The Above picture- the 1896 Olympic Marathon-believe it or not….

A summary of Athens 1896. There were only 311 athletes participating from 13 countries. The athletic competition was considered mediocre at best The records set there would soon be shattered.. The best thing about the 1896 games were the enthusiasm in which the Greek people showed for the games.

The United States won the most Gold Medals- with 11, Greece had 10 but Greece came away big on the total medal count winning 47 total to the United States 19. Germany came in third with 7 Gold and 15 total. The most successful single athlete was a German wrestler called Carl Schuhmann who won four events.

These Olympics games -the first in the modern era was funded by a Greek architect called Georgios Averoff.

Pictured below is–the start of the 100 meter dash.