Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, twelve athletics events were contested.

Contents

1 100 metres 1.1 Medallists 1.2 Results 1.2.1 100 metres, heat 1 1.2.2 100 metres, heat 2 1.2.3 100 metres, heat 3 1.2.4 100 metres, final 2 400 metres 2.1 Medallists 2.2 Results 2.2.1 400 metres, heat 1 2.2.2 400 metres, heat 2 2.2.3 400 metres, final 3 800 metres 3.1 Medallists 3.2 Results 3.2.1 800 metres, heat 1 3.2.2 800 metres, heat 2 3.2.3 800 metres, final 4 1500 metres 5 Marathon 6 110 metre hurdles 6.1 110 metre hurdles, heat 1 6.2 110 metre hurdles, heat 2 6.3 110 metre hurdles, final 7 High jump 8 Pole vault 9 Long jump 10 Triple jump 11 Shot put 12 Discus throw

100 metres

The 100 metre race was the first event run at the modern Olympics, on 6 April 1896. 21 athletes ran in the first round, divided into three heats of seven runners. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which took place on 10 April.

15 athletes from 8 nations competed.

Two runners tied for third place in the final and both are considered to be bronze medallists by the International Olympic Committee [1] (http://olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp).

Medallists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Tom Burke, United States	Fritz Hoffmann, Germany	Alajos Szokolyi, Hungary	Francis Lane, United States

Results

Charles Gmelin and Launceston Elliot of Great Britain and Ireland, and Friedrich Traun of Germany, placed third in their heats.

Alphonse Grisel of France placed fourth and Kurt Dörry of Germany placed fifth in one of the heats.

Henrik Sjöberg of Sweden and Georgios Gennimatas of Greece placed fourth and fifth in one of the heats, though it is not clear which athlete received which place.

100 metres, heat 1

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Francis Lane	United States	12.2 seconds
2	Alajos Szokolyi	Hungary	12.75 seconds
3
4
5

Francis Lane of the United States won this heat, in a time of 12.2 seconds, with Alajos Szokolyi of Hungary coming in second at 12.75 seconds.

100 metres, heat 2

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Thomas Curtis	United States	12.2 seconds
2	Alexandros Khalkokondilis	Greece	12.75 seconds
3
4	Eugen Schmidt	Denmark
5	George Marshall	Great Britain and Ireland

Another American, Thomas Curtis, won this heat, again at 12.2 seconds. A Greek runner, Alexandros Khalkokondilis, placed second.

100 metres, heat 3

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	12.0 seconds
2	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany
3
4
5

Tom Burke ran this heat in 12.0 seconds, finishing a sweep of the heats for the United States. Fritz Hoffmann of Germany came in second.

100 metres, final

The final heat of the 100 metre race involved the six runners who had finished in the top two of their preliminary heats. Burke again ran the race in 12.0 seconds to win it. His companion from the third heat placed second, with the two runners from the first heat tying for third place.

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	12.0 seconds
2	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany	12.2 seconds
3	Francis Lane	United States	12.6 seconds
3	Alajos Szokolyi	Hungary	12.6 seconds
5	Alexandros Khalkokondilis	Greece	12.6 seconds
DNS	Thomas Curtis	United States	----

400 metres

The 400 metre race preliminary round was the last held on the first day, 6 April. The competitors were split into two groups. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, which was held on the second day, 7 April.

7 athletes from 4 nations competed. 5 of those athletes were also in the 100 metres.

Medallists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Tom Burke, United States	Herbert Jamison, United States	Charles Gmelin, Great Britain and Ireland

Results

400 metres, heat 1

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Herbert Jamison	United States	56.8 seconds
2	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany
3	Frantz Reichel	France

Herbert Jamison of the United States won the first heat with a time of 56.8 seconds, with Fritz Hoffmann of Germany coming in second.

400 metres, heat 2

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	58.4 seconds
2	Charles Gmelin	Great Britain and Ireland
3
4

Another American, Tom Burke, won the second heat with a time of 58.4 seconds despite being tired from already having run the 100 metres. Charles Gmelin placed second.

Alphonse Grisel of France and Kurt Dörry of Germany also competed in this race, though their final positions are unclear.

400 metres, final

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	54.2 seconds
2	Herbert Jamison	United States	55.2 seconds
3	Charles Gmelin	Great Britain and Ireland
4	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany

The final resulted in the American pair taking the gold and silver medals. Gmelin placed third, with Hoffman finishing fourth.

800 metres

The preliminary heats of the 800 metre race were the third event held on 6 April. The nine competitors were split into two groups. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which was held on 9 April.

Medallists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Teddy Flack, Australia	Nándor Dáni, Hungary	Dimitrios Golemis, Greece

Results

Friedrich Traun of Germany and Georges de la Nézière of France each placed third in their heats, though which athlete was in which heat is unknown.

Angelos Fetsis and Dimitrios Tomprof, both of Greece, were the fourth and fifth place finishers in the first heat, though which took which place is unknown.

800 metres, heat 1

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Teddy Flack	Australia	2:10.0
2	Nándor Dáni	Hungary
3	Traun/Nézière
4	Fetsis/Tomprof	Greece
5	Fetsis/Tomprof	Greece

Teddy Flack of Australia won the first heat, in a time of 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Nándor Dáni of Hungary came in second.

800 metres, heat 2

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Albin Lermusiaux	France	2:16.6
2	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece
3	Traun/Nézière
4	George Marshall	Great Britain and Ireland

Albin Lermusiaux of France won the second heat. His time was 2 minutes and 16.6 seconds. Dimitrios Golemis of Greece was the runner-up.

800 metres, final

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Teddy Flack	Australia	2:11.0
2	Nándor Dáni	Hungary	2:11.8
3	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	2:28.0
DNS	Albin Lermusiaux	France

The final consisted of only three runners, as Lermusiaux elected not to compete. Flack won the final, with Dáni close on his heels. Golemis came in a distant third. Lermusiaux elected not to compete in the final.

1500 metres

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Teddy Flack (AUS)	4:33.2
2	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Arthur Blake (USA)	4:34.0
3	Albin Lermusiaux (FRA)	4:37.0
AC	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Dimitrios Golemis (GRE)

The 1500 metre race was the last event on 7 April. It was run in one heat, with eight athletes competing. Albin Lermusiaux of France led for most of the race, but was caught by two other runners near the end and finished with only a bronze medal. Teddy Flack won the race, becoming the first Australian Olympic champion.

Marathon

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Spiridon Louis (GRE)	2:58:50
2	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Kharilaos Vasilakos (GRE)	3:06:03
3	Gyula Kellner (HUN)	3:06:35

25 athletes traveled to Marathon for the race from there to Athens, though only 17 actually began the race. Just as in the 1500 metre race, Albin Lermusiaux took the lead early. Teddy Flack and Arthur Blake maintained the second and third places until Blake dropped out at 23 kilometres. At 32 kilometres, Lermusiaux dropped out as well, leaving Flack in the lead. That lead was not secure, however, as the Greek Spiridon Louis was making full use of his endurance to gain slowly on Flack.

Exhausted from trying to maintain his pace, Flack dropped out of the race with about 4 kilometres left. Louis was left alone at the front, finishing the 40 kilometre race in slightly less than 3 hours. Vasilakos finished second, followed closely by Spiridon Belokas and Gyula Kellner. Belokas's third-place finish was voided when it was discovered that he had covered part of the course by carriage.

110 metre hurdles

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Thomas Curtis (USA)	17.6
2	Grantley Goulding (GBR)	17.6
AC	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Athanasios Skaltsogiannis (GRE)

The preliminary heats of the 110 metre hurdles were the first track event of the day on 7 April. Eight competitors ran in two heats of four runners each. Only the fastest runner in each heat advanced to the final.

110 metre hurdles, heat 1

Grantley Goulding of the United Kingdom finished first, in a time of 18.4 seconds. The Hungarian Alajos Szokolyi placed second.

110 metre hurdles, heat 2

Two Americans finished at the top of this heat, with Thomas Curtis advancing to the final with a time of 18 seconds. Mr. Stogt was second.

110 metre hurdles, final

The final 110 metre hurdle race was run on 10 April. Only two athletes competed, and their times were extremely close. Thomas Curtis of the United States won a tight race.

High jump

Pos	Athlete	Height
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Ellery Clark (USA)	1.81m
2	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Robert Garrett (USA)	1.65m
2	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png James Connolly (USA)	1.65m

The high jump was held on 10 April. Five competitors took part in the event, three of them Americans. Ellery Clark, who had previously won the long jump, also won this event. Garrett and Connolly tied for second place.

Pole vault

Pos	Athlete	Height
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png William Welles Hoyt (USA)	3.30m
2	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Albert Tyler (USA)	3.20m
3	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Evangelos Damaskos (GRE)	2.60m
3	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Ioannis Theodoropoulos (GRE)	2.60m

Five athletes competed in the pole vault. The two Americans far outclassed the three Greeks, taking first and second places. Damaskos and Theodoropoulos tied for third, while Xydas took fifth.

Long jump

Pos	Athlete	Distance
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Ellery Clark (USA)	6.35m
2	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Robert Garrett (USA)	6.00m
3	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png James Connolly (USA)	5.84m

There were eight contestants in the long jump, held on 7 April. The American jumpers proved themselves dominant in taking the top three spots.

Triple jump

Pos	Athlete	Distance
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png James Connolly (USA)	12.70m
2	Alexandre Tuffèri (FRA)
3	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Ioannis Persakis (GRE)	12.00m

There were 10 competitors in the triple jump, including two Greeks. The event was held on 6 April, immediately after the first heats of the 100 metre race. Since there was only one round of the triple jump, the winner was crowned as the first modern Olympic champion. Triple jump then consisted of two hops and a jump.

Shot put

Pos	Athlete	Distance
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Robert Garrett (USA)	11.22m
2	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Miltiades Gouskos (GRE)	11.03m
3	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Georgios Papasideris (GRE)	10.36m

7 athletes took part in the shot put competition on 7 April. The two Greek athletes both won medals, with Gouskos battling closely with Garrett of the United States for the longest distance.

Discus throw

Pos	Athlete	Distance
1	Missing image Us_flag_large_44_stars.png Robert Garrett (USA)	29.15m
2	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos (GRE)	28.95m
3	Missing image Greece_flag_1828.png Sotirios Versis (GRE)	27.78m
AC	Holger Nielsen (DEN)

The discus throw was the fourth event held. It was contested on 6 April. 11 athletes competed, including one each from France, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany as well as three Greeks and three Danes.

Many of the competitors had never thrown a discus before, as the event had never been held at an internation competition. Robert Garrett of the United States was the last foreigner in the competition, and eventually defeated the famed Greek competitors to win the second modern Olympic gold medal.

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