Olympic Games, 1896
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Olympic Games, 1896
The 1896 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad () and commonly known as Athens 1896 (), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had been created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, the event was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. Fourteen nations (according to the IOC, though the number is subject to interpretation) and 241 athletes (all males; this number is also disputed) took part in the games. Participants were all European or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team, and over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has designated the top three finishers in each event as gold, silver, and bronze medalists. Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals. On April 6, 1896, American James Connolly became the first ...
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Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is the List of urban areas in the European Union, eighth-largest urban area in the European Union (EU). The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of . Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BCE. According to Greek mythology the city was named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, ...
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James Brendan Connolly
James Brendan Bennet Connolly (, October 28, 1868 – January 20, 1957) was an American athlete and author. In 1896, he became the first modern Olympic champion. Early life Connolly was born to poor Irish immigrants from the Aran Islands, fisherman John Connolly and Ann O'Donnell, as one of twelve children, in South Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up at a time when the parks and playground movement in Boston was slowly developing, Connolly joined other boys in the streets and vacant lots to run, jump, and play ball. He was educated at Notre Dame Academy and then at the Mather and Lawrence grammar school, but never went to high school. Instead, Connolly worked as a clerk with an insurance company in Boston and later with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Georgia. His predisposition to sport also became apparent. Calling a special meeting of the Catholic Library Association (CLA) of Savannah in 1891, he was instrumental in forming a football team. Soon ...
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Zappeion
The Zappeion (, ) is a large, palatial building next to the National Gardens of Athens in the heart of Athens, Greece. It is generally used for meetings and ceremonies, both official and private and is one of the city's most renowned modern landmarks. Constructing the Zappeion In 1869, the Greek Parliament allocated of public land between the Palace Gardens and the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and also passed a law on 30 November 1869, "for the building works of the Olympic Games", as the Zappeion was the first building to be erected specifically for the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern world. The ancient Panathinaiko, Panathenian stadium was also refurbished as part of the works for the Olympic Games. Following some delay, on 20 January 1874, the cornerstone of the building was laid; this new building would be designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen. Finally, on 20 October 1888, the Zappeion opened. Unfortunately for its benef ...
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Cycling At The 1896 Summer Olympics
At the 1896 Summer Olympics, six cycling events were contested at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Cycling. Events were held on 8 April, 11 April, 12 April and 13 April 1896. Nineteen cyclists, all men, from five nations competed. Medal summary These medals were retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award. Every nation won at least a silver medal, with three winning golds. Participating nations A total of 19 cyclists from five nations competed at the Athens Games: * * * * * ''(*)'' ''(*) NOTE: Including one cyclist (Nikos Loverdos) from Smyrna who competed for Greece.'' Medal table Sub-Committee for Cycling * Nicolas Vlangalis, president * Const. Bellinis, secretary * S. Mavros * Nic. Kontojiannis * Mar Philipp * Jac. Theophilas See also *List of Olympic medalists in cycling (men) *List of Olympic medal ...
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Neo Phaliron Velodrome
The Neo Phaliron Velodrome (New Phaleron) was a velodrome and sports arena in the Neo Faliro District of Piraeus, Greece, used for the cycling sport, cycling events at the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens.Quote from page 194/241: ''The bicycle match took place in the Velodrome which had only recently been erected in New Phaleron.''Quote from page 144/241: ''... buildings undertaken by the Committee ... the velodrome near the tomb of the Greek hero Karaiskakis in New Phaleron ... were begun at once.'' The property was donated by the Athens-Piraeus train company to the Hellenic Olympic Committee. It became the home of two football clubs which expanded into more sports: Ethnikos Piraeus (1923) and Olympiacos CFP (1925). The venue was enlarged in 1964 and named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a Greek military commander and a leader of the Greek War of Independence, who died nearby the stadium. The second stadium hosted the 1969 European Athletics Championships and the 1971 European Cu ...
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Ancient Olympic Games
The ancient Olympic Games (, ''ta Olympia''.), or the ancient Olympics, were a series of Athletics (sport), athletic competitions among representatives of polis, city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece. They were held at the Panhellenic sanctuary, Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, Olympia, in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a aition, mythological origin. The originating Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies. These Olympiads were referred to based on the winner of their ''Stadion (running race), stadion'' sprint, e.g., "the third year of the eighteenth Olympiad when Ladas of Argos won the ''stadion''". They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Greece in the Roman era, Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in AD 393, under the emperor Theodosius I, but archaeological evidenc ...
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Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the List of cities proper by population density, 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, Fashion capital, fashion, and gastronomy. Because of its leading role in the French art, arts and Science and technology in France, sciences and its early adoption of extensive street lighting, Paris became known as the City of Light in the 19th century. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants in January 2023, or ...
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Carl Schuhmann
Carl August Berthold Schuhmann (12 May 1869 – 24 March 1946) was a German athlete who won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the most successful athlete at the inaugural Olympics of the modern era. He also competed in weightlifting. Biography Schuhmann, who was a member of the Berliner Turnerschaft, was a member of the successful German gymnastics team that won the team events in the horizontal bar and parallel bars events. Schuhmann added a third title by winning the horse vault event. He also competed in the parallel bars, horizontal bar, pommel horse, and rings events without success. The only extant information about his placing in those events, besides not being a medallist, is that he placed fifth in the rings competition. Schuhmann then entered the wrestling competition, which he also won, even though he was much lighter and smaller than most of the other combatants. In the first round, he faced Launces ...
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Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and Abdomen, abdominal muscle groups. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse. The most common form of competitive gymnastics is artistic gymnastics (AG); for women, the events include floor (gymnastics), floor, vault (gymnastics), vault, uneven bars, and balance beam; for men, besides floor and vault, it includes still rings, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. The governing body for competition in gymnastics throughout the world is the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Eight sports are governed by the FIG, in ...
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Sport Wrestling
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a particular sport can vary from hundreds of people to a single individual. Sport competitions may use a team or single person format, and may be open, allowing a broad range of participants, or closed, restricting participation to specific groups or those invited. Competitions may allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure there is only one winner. They also may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions adm ...
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German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich; . from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the German revolution of 1918–1919, November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a Weimar Republic, republic. The German Empire consisted of States of the German Empire, 25 states, each with its own nobility: four constituent Monarchy, kingdoms, six Grand duchy, grand duchies, five Duchy, duchies (six before 1876), seven Principality, principalities, three Free imperial city, free Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City-state, cities, and Alsace–Lorraine, one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds ...
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Spyridon Louis
Spyridon Louis ( , sometimes transliterated ''Spiridon Loues''; 12 January 1873 – 26 March 1940), commonly known as Spyros Louis (Σπύρος Λούης), was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Following his victory, he was celebrated as a national hero. A former soldier, Louis was encouraged to try out for the Olympics by his former commanding officer. After progressing through qualifying, he went on to win the inaugural Olympic marathon after placing first among seventeen competitors. Louis later became a police officer and a farmer. Outside of his athletics career, Louis was arrested for forgery, of which he was acquitted after spending a year in jail. Early life Spyridon Louis was born in the town of Marousi, north of Athens, into a poor family. Louis's father sold mineral water in Athens, which at the time lacked a central water supply, and Spyridon helped him by transporting it. Olympic preparation After ...
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