1896 Summer Olympics
From WikiRun
| 1896 Summer Olympics | |
| Olympiad | I |
|---|---|
| Host City | Athens, Greece |
| # Nations | 13 |
| Events | 43 |
| Sports | 9 |
| Males | 311 |
| Females | 0 |
| Total Athletes | 311 |
| Stadium | Panathinaiko Stadium |
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established during this congress.
News that the Olympic Games would return to Greece was received favorably by the Greek public, media, and royal family. According to Coubertin, "the Crown Prince Constantine learned with great pleasure that 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 organizing committee.[1]
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 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 organize a series of national Olympiads, believed that Greece could not host the event.[2] In late 1894, the organizing committee under Stephanos Skouloudis presented a report that the cost of 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 drachmas (about US$448,000).[3]
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 January 7, 1895 when Vikelas announced that crown prince Constantine would assumed the presidency of the organizing 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.[4] 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 were commissioned; the sale of which raised 400,000 drachmas. Ticket sales added an additional 200,000 drachmas. At the request of Constantine, businessman George Averoff agreed to pay for the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium. Averoff would donate about one million drachmas to this project.[5] As a tribute to his generosity, a statue of Averoff was constructed and unveiled on April 5, 1896 outside the stadium. It stands there to this day.[6]
Some of the athletes would take part in the Games because they happened to be in Athens at the time the Games were held, either on vacation 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 the new IOC in 1894 was to allow only amateur athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.[7] The various contests were thus held under amateur regulations with the exception of fencing matches.[8] The rules and regulations were not uniform, so the Organizing 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 the decisions of the ephors."[9]
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Events
At the 1894 Sorbonne congress, a large roster of sports were 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 never finalized and these sports did not make the final list for the Games. Rowing and yachting were scheduled, but had to be canceled due to strong winds on the planned day of competition.[10]
There were events in: track and field (including a marathon, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, wieghtlifting, wrestling, In track and field, 63 athletes, all men, from nine nations competed. This made athletics the most international of the nine sports at the 1896 Games.
Despite many obstacles and set backs, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. Panathinaiko Stadium, the first big stadium in the modern world, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.[11] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four gold medals.
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, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Medal summary
These medals were retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award.
Closing ceremony
On the morning of Sunday April 12, King George of Greece organized a banquet for officials and athletes (even though some competitions had not yet been held). During his speech, he made clear that, as far as he was concerned, the Olympics should be held in Athens permanently. The official closing ceremony was held the following Wednesday, after being postponed from Tuesday due to rain. Again the royal family attended the ceremony, which was opened by the national anthem of Greece and an ode composed in ancient Greek by George S. Robertson, a British athlete and scholar.[12]
Afterwards, the king awarded prizes to the winners. Unlike today, the first place winners received silver medals, an olive branch and a diploma. Athletes who placed second received copper medals, a branch of laurel and a diploma. Third place winners did not receive a medal. Some winners also received additional prizes, such as Spyridon Louis, who received a cup from Michel Bréal, a friend of Coubertin, who had conceived the marathon event. Louis then led the medalists on a lap of honor around the stadium, while the Olympic Hymn was played again. The King then formally announced that the first Olympiad was at an end, and left the Stadium, while the band played the Greek national hymn and the crowd cheered.[12]
Like the Greek king, many others supported the idea of holding the next Games in Athens; most of the American competitors signed a letter to the Crown Prince expressing this wish. Coubertin, however, was heavily opposed to this idea, as he envisioned international rotation as one of the cornerstones of the modern Olympics. According to his wish, the next Games were held in Paris, although they would be somewhat over-shadowed by the concurrently held World's Fair.[13]
References
- ↑ Young (1996), 108
- ↑ Young (1996), 111–118
- ↑ Zarnowski (1992), 16–32
- ↑ Young (1996), 118. According to Young (2004), 153, "Vikelas and the other Greeks did most of the work. Coubertin did very little."
- ↑ Darling (2004), 135
- ↑ George Averoff Dead, New York Times
- ↑ Some scholars allege that during the Sorbonne congress Coubertin was led by tactical considerations, and used the amateur requirement only as a bait in order to realize his actual aim—namely the reintroduction of the Olympic Games—more quickly (Lennartz–Wassong [2004]), 20).
- ↑ Professionalism vs amateurism was one of the dominant themes of the 19th century regarding athletics. In Greece the amateurism of athletes debate was taken a step further to encompass the question of the participation of the lower classes in the Games. In 1870, during the Zappian Olympic Games, Philippos Ioannou, a classical scholar and professor, criticized the games, and attacked the ideal of amateurism. His contention was that they were a parody, because people from the working class had taken part in the games. Ioannou suggested that only young people from the upper class should be accepted in the following Olympiad (Professionals and Amateurs, Foundation of the Hellenic World).
- ↑ Coubertin (1896), 46–47
- ↑ Coubertin–Philemon–Politis–Anninos (1897), 98–99, 108–109
- ↑ Young (1996), 153
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Coubertin (1896), 50
- ↑ Young (1996), 156
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