Ioannis Frangoudis ( el, Ιωάννης Φραγκούδης; 1863 – 19 October 1916) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

soldier, athlete and

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

officer who reached the rank of Colonel. He also competed in the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

as a

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

. Frangoudis is the only Greek athlete who has won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in a single

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Biography

Frangoudis hailed from

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, which was under British control at the time, but was born in

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...

, where his father worked as a consul. He graduated from the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

in 1885, and worked his way up the ranks of the

Greek army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

, being a captain at the time of the 1896 Olympics. After the

Greco-Turkish war of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

, he had become a colonel, and a friend of King

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for ...

. Frangoudis is also known for having been present at the assassination of the King, and for having taken the his assassin,

Alexandros Schinas Alexandros Schinas ( el, Αλέξανδρος Σχινάς, c. 1870 – 6 May 1913), also known as Aleko Schinas, assassinated King George I of Greece in 1913. Schinas has been variously portrayed as either an Anarchism, anarchist with polit ...

, into custody. Frangoudis died by an

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

accident in 19 October 1916, while visiting

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for an ammo supply mission of the Greek army.

Olympics Career

Frangoudis competed in four of the five shooting events as well as serving as secretary of the Sub-Committee for Shooting. He began his sole rifle event, the free rifle, with a lead in the competition after the first string of 10 shots. However, his shooting was inconsistent and his second and fourth strings were far below the scores of his first and third strings. Frangoudis finished second behind

Georgios Orfanidis Georgios D. Orphanidis ( el, Γεώργιος Ορφανίδης; 1859–1942) was a Greek sports shooter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He also competed at the 1906 Intercalated ...

, with 1,312 points to his countryman's 1,583.

Viggo Jensen Alexander Viggo Jensen (born 22 June 1874 in Copenhagen, Denmark; died 2 November 1930 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish weightlifter, sport shooter, gymnast, and athlete. He was the first Danish and Nordic Olympic champion, at the 1896 Summe ...

in third place was only 7 points behind Frangoudis. In the rapid fire pistol, Frangoudis was the victor, defeating Orfanidis, along with two other competitors, 344-249. He added another top three finish in the free pistol, behind Sumner Paine (silver medallist in the military pistol) and

Holger Nielsen Holger Louis Nielsen (18 December 1866 in Copenhagen – 26 January 1955 in Hellerup) was a Danish fencer, sport shooter, and athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He is probably best known for drawing up the first ...

(bronze medallist in the rapid fire pistol). Frangoudis also competed in the military pistol, finishing fourth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frangoudis, Ioannis Shooters at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Greek male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Cypriot emigrants to Greece Greek Cypriot people Olympic shooters of Greece Olympic gold medalists for Greece Olympic silver medalists for Greece Olympic bronze medalists for Greece Hellenic Army officers Olympic medalists in shooting 1863 births 1916 deaths Sportspeople from Limassol Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Accidental deaths in New York (state) Date of birth missing