Ten athletes from the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...
competed in seven sports at the
1896 Summer Olympics. The Great Britain athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in
gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.
Two tennis players (one English, one Irish) also played in
mixed team squads, contributing to a gold and a bronze medal. These medals are not counted as part of the Great Britain total.
Medallists
Medals awarded to participants of
mixed-NOC teams are represented in ''italics''. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.
Multiple medalists
The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.
Competitors
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The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
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Athletics
Track & road events
Field events
Cycling
Track
Road
Gymnastics
;Individual
Fencing
Shooting
Merlin and Machonet were unable to win any medals in the shooting events.
Swimming
Tennis
Boland (later best known as an Irish nationalist politician) was by far the best player in the tennis competition, amassing a 6-0 record over both events and two gold medals, though one of them was as part of a
mixed team. He defeated Traun in the first round of the singles competition, then teamed up with him for the doubles competition. Robertson was much less successful, losing both of the matches he played, though he was awarded a retroactive bronze medal by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
as his bye in the doubles quarterfinals put him in third place in that event. Like Boland's doubles gold medal, Robertson's bronze is not counted as part of the British total because the two played on mixed teams. Some sources include
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...
and his brother Frank; the two were entered but appear to have not competed.
Weightlifting
Elliot (born in British India of Scottish ancestry) lifted the same amount as
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 Su ...
in the two handed lift, but was declared by
Prince George of Greece
Prince George of Greece and Denmark ( el, Γεώργιος; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of h ...
to have taken second place based on lifting form. In the one handed lift, he easily defeated Jensen, who lifted only 57 kilograms.
Wrestling
Elliot was defeated by eventual champion
Carl Schuhmann in the first round of the wrestling competition, tying for 4th and last place.
References
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* (Excerpt available a
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{{Nations at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Nations at the 1896 Summer Olympics
1896
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers.
* January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
* January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that ...
Olympics
Olympics