Greece Athens
I International Olympic Games
6-15 april 1896г.
The First International Summer Olympics of the Modern era, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were held in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to 15, 1896. After a fifteen hundred-year interval, Athens picked up the torch of Olympia, the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games.
The Games were formally opened at the Panathenaic Stadium that was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic Games since the 4 century B.C. The foundation stone of the stadium was laid in the year 330 B.C. approximately one kilometer from the Acropolis of Athens. The construction was sponsored by a rich Athenian, Lycurgus. The same year, the stadium hosted athletes from many Greek polices. Since that time, almost for 600 years the stadium had remained the site of the Panathenaic Games.
By the day of making the decision to hold the Olympics of the Modern era there, the stadium was in remnants. Its revival needed a then huge amount of money - 1,000,000,000 Drachmas. The Olympic Committee approached a then mighty rich Greek, George Averoff, who provided funds for the refurbishment without a second thought. А marble statute of this Greek benefactor now stands at the entrance.
So, in the morning on April 6, 1896, King George I of Greece solemnly opened the Games of the I Olympiad at the stadium filled with 80,000 spectators. Afterwards, an Olympic Hymn was performed for the first time. From that time onwards the first persons of the host states held it an honor to participate in the Olympics opening ceremony; and the performance of the Olympic Hymn composed by the Greeks has become a tradition.
Competing athletes represented 14 nations of three continents (Australia, America and Europe) including Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, USA, France, Chili, Switzerland and Sweden.
These 241 male athletes, participants of the Athens Olympics, had played for 43 sets of medals in nine sports - athletics, gymnastics, Greco-Roman wrestling, swimming, weightlifting, fencing, cycling, shooting and tennis.
The winners of were awarded the silver medal for the first place and bronze one for the second one.
WINNER MEDAL OF THE GAMES OF THE I OLYMPIAD
OBVERSE: a composition of laurelled Zeus’ head, the father of Olympic gods, (by Phidias) along with his hand holding the globe, with winged Goddess of Victory Nike standing on it and holding a olive branch, with a Greek caption “Olympia” (the birthplace of the Greek athlete games held in the year 776 B.C. and later named the Female athletes were not allowed to compete at the Games of the I Olympiad Olympics) on the left, and designer’s name Jules Clement Chaplain engraved around the rim on the right.
REVERSE: the Acropolis site with engraved inscriptions in Greek “International Olympic Games” around the rim atop and “in Athens in 1896” in two lines under a horizontal line below.
PARTICIPATION MEDAL
OBVERSE: a composition of the seated Goddess of Victory over the Olympic Stadium, with her right hand extending a laurel wreath over the sacred bird Phoenix rising from flames and symbolizing the rebirth of the Olympics, and her left hand holding a scepter. The Acropolis with the Parthenon appears at the peak in the rising sun in the background. A legend in Greek underneath reads: “Olympic Games 776 B.C., 1896 Athens”.
REVERSE: a composition of a laurel wreath engraved around the medal rim and central three-line legend in Greek “Olympic Games in Athens 1896”, with very small letters reading the name of the minter and mint location “Wilhelm Pittner, Vienna” underneath.
SILVER WINNER MEDAL (FIRST PRIZE)
BRONZE WINNER MEDAL (SECOND PRIZE)
GILT BRONZE PARTICIPATION MEDAL
BRONZE PARTICIPATION MEDAL
The Games were formally opened at the Panathenaic Stadium that was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic Games since the 4 century B.C. The foundation stone of the stadium was laid in the year 330 B.C. approximately one kilometer from the Acropolis of Athens. The construction was sponsored by a rich Athenian, Lycurgus. The same year, the stadium hosted athletes from many Greek polices. Since that time, almost for 600 years the stadium had remained the site of the Panathenaic Games.
By the day of making the decision to hold the Olympics of the Modern era there, the stadium was in remnants. Its revival needed a then huge amount of money - 1,000,000,000 Drachmas. The Olympic Committee approached a then mighty rich Greek, George Averoff, who provided funds for the refurbishment without a second thought. А marble statute of this Greek benefactor now stands at the entrance.
So, in the morning on April 6, 1896, King George I of Greece solemnly opened the Games of the I Olympiad at the stadium filled with 80,000 spectators. Afterwards, an Olympic Hymn was performed for the first time. From that time onwards the first persons of the host states held it an honor to participate in the Olympics opening ceremony; and the performance of the Olympic Hymn composed by the Greeks has become a tradition.
Competing athletes represented 14 nations of three continents (Australia, America and Europe) including Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, USA, France, Chili, Switzerland and Sweden.
These 241 male athletes, participants of the Athens Olympics, had played for 43 sets of medals in nine sports - athletics, gymnastics, Greco-Roman wrestling, swimming, weightlifting, fencing, cycling, shooting and tennis.
The winners of were awarded the silver medal for the first place and bronze one for the second one.
WINNER MEDAL OF THE GAMES OF THE I OLYMPIAD
OBVERSE: a composition of laurelled Zeus’ head, the father of Olympic gods, (by Phidias) along with his hand holding the globe, with winged Goddess of Victory Nike standing on it and holding a olive branch, with a Greek caption “Olympia” (the birthplace of the Greek athlete games held in the year 776 B.C. and later named the Female athletes were not allowed to compete at the Games of the I Olympiad Olympics) on the left, and designer’s name Jules Clement Chaplain engraved around the rim on the right.
REVERSE: the Acropolis site with engraved inscriptions in Greek “International Olympic Games” around the rim atop and “in Athens in 1896” in two lines under a horizontal line below.
PARTICIPATION MEDAL
OBVERSE: a composition of the seated Goddess of Victory over the Olympic Stadium, with her right hand extending a laurel wreath over the sacred bird Phoenix rising from flames and symbolizing the rebirth of the Olympics, and her left hand holding a scepter. The Acropolis with the Parthenon appears at the peak in the rising sun in the background. A legend in Greek underneath reads: “Olympic Games 776 B.C., 1896 Athens”.
REVERSE: a composition of a laurel wreath engraved around the medal rim and central three-line legend in Greek “Olympic Games in Athens 1896”, with very small letters reading the name of the minter and mint location “Wilhelm Pittner, Vienna” underneath.
SILVER WINNER MEDAL (FIRST PRIZE)
| Metal | silver |
| Diameter | 50 mm |
| Thickness | 3,8 mm |
| Weight | 69 g |
| Designer | Jules Clement Chaplain |
| Mint | Paris Mint (Paris, France) |
BRONZE WINNER MEDAL (SECOND PRIZE)
| Metal | bronze |
| Diameter | 50 mm |
| Thickness | 3,8 mm |
| Weight | 60 g |
| Designer | Jules Clement Chaplain |
| Mint |
Paris Mint (Paris, France) |
GILT BRONZE PARTICIPATION MEDAL
| Metal | gilt bronze |
| Diameter | 50 mm |
| Thickness | 4 mm |
| Weight | 58 g |
| Designer |
N. Lytras |
| Mint |
Wilhelm Pittner (Vienna, Austria) |
BRONZE PARTICIPATION MEDAL
| Metal | bronze |
| Diameter | 50 mm |
| Thickness | 4 mm |
| Weight | 58 g |
| Designer |
N. Lytras |
| Mint |
Wilhelm Pittner (Vienna, Austria) |
Bronze commemorative medal
Bronze winner medal, second prize
Gilt bronze commemorative medal
Silver winner medal, first prize