*1840. Игры I Олимпиады. Греция. Афины. 1896 год

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Athens 1896
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Athens 1896

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Athens 1896

[РИА "Новости"]

https://ria.ru/spravka/20160805/1473627729.html
Первые современные летние Олимпийские игры – проходили с 6 по 15 апреля 1896 года в Афинах (Греция).

На открытии Игр I Олимпиады был впервые исполнен Олимпийский гимн, сочиненный Спиросом Самарасом (музыка) и Костисом Паламасом (слова). Этот олимпийский гимн до сих пор исполняется на всех церемониях открытия.

В Играх I Олимпиады приняли участие 241 спортсмен из 14 стран. Всего было разыграно 43 комплекта медалей.

С игр I Олимпиады установилась традиция исполнения в честь победителя национального гимна и подъема национального флага. Победителя увенчивали лавровым венком, ему вручали серебряную медаль, оливковую ветвь, срезанную в Священной роще Олимпии, и диплом, выполненный греческим художником. Обладатели вторых мест получили бронзовые медали.

Занявшие третьи места в то время не учитывались, и только позже Международный олимпийский комитет включил их в медальный зачет среди стран, однако не все медалисты были определены точно.

По данным МОК, наибольшее число медалей выиграла команда Греции – 46 (10 золотых, 17 серебряных, 19 бронзовых). Команда США завоевала 20 наград (11 золотых, 7 серебряных, 2 бронзовых). Третье место заняла команда Германии – 13 (6 золотых, 5 серебряных, 2 бронзовых).

Зрители I Олимпиады в Афинах (1896 г.) приветствуют победителей в беге на 40 километров.
© РИА Новости / РИА Новости
На I Олимпиаде в Афинах

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https://www.olympic.org/news/hajos-t...y-in-the-water
ATHENS 1896

HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE STUDENT ALFRÉD HAJOS WAS THE UNDISPUTED STAR OF THE SWIMMING EVENTS AT THE 1896 GAMES. BORN ALFRÉD GUTTMAN AND RAISED IN BUDAPEST, HIS PROWESS IN THE WATER HAD ITS ROOTS IN TRAGEDY. HE DETERMINED TO BECOME A GOOD SWIMMER AT THE AGE OF 13 AFTER HIS FATHER DROWNED IN THE RIVER DANUBE. HE LATER CHANGED HIS SURNAME TO HAJÓS WHICH MEANS “SAILOR” IN HUNGARIAN.

Prior to the Olympics, Hajós had already claimed the 100 metre freestyle European swimming title in 1895 and 1896, but he still faced a struggle to persuade his university allow him time off to travel to Athens.

All of the swimming events in Athens took place in the cold open Mediterranean waters of the Bay of Zea. Battling the elements – with 4m waves crashing around him - the 18-year-old Hajós served up majestic victories in both the 100m and the 1,200m freestyle events, with winning times of of 1:22.2, and the 1,200 metre freestyle in 18:22.1 respectively – to become the youngest champion of the inaugural Olympic Games.

For the longer race, the swimmers were transported by boat out to sea and left to swim the required distance back to shore. Hajós smeared his body with a thick layer of grease, but it proved to be of little protection against the cold, and he confessed after winning the race that, “My will to live completely overcame my desire to win.”

Hajós’ hopes of competing in the third swimming event on the programme, the 500m freestyle, were dashed as it was sandwiched in between his other two events leaving him insufficient time to prepare.

While attending a dinner honouring the Olympic champions, the Crown Prince of Greece asked Hajós – who had been dubbed “the Hungarian Dolphin” by the Athenian press - where he had learned to swim so well. “In the water,” was his laconic response!

The swimmer received a more muted reception on his return to Budapest, where the Dean of the Polytechnical University told him: “Your medals are of no interest to me, but I am eager to hear your replies in your next examination.”

Hajós later showed him to be an extremely versatile athlete, winning Hungary's 100m sprint, 400m hurdles and discus titles. He also played as a centre forward in the Hungarian national football championship and was a member of the Hungarian team for its first ever international, against Austria on 12 October 1902. Between 1897 and 1904 he was also a football referee, while in 1906 he took on the role of coach of his country’s national football team.

By the time of the 1924 Games in Paris, Hajós was a prominent architect specialising in sport facilities, and he entered the Olympic art competitions, which were then a prominent strand of the programme. His plan for a stadium, devised together with fellow Hungarian Dezso Lauber (who himself had competed in the tennis at the 1908 Olympics), was awarded the silver medal, the highest honour available then. It made Hajós just one of two Olympians ever to have won medals in both sport and art Olympic competitions.

Indeed Hajós went on to create an enduring sporting legacy in bricks and mortar, designing many of Hungary’s venues and stadiums, the most famous of which is the swimming complex on Margaret Island in Budapest, built in 1930, and which today bears his name. It was used for the 1958, 2006 and 2010 European Aquatic Championships and the 2006 FINA Men’s Water Polo World Cup.

In 1953, he was awarded the Olympic diploma of merit by the IOC.

TAGSATHENS 1896 , SWIMMING , HUNGARY

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https://www.olympic.org/news/john-an...e-usa-shooting

CHOSEN TO REPRESENT THE USA IN THE SHOOTING EVENTS IN ATHENS, HARVARD GRADUATE JOHN PAINE SET OFF FOR ATHENS VIA FRANCE, WHERE HE HOPED TO RECRUIT HIS OLDER BROTHER SUMNER – WHO WAS WORKING IN THE FRENCH CAPITAL – TO JOIN HIM.

Sumner later recalled the moment they were reunited: “The last of March I came home to luncheon one day and found my brother, Lieutenant J. B. Paine, sitting in my office. I had not the slightest idea that he was on this side of the pond. "When does the next train start for Athens?" said he. “I don't know,” said I. "Well," said he, "find out, and get your revolvers and we will go there, for the Boston Athletic Association (of which we are both members) has sent a team over, and as there are two revolver matches we may be able to help out the Americans."

Uncertain about the weapons or the number of rounds required in Athens, the Paines packed an entire arsenal: two Colt army revolvers, two Smith & Wesson Russian model revolvers, a Stevens .22 calibre pistol, a Wurfflein, two pocket weapons, and 3,500 rounds of ammunition!

They arrived in Athens the night before the 25 metres military revolver contest, and having obtained a certificate attesting to their amateur status, went straight to bed in readiness for an 8am start on the shooting range.

The competition took place in what Sumner termed “the prettiest shooting house in the world – 200 feet long, and built entirely of snow white marble.” In accordance with the standard protocol they turned their weapons over for inspection by a committee. Unfortunately their .22 calibre pistols were disqualified on the basis that they were not standard issue; instead the brothers had to use their Colt .45 revolvers.

Their target was a black bull's-eye with a white spot inside it, which in the blinding light said Sumner “gave the same effect to the eye as those trick cards with rings painted on them, which seem to revolve when you look at them closely.”

Regardless of the apparent impediments, the Paine brothers were far too good for their opponents. John won with a score of 442, while Sumner took second with 380. The next best performer scored 205. The following day, by prior agreement between the brothers, the first day's winner sat out. Sumner contested the choice revolver at 30 meters as the sole representative of the US team, and he won by the same score his brother had recorded the previous day. Having travelled to Athens with 3,500 rounds of ammunition, the brothers had needed just 96 shots between them to secure their Olympic titles.

[Оlympic.org]

https://www.olympic.org/news/four-ti...nted-schuhmann
GERMANY’S CARL SCHUHMANN WAS ARGUABLY THE BRIGHTEST STAR OF ATHENS 1896. COMPETING IN GYMNASTICS, ATHLETICS, WEIGHTLIFTING AND GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING, HE WON FOUR GOLD MEDALS, MORE THAN ANY OTHER ATHLETE AT THE INAUGURAL MODERN GAMES.

The middle of the 19th century had seen sports clubs mushroom across Europe, and among the most illustrious was the Berliner Turnerschaft, a gymnastics club founded in the German capital in 1863. One of its most eminent members was a multi-talented athlete by the name of Carl Schuhmann, who at the age of 26 was chosen to represent Germany at Athens 1896.

The Munster-born all-rounder competed in the long jump, triple jump and shot put, his best finish being fifth in the second of those events. He also took part in the two-handed weightlifting competition – the forerunner of the clean and jerk – lifting 90kg to take fourth place.

However, it was in the gymnastics events, Held before tens of thousands of spectators at the Panathinaiko Stadium on 9 April, that Schuhmann came into his own. Forming part of a peerless 11-man German team captained by Fritz Hofmann, who won silver in the 100m, the lithe Schuhmann helped his country land gold in the horizontal bar and parallel bars events before going on to win the individual vault competition, topping the podium three times on the same day.

Further success would come Schuhmann’s way in wrestling, one of the sports that forged a symbolic link between the ancient and modern Games. The only event on the programme at Athens 1896 was the men’s Greco-Roman, which was an open competition at the time. The versatile German began his bid for another gold by getting the better of Great Britain’s Launceston Elliot, a victory that earned him a place in the final against local hero Yeriyos Tsitas. Also held at the Panathinaiko Stadium, the gold-medal bout began late on 10 April, as an ecstatic crowd celebrated Greek runner Spyridon Louis’ triumph in the marathon, and was suspended after 40 minutes owing to the gathering darkness. The two combatants resumed hostilities the following morning, with Schuhmann throwing his man to the ground after 15 minutes to claim his fourth gold of the Games. On presenting the German with his medal, King George I of Greece told him: “You are now the most popular man in this country.”

Schuhmann is one of only three athletes to have competed in four different sports at the same edition of the Games and the most successful member of that trio, a distinction he will quite possibly hold forever. After becoming a gymnastics teacher in England, he joined up with the Germany team at the 1908 Olympic Games in London and maintained close ties with the Olympic movement through to Berlin 1936, where, despite being in his mid-60s, he took part in a gymnastics exhibition. He died in Berlin ten years later at the age of 76. His tomb bears the words “Germany’s first Olympic champion”, below which are inscribed the five Olympic rings and the legend “Athens 1896”.

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Афины 1896-й матч.
АФИНЫ 1896

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Афины 1896-Cycling-FLAMENG Léon (FRA) и МАССОН Пол (FRA).
АФИНЫ 1896 , ФРАНЦИЯ , МАССОН, ПОЛ

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Athens 1896-A team demonstration at the parallel bars.
ATHENS 1896