1896 Summer Olympics

The first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens from April 6 to 15, 1896, revived international competition under the Olympic name.

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics: The track-and-field program at the 1896 Athens Games, including the marathon and sprint races. Athletics supplied the Games’ largest program and its defining endurance contest.
Pierre de Coubertin: French educator and historian who founded the modern Olympic movement and helped establish the International Olympic Committee. His campaign persuaded international sports leaders to revive the Olympics.
Spyridon Louis: Greek water carrier who won the marathon at the 1896 Athens Olympics. His win made him a national hero and the best-known athlete of the Games.
Modern Olympic Games: An international multisport event held every four years under the Olympic movement. Athens inaugurated the recurring modern competition that this broader institution names.
Ancient Olympic Games: A series of athletic festivals held at Olympia in ancient Greece, traditionally dated from 776 BCE. The 1896 event revived their name but differed in rules, participants, and international scope.
Marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics: The first Olympic marathon, won by Greek runner Spyridon Louis in Athens in 1896. Louis’s victory became the host nation’s most celebrated result.
International Olympic Committee: The international organization founded in 1894 to oversee the modern Olympic movement. The committee organized the first modern Games and selected Athens as host.
James Connolly (athlete): American athlete who won the triple jump at the 1896 Olympics, becoming the first modern Olympic champion. His victory came on the Games’ opening day and gave the revival an immediate champion.
Olympic flag: A white flag bearing five interlaced rings, introduced in 1913 as a symbol of the Olympic movement. The 1896 Games preceded the flag, which later gave the movement a shared visual emblem.
Intercalated Games of 1906: An international multisport event held in Athens in 1906 and later excluded from official Olympic histories. Its anniversary timing and Athens setting tested whether the Games would remain tied to one city.

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