Revived in 1896, The Olympic Games began their modern incarnation as the preeminent international athletic competition. Prior to the official formation of the International Olympic Committee, there had been sporadic interest over the years in establishing an athletic competition based on the Olympic games of ancient Greece. It was the IOC, under the guidance of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who first devised the idea of an athletic competition that would rotate location around the participating countries, to be held every four years. To honor the history of the Games, the first location selected was Athens, Greece.
Two hundred and forty-one athletes attended the games in Athens from 14 different nations. Many of the athletes participating were Greek; however, the inclusion of different countries was to set a precedent that eventually led to the games being the major international sporting event we know today. The nations that sent the largest delegations of athletes to Athens were Greece, Great Britain, France and Germany.
There is a certain amount of confusion about the exact make up of the 14 nations that attended these first modern Olympic Games. At that time, the IOC wanted to promote a competition among international athletes. The focus then was not on national teams, but the athletes themselves. They did not begin to organize athletes into national teams until far later. The nations that are known to have sent at least one athlete are as follows:
-Austria
-Bulgaria
-Chile
-Denmark
-Sweden
-Switzerland
-Hungary
-Australia
-Italy
-the United States of America
These are the countries that are generally considered to have participated, although irregularities do exist. For instance, Australia was not actually an independent country until 1901, yet their athlete Edwin Flack is listed as Australian, not British. Egypt’s athletes participated as Greek representatives, although some sources do list Egypt as one of the nations that sent competitors Austria-Hungary was actually one country at this time, yet competed separately. Hungary’s entrants also included athletes from parts of Serbia at this time. Russia and Belgium had stated their intention to send athletes of their own to the games, but none attended.
The country that had the most participants was the host country, Greece. A Greek named Spyridon Louis won the marathon becoming a source of great pride to the people of Greece. Greece also took home the most medals throughout the 1896 Games. The United States of America won the most gold medals throughout the competition, including the 100-meter race, won by Thomas Burke. Burke was one of the first international athletes to use the kneeling position at the start of a race.
The medals handed out during these first modern Olympics were actually silver for the winners, with copper medals for the runners up. Winners also received an olive branch and a diploma. Overall, 10 out of the 14 nations who participated in the first modern Olympics were awarded medals. The IOC has since gone back over the records of that inaugural session of the Games, and has retroactively awarded gold, silver and bronze medals to the winners.