A Little Bit of History of the Modern Olympics

The revival of the Modern Olympics was the idea of Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He believed that international competitions between amateur athletes would help promote friendly relationships between people from different countries. Despite strong opposition in 1894 de Coubertin assembled 79 delegates from 12 countries to attend the international congress for the re-establishment of the Olympics. It was decided to hold the first modern Olympics in Athens in two years time.

The Athens Games of 1896 were a great success. The Olympics had returned to the land of their birth. The first competition of the Modern Olympics was the first heat of the 100m which was won by Francis Lane (USA), in a time of 12.5 sec. American James Connolly was the first winner when he won the triple jump with a jump of 13.71 meters. Australia's lone representative, Edwin Flack, a 23-year-old accountant working in the United Kingdom, became not only our first Olympian but our first winner. Flack won the 800 and 1500 meters track events. He was also competed in the marathon until fatigue forced him to withdraw around the 37-kilometer mark, and in the singles and doubles tennis events, losing in the first round. The original Olympic medals were silver and only awarded to the winner of an event.

The next Games were held in Paris and St. Louis but unfortunately were overshadowed by the Paris Universal Exhibition and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Interim Games were held in 1906 in an attempt to revive the flagging Olympic movement. These Games were held in Athens, but were not numbered in sequence. Twenty countries attended and the Olympic concept was put back on track.

1908 in London saw the best organized Games so far. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided in 1907 to award medals to the first three places in all events. This was followed on successfully at Stockholm in 1912, where electrical timing equipment was used for the first time in running events.