Greece at the 1896 Summer Olympics

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 47, 27 more than the United States of America. Nevertheless, 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.

Greece at the
1896 Summer Olympics
IOC codeGRE
NOCHellenic Olympic Committee
Websitewww.hoc.gr (in Greek and English)
in Athens, Greece
April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors169 in 9 sports and 39 events
Medals
Ranked 2nd
Gold
10
Silver
18
Bronze
19
Total
47
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Medalists

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded.

Medal Name Sport Event Date
 Gold Spyridon LouisAthletics Men's marathon April 10
 Gold Aristidis KonstantinidisCycling Men's road race April 12
 Gold Leonidas PyrgosFencing Men's masters foil April 7
 Gold Ioannis GeorgiadisFencing Men's sabre April 9
 Gold Ioannis MitropoulosGymnastics Men's rings April 9
 Gold Nikolaos AndriakopoulosGymnastics Men's rope climbing April 10
 Gold Pantelis KarasevdasShooting Men's 200 m military rifle April 9
 Gold Georgios OrphanidisShooting Men's 300 m free rifle, three positions April 12
 Gold Ioannis FrangoudisShooting Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol April 11
 Gold Ioannis MalokinisSwimming Men's sailors 100 m freestyle April 11
 Silver Charilaos VasilakosAthletics Men's marathon April 10
 Silver Miltiadis GouskosAthletics Men's shot put April 7
 Silver Panagiotis ParaskevopoulosAthletics Men's discus throw April 6
 Silver Stamatios Nikolopoulos Cycling Men's sprint April 11
 Silver Stamatios Nikolopoulos Cycling Men's time trial April 11
 Silver Georgios KolettisCycling Men's 100 km April 8
 Silver Tilemachos KarakalosFencing Men's sabre April 9
 Silver Nikolaos Andriakopoulos
Spyridon Athanasopoulos
Petros Persakis
Thomas Xenakis
Gymnastics Men's team parallel bars April 9
 Silver Thomas XenakisGymnastics Men's rope climbing April 10
 Silver Pavlos PavlidisShooting Men's 200 m military rifle April 9
 Silver Ioannis FrangoudisShooting Men's 300 m free rifle, three positions April 12
 Silver Georgios OrphanidisShooting Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol April 11
 Silver Antonios PepanosSwimming Men's 500 m freestyle April 11
 Silver Ioannis AndreouSwimming Men's 1200 m freestyle April 11
 Silver Spyridon ChazapisSwimming Men's sailors 100 m freestyle April 11
 Silver Dionysios KasdaglisTennis Men's singles April 11
 Silver Dionysios Kasdaglis
Demetrios Petrokokkinos
Tennis Men's doubles April 11
 Silver Georgios TsitasWrestling Men's Greco-Roman April 11
 Bronze Dimitrios GolemisAthletics Men's 800 m April 9
 Bronze Evangelos DamaskosAthletics Men's pole vault April 10
 Bronze Ioannis TheodoropoulosAthletics Men's pole vault April 10
 Bronze Ioannis PersakisAthletics Men's triple jump April 6
 Bronze Georgios PapasiderisAthletics Men's shot put April 7
 Bronze Sotirios VersisAthletics Men's discus throw April 6
 Bronze Periklis Pierrakos-MavromichalisFencing Men's foil April 7
 Bronze Athanasios VourosFencing Men's foil April 7
 Bronze Ioannis Chrysafis
Filippos Karvelas
Dimitrios Loundras
Ioannis Mitropoulos
Gymnastics Men's team parallel bars April 9
 Bronze Petros PersakisGymnastics Men's rings April 9
 Bronze Nikolaos TrikoupisShooting Men's 200 m military rifle April 9
 Bronze Nikolaos MorakisShooting Men's 25 m military pistol April 10
 Bronze Ioannis FrangoudisShooting Men's 30 m free pistol April 11
 Bronze Efstathios Chorafas Swimming Men's 500 m freestyle April 11
 Bronze Dimitrios DrivasSwimming Men's sailors 100 m freestyle April 11
 Bronze Konstantinos PaspatisTennis Men's singles April 10
 Bronze Alexandros NikolopoulosWeightlifting Men's one hand lift April 7
 Bronze Sotirios VersisWeightlifting Men's two hand lift April 7
 Bronze Stephanos ChristopoulosWrestling Men's Greco-Roman April 11
Medals by sport
Sport 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
Shooting 3 3 3 9
Gymnastics 2 2 2 6
Fencing 2 1 2 6
Athletics 1 3 6 10
Swimming 1 3 2 6
Cycling 1 3 0 4
Tennis 0 2 1 3
Wrestling 0 1 1 2
Weightlifting 0 0 2 2
Total 10 18 19 47

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Name Medal Sport Event
Ioannis Frangoudis Gold
 Silver
 Bronze
ShootingMen's 25 metre rapid fire pistol
Men's 300 metre free rifle
Men's 30 metre pistol
Nikolaos Andriakopoulos Gold
 Silver
GymnasticsMen's rope climbing
Men's team parallel bars
Georgios Orphanidis Gold
 Silver
ShootingMen's 300 metre free rifle
Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol
Ioannis Mitropoulos Gold
 Bronze
GymnasticsMen's rings
Men's team parallel bars
Dimitrios Kasdaglis Silver
 Silver
TennisMen's singles
Men's doubles
Stamatios Nikolopoulos Silver
 Silver
CyclingMen's sprint
Men's track time trial
Thomas Xenakis Silver
 Silver
GymnasticsMen's team parallel bars
Men's rope climbing
Petros Persakis Silver
 Bronze
GymnasticsMen's team parallel bars
Men's rings
Sotirios Versis Bronze
 Bronze
Athletics
Weightlifting
Men's discus throw
Men's two hand lift

Competitors

Athletics

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.

Track & road events

Athlete Event Heat Final
Time Rank Time Rank
Alexandros Chalkokondylis 100 m 12.8 2 Q 12.6 5
Georgios Gennimatas Unknown 4-5 Did not advance
Konstantinos Mouratis DNS Did not advence
Konstantinos Mouratis 400 m DNS Did not advence
Angelos Fetsis 800 m Unknown 4 Did not advance
Dimitrios Golemis 2:16.8 2 Q 2:28.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Dimitrios Tombrof Unknown 5 Did not advance
Angelos Fetsis 1500 m Unknown 5
Dimitrios Golemis Unknown 6
Konstantinos Karakatsanis Unknown 7-8
Dimitrios Tombrof Unknown 7-8
Anastasios Andreou 110 m hurdles Unknown 4 Did not advance
Konstantinos Mouratis DNS Did not advence
Athanasios Skaltsogiannis Unknown 3-4 Did not advance
Spyridon Belokas Marathon DSQ
Dimitrios Deligiannis DNF
Evangelos Gerakeris Unknown 7
Georgios Grigoriou DNF
Ilias Kafetzis DNF
Sokratis Lagoudakis Unknown 9
Ioannis Lavrentis DNF
Spyridon Louis 2:58:50 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Stamatios Masouris Unknown 8
Eleftherios Papasymeon Unknown 5
Charilaos Vasilakos 3:06:03 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Ioannis Vrettos Unknown 4

Field events

Athlete Event Final
Distance Position
Evangelos Damaskos Men's pole vault 2.60 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Ioannis Theodoropoulos 2.60 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Vasilios Xydas 2.40 5
Alexandros Chalkokondylis Men's long jump 5.74 4
Athanasios Skaltsogiannis Unknown 5-9
Konstantinos Mouratis DNS
Ioannis Persakis Men's triple jump 12.52 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Christos Zoumis Unknown 6-7
Miltiadis Gouskos Men's shot put 11.20 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Georgios Papasideris 10.36 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Georgios Papasideris Men's discus throw Unknown 5-9
Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos 28.95 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Sotirios Versis 27.28 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Cycling

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

Track

Athlete Event Time / Distance Rank
Stamatios Nikolopoulos Men's time trial 25.4 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Stamatios Nikolopoulos Men's sprint 5:00.2 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Georgios Koletis 10 km DNF
Aristidis Konstantinidis Unknown
Georgios Aspiotis 100 km DNS
Georgios Koletis Unknown 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Aristidis Konstantinidis DNF
Nikos Loverdos 12 hour race DNF
Konstantinos Konstantinou DNF
Georgios Paraskevopoulos DNF
A. Tryfiatis-Tripiaris DNF

Road

Athlete Event Time Rank
Georgios Aspiotis Men's road race Unknown 4-7
Miltiades Iatrou Unknown 4-7
Aristidis Konstantinidis 3:22:31 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Konstantinos Konstantinou Unknown 4-7
Georgios Paraskevopoulos Unknown 4-7

Fencing

Group of French and Greek fencers at 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 Joanni Perronet in the sole match of the masters foil event.

Athlete Event Round 1 Final
MW ML Rank Opposition
Score
Rank
Georgios Valakakis Men's foil 0 3 4 Did not advance 7
Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos 1 2 3 Did not advance 6
Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis 2 1 2 Did not advance 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Ioannis Poulos 0 3 4 Did not advance 8
Athanasios Vouros 2 1 2 Did not advance 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Leonidas Pyrgos Men's masters foil  Perronet (FRA)
W 3–1
1st place, gold medalist(s)
Ioannis Georgiadis Men's sabre 4 0 1 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Georgios Iatridis 0 4 5 5
Tilemachos Karakalos 3 1 2 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Gymnastics

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.

Team
Athlete Event Result Rank
Nikolaos Andriakopoulos
Spyridon Athanasopoulos
Petros Persakis
Thomas Xenakis

29 others, names unknown
Men's team parallel bars Unknown 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Ioannis Chrysafis
Ioannis Mitropoulos
Dimitrios Loundras
Filippos Karvelas

15 others, names unknown
Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Individual
Athlete Event Result Rank
Aristovoulos Petmezas Men's pommel horse Unknown 3-15
Ioannis Mitropoulos Men's rings Unknown 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Petros Persakis Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Antonios Papaioannou Men's horizontal bar Unknown 3-15
Leonidas Tsiklitiras Unknown 3-15
Filippos Karvelas Men's parallel bars Unknown 3-18
Ioannis Mitropoulos Unknown 3-18
Antonios Papaioannou Unknown 3-18
Nikolaos Andriakopoulos Men's rope climbing 14.0 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Thomas Xenakis 14.0 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Shooting

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.

Athlete Event Final
Score Rank
Georgios Diamantis Men's 200 m military rifle 1456 7
Alexios Fetsios 894 11
G. Karagiannopoulos Unknown 14-41
Pantelis Karasevdas 2350 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Anastasios Metaxas 1701 4
Georgios Orphanidis 1698 5
Panagiotis Pavlidis 1978 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Aristovoulos Petmezas Unknown 14-41
Spiridon Stais 845 12
Ioannis Theofilakis 1261 9
Nikolaos Trikoupis 1713 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
22 others, names unknown Unknown 14-41
Antelothanasis Men's 300 m free rifle Unknown 6-18
Georgios Diamantis Unknown 6-18
Alexios Fetsios Unknown 6-18
Ioannis Frangoudis 1312 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Hatzidakis Unknown 6-18
Karakatsanis Unknown 6-18
Pantelis Karasevdas 1039 5
Leon Langakis DNF
Nikolaos Levidis Unknown 6-18
Anastasios Metaxas 1102 4
Xenon Mikhailidis Unknown 6-18
Moustakopoulos Unknown 6-18
Georgios Orphanidis 1583 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Panagiotis Pavlidis Unknown 6-18
Alexandros Theofilakis Unknown 6-18
Ioannis Theofilakis Unknown 6-18
Nikolaos Trikoupis Unknown 6-18
Ioannis Vourakis DNF
Pantelis Karasevdas Men's 25 m military pistol DNF
Xenon Mikhailidis Unknown 6-13
Nikolaos Morakis 205 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Georgios Orphanidis Unknown 6-13
Pantazidis Unknown 6-13
Patsouris Unknown 6-13
Panagiotis Pavlidis Unknown 6-13
Aristovoulos Petmezas Unknown 6-13
Ioannis Frangoudis Unknown 4
Platis Unknown 6-13
Sanidis DNF
Vavis Unknown 6-13
Ioannis Frangoudis Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol 344 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Georgios Orphanidis 249 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Ioannis Frangoudis Men's 30 m pistol Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Nikolaos Morakis Unknown 4
Georgios Orphanidis Unknown 5

Swimming

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 one bronze, all in the two longer races.

Athlete Event Final
Time Rank
Georgios Anninos 100 m freestyle Unkwown 3-10
Efstathios Chorafas Unkwown 3-10
Alexandros Chrysafos Unkwown 3-10
Ag. Diamantopoulos DNS
I. Dontis DNS
Dimitris Frangopoulos DNS
Georgios Gaitanos DNS
G. K. Karagiannis DNS
Nikolaos Katravas DNS
V. Khatzis DNS
Theod. Kontos DNS
P. F. Koukoudakis DNS
Georgios Lamprakis DNS
Sav. Laskaridis DNS
Merk. Lerias DNS
V. Mangourakis DNS
I. Markou DNS
G. Marnezos DNS
Panagiotis Nastos DNS
Georgios Petrou DNS
Fill. Pothitos DNS
Emm. Valetsiotis DNS
Ir. Vlachos DNS
Sol. Xenopoulos DNS
Four others, names unknown Unknown 3-10
Efstathios Chorafas 500 m freestyle Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Dimitrios Christopoulos DNS
Ag. Diamantopoulos DNS
I. Dontis DNS
Dimitris Frangopoulos DNS
Georgios Gaitanos DNS
I. Georgiadis DNS
A. Grigoriadis DNS
Nikolaos Katravas DNS
V. Khatzis DNS
Theod. Kontos DNS
Nik. Kourakos DNS
K. Kourkoulas DNS
Sav. Laskaridis DNS
Merk. Lerias DNS
V. Mangourakis DNS
I. Markou DNS
G. Marnezos DNS
G. Mazoukas DNS
P. Mikhalopoulos DNS
Panagiotis Nastos DNS
Antonios Pepanos 9:57.6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Fill. Pothitos DNS
K. Salouros DNS
D. Santanis DNS
N. Stournaras DNS
Sol. Xenopoulos DNS
A. Zanos DNS
Ioannis Andreou 1200 m freestyle 21:03.4 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
G. Athanasiou DNS
Efstathios Chorafas DNS
Ag. Diamantopoulos DNS
I. Dontis DNS
Dimitris Frangopoulos DNS
Nikolaos Katravas Unknown 3-8
V. Khatzis DNS
Theod. Kontos DNS
Nik. Kourakos DNS
P. F. Koukoudakis DNS
Sav. Laskaridis DNS
Merk. Lerias DNS
Panagiotis Nastos DNS
Antonios Pepanos DNS
A. Romantzas DNS
Emm. Valetsiotis DNS
Sol. Xenopoulos DNS
Three others, names unknown Unknown 3-8
Spyridon Chazapis Sailors 100 m freestyle Unknown 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Dimitrios Drivas Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Nik. Kourakos DNS
K. Kourkoulas DNS
Ioannis Malokinis 2:20.4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
P. Mikhalopoulos DNS
K. Salouros DNS
D. Santanis DNS
N. Stournaras DNS

Tennis

Greece earned a silver medal and a bronze medal in the singles tournament. Kasdaglis and Petrokokkinos won a silver medal in doubles tournament.

Athlete Event First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Aristidis Akratopoulos Singles  Flack (AUS)
W
 Paspatis (GRE)
L
Did not advance
Konstantinos Akratopoulos Bye  Kasdaglis (GRE)
L
Did not advance
Dimitris Frangopoulos  Tapavica (HUN)
L
Did not advance
Dimitrios Kasdaglis  J. Defert (FRA)
W
 Akratopoulos (GRE)
W
 Tapavica (HUN)
W
 Boland (GBR)
L 3-6, 1-6
2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Konstantinos Paspatis  Robertson (GBR)
W
 Akratopoulos (GRE)
W
 Boland (GBR)
L
Did not advance 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Demetrios Petrokokkinos  Rallis (GRE)
L
Did not advance
Evangelos Rallis  Petrokokkinos (GRE)
W
 Boland (GBR)
L
Did not advance
 Dimitrios Kasdaglis /
Demetrios Petrokokkinos (GRE)
Doubles  Paspatis /
Rallis (GRE) W
 Flack (AUS) /
 Robertson (GBR) W
 Boland (GBR) /
 Traun (GER) L 7-5, 4-6, 1-6
2nd place, silver medalist(s)
 Aristidis Akratopoulos /
Konstantinos Akratopoulos (GRE)
 Boland (GBR) /
 Traun (GER) L
Did not advance
 Konstantinos Paspatis /
Evangelos Rallis (GRE)
 Kasdaglis /
Petrokokkinos (GRE) L
Did not advance

Weightlifting

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.

Athlete Event Result Rank
Alexandros Nikolopoulos Men's one hand lift 57.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Sotirios Versis 40.0 4
Georgios Papasideris Men's two hand lift 90.0 =4
Sotirios Versis 90.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Wrestling

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.

Athlete Event Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Stephanos Christopoulos Men's Greco-Roman  Tapavica (HUN)
W
 Tsitas (GRE)
L
Did not advance 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Georgios Tsitas Bye  Christopoulos (GRE)
W
 Schuhmann (GER)
L
2nd place, silver medalist(s)

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.

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 )
  • 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 )
  • 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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