer's Guide of America, USA

Casting Society of America, USA

References

External links

• The First Olympics: Athens 1896 at the Internet Movie Database