1896 Olympics

[OliDegu2008]

1896 Olympics.jpg

This will be a complete replay of the first recorded Olympiad, the 1896 Olympics using the wonderful game engine designed by Roberto Chiavini. If you have not looked into one of his many, many games - I highly recommend!

The 1896 Summer Olympics will be the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which was created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, the games are to be held in Athens, Greece, from April 6-15.

Fourteen nations will take part in these games which will feature 9 sports encompassing 10 disciplines and 43 events.

I will be following the chronological timeline of the games and going day by day for the events with updates. Will be doing my best to research each sport and athlete, the data for the games in 1896 is hit or miss for some things.

1896 Olympic Games Schedule.JPG

[OliDegu2008]

King George I opens the first Olympiad

"I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens.
Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people."

Opening Ceremony - On April 6 the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened; it was Easter Monday for both the Western and Eastern Christian Churches and the anniversary of Greece's independence. The Panathenaic Stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators which included most of the athletes grouped by their countries on the infield.

Men's 100 metres - The first event in the history of the Olympics was the heats for the Men's 100 metre dash.

Heat 1 - In the first heat American Francis Lane edged out Alajos Szokolyi of Hungary while Charles Gmelin of Great Britain just missed the cut. The top two finishers in each heat qualify directly to the final which will be run on April 10.

Heat 2 - The second heat saw Thomas Curtis of the USA lead the way followed by Alexandros Chalkokondylis of Greece.

Heat 3 - In the most anticipated heat of the three, Thomas Burke set an Olympic Record while finishing first. Germany's Fritz Hofmann was nearly two-one hundredths behind the American.

Men's 100 Metre (1).png

Next up: We continue on with April 6 as next up will be the Triple Jump.

[OliDegu2008]

First ever Olympic medals awarded in the triple jump competition

Men's Triple Jump - The men's triple jump took place April 6 immediately following the heats of the men's 100 metres.

There were four known "official" competitors of what was then called "hop, skip and jump" though some say there were eleven official entrants but history seems to have only recorded four official jumpers - one of which will be crowned the first modern Olympic champion in history.

Format - Single round of jumping and there were no rules on the kinds of jumps allowed.

Results - As expected American John Connolly took home the gold medal with a jump of 13.54 meters. Alexandre Tufferi of France took home silver and Greece's Ioannis Persakis was awarded the bronze for a jump of 12.52 meters, just short of Tufferi's 12.56.

Men's triple jump.png

Next up: We continue on with April 6 as next up will be the heats for the Men's 800 metres.

[OliDegu2008]

Preliminary heats of the Men's 800 metre sees parity and excitement

Men's 800 metres - The men's 800 metres preliminary heats were held April 6 immediately following the men's triple jump competition.

There were nine runners attempting to qualify for the final. The nine runners were split into two groups for both heats, the first heat containing four runners and the second containing five.

The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final which is to be held April 9.

Results - The first heat saw the event favorite Edwin Flack set an Olympic record of 2:12.2 seconds, finishing just ahead of Hungary's Nandor Dani.

In the second heat, France's Albin Lermusiaux and Greece's Dimitrios Golemis qualified for the final. Every runner in heat two finished with a time in the 2:13's - an outstanding race.

Men's 800 Metres (3).png

Next up: We continue on with April 6 as next up will be the Discus throw event.

[OliDegu2008]

USA's Robert Garrett takes home Gold in the discus throwing competition

Men's discus throw - The men's discus throwing event featured four athletes from three countries.

The data on official throws varies and though some institutions have that nine throwers were involved, there is only official data on four.

Format - There were five rounds of throws. Each thrower received three throws in rounds one to three and the top three advanced to rounds four and five.

The throws were made from a square area with a side length of 2 to 2.5 meters. The discus weighed 2 kilograms.

Results - Robert Garrett of the United States took home gold with an impressive best throw of 29.09 metres. Adding to his accolades, Garrett now holds the official world and Olympic records with that distance.

Greece had a pair of throwers finish out the podium, Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos and Sotirios Versis.

Men's discus throw (1).png

Next up: We will see the first official day of competition of the modern Olympiad come to a close with the preliminary heats of the Men's 400 metres.

[stlducks]

This is awesome! I do not think I have ever seen someone play the Olympics, yet alone from this long ago.

[OliDegu2008]

Quote: Originally Posted by stlducks

This is awesome! I do not think I have ever seen someone play the Olympics, yet alone from this long ago.

Thanks! I've always had such an interest in international competition and with Roberto's genius, I had to give it a go!

[OliDegu2008]

American Thomas Burke leads the field during the Men's 400 metres heats

Men's 400 metres - The men's 400 metres preliminary heats were held April 6 immediately following the men's discus competition.

There were seven runners attempting to qualify for the final. The seven runners were split into two groups for both heats, the first heat containing four runners and the second containing three.

Thomas Burke is by far the favorite to win the gold medal.

The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final which is to be held Tuesday, April 7.

Results - It was a two man show in heat 1 as America's Herbert Jamison and Germany's Fritz Hoffman qualified for the Final. They were trailed (by nearly four seconds) by Kurt Doerry and Adolphe Grisel.

In the second heat, it was favorite Thomas Burke who ran a very fast 53.9 seconds finishing nearly three seconds before second placer finisher and Final qualifier Charles Gmelin of Great Britain.

Men's 400 Metres.png

Next up: The first day of the modern Olympiad is complete. Tomorrow, April 7 will feature more track and field, fencing and weightlifting!