Fourteen competitors from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

competed in three sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The Americans were the most successful athletes in terms of gold medals, beating host nation

, 11 to 10, despite fielding only 14 competitors compared to an estimated 169 Greek entrants. However, the Greeks' 46 total medals dwarfed the Americans' 20. The United States team had 27 entries in 16 events, with 20 of the 27 resulting in top-three finishes. Most of the American competitors were students at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

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or members of the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

. The team trained at

The Pennington School The Pennington School is a private (independent), coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students in sixth through twelfth grades, located in Pennington, New Jersey, a small community in the northeastern United States mid ...

, in

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, while preparing for the first modern Olympic Games.

Medalists

Of the 14 Americans at the Athens Games, 12 won medals. Charles Waldstein, a shooter, and Gardner Williams, a swimmer, were the two who did not win any medals. USA delegation at 1896 Summer Olympics

Multiple medalists

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

Competitors

, width=78% align=left valign=top , The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. , width="22%" align="left" valign="top" ,

Athletics

The United States squad of 11, which featured only one national champion, won nine gold medals in the twelve

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

events, with contributions from six different athletes. Six silver medals and two bronze medals also went to the Americans in athletics. Track & road events
Field events

Cycling

Road

Fencing

Shooting

The Paine brothers contested only two events, taking the top two spots in the event in which they both competed, the military pistol. Sumner was the only one of the two to enter the free pistol, which he won. Waldstein was the third member of the American shooting contingent, competing in the military rifle event.

Swimming

Williams competed in two swimming events, with his results currently unknown.

References

* * (Excerpt available a

* {{Top Summer Olympics medal-winning nations 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