first medal
RARE Bronze participation medal for the first modern OLYMPIC GAMES in ATHENS 1896
Artist N. LYTRIS
Struck by PITTNER , Vienna
50mm
Bronze
weight 59.1 grams
Features, A Pheonix emerging from the flames, with Nike holding a laurel wreath with the Acropolis in the background ( OLYMPICS ATHENS 1896 )
Second medal-French Champion in shooting 1896.85,8 gr bronze,57mm by
Henri Dubois (1859 - 1943)
Henri Alfred Auguste Dubois was born in Rome, Italy in 1859, he was the son of the medallist Alphée Dubois. He was pupil to his father, to Chapu and to Falguière. In 1878 Dubois competed for the Prix de Rome for which he received a second prize award. He exhibited at the Salon de Paris from 1880 to 1901, received a third-class medal in 1888, a travel grant the same year, a second-class medal in 1893 and a first-class medal in 1898. Dubois was awarded a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1900 and was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1903. His works are in the collection of the Musée Luxembourg in Paris.
The 1896 Olympic Medals and Awards
In ancient Greece, an Olympic victory had immense impact on the athlete and his home city-state. Spiritual gratification, rather than material gain, motivated participation in the ancient Games. Based on that heritage, the awards of the 1896 Olympic games were simple tokens, yet rich in meaning and symbolism.
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Above: Marathon race winner, Spiros Louis, with his awards |
Awards of the First Modern Olympiad
At the first modern Olympic games there were no gold medals for the winners, nor were there separate awards ceremonies. (Gold medals were first distributed at the Olympic games of 1904 in Saint Louis.) Instead, all of the prizes were given out by King George at a special ceremony just prior to the closing ceremony on the last day of the Games.
All competitors in the Athens 1896 Games received some kind of award. In this way, the revived Games differed sharply from the ancient model, where only first place merited any kind of recognition. The official awards of the 1896 Olympics were a silver medal, crown of olive branches, and certificate for first place; a bronze medal, crown of laurel, and certificate for second place; and a commemorative medal for each athlete who competed.
The marathon race, however, was treated differently. Michel Brйal, who was fascinated by the legend of Phidippides, proposed "marathon run" for the first Olympic games. He promised a silver cup to the runner who could duplicate Phidippides' famous exploit (but without dying, of course). Lambros, a wealthy collector of Greek antiquities, offered an antique vase as a prize, to be added to Brйal's cup, for the marathon champion. So much excitement grew up around the introduction of this new kind of race that when Spiros Louis, a Greek national like Phidippides, won the race, the reaction of the spectators was understandable exuberant.
1896 Victor's Medal
This medal was designed by Nicolas Gysis of Greece, who was then teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. It was cast in silver for first place and bronze for second place. On the front is a portrait of Zeus with the globe in his right hand, upon which stands the goddess of victory, Nike. She is holding an olive branch in her hands. On the left the script reads in Greek "OLYMPIA."
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On the reverse side there is a representation of Acropolis and the Parthenon. The inscription (in Greek) reads, "International Olympic Games, Athens 1896." This same medal was reissued for the 10th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic games. Instead of "1896" the year "1906" was engraved on the reverse.
1896 Certificate
The victory certificate was handed to the winners in a blue and white cover at the Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens. The artist, Nicolas Gysis, describes his creation:
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Above: The 1896 certificate awarded to Olympic victors |
"...The upper half of the Certificate depicts the ruins of the Parthenon over which the Greek flag is flying. Encircling the Parthenon is a torchlit procession of which only the lights and smoke can be discerned. Behind the ruins, a great Phoenix is presented rising up and dispersing the dense smoke. To the right of picture in the foreground, the Winged Victory, restored to a beautiful and living statue and holding an olive branch, announces her message to the female figure of Greece, who is sitting opposite her...Between Greece and the Winged Victory, a relief depicts the Olympic Games."
—Nicolas Gysis (1842-1901), Athens 1896
1896 Commemorative Medal
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The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Because Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Athens was considered to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on 23 June 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also instituted during this congress.
Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathinaiko Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 1800s, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.[3] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events.
After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, some 108 years later.
The stories surrounding the events and personalities of these Games were chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens 1896starring David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane and Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin.[4]
Medal count
Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals, in addition to three medals won by mixed teams, i.e. teams made up of athletes from multiple nations. The United States won the most gold medals (11), while host nation Greece won the most medals overall (46) as well as the most silver (17) and bronze (19) medals, finishing with one fewer gold medal than the United States.[46]
During these inaugural Olympics, winners were given a silver medal, an olive branch, and a diploma, while runners-up received a copper medal, laurelbranch, and diploma.[49][50] The IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event to comport with more recent traditions.[46]
To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the 
icon next to the column title.
- Key
Host nation (Greece)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States (USA) | 11 | 7 | 2 | 20 |
| 2 |  Greece (GRE) | 10 | 17 | 19 | 46 |
| 3 |  Germany (GER) | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 |  France (FRA) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 |  Hungary (HUN) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 |  Austria (AUT) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | Australia (AUS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 |  Denmark (DEN) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 |  Mixed team (ZZX) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total (11 NOCs) | 43 | 43 | 36 | 122 | |
| Medals of the Games | |||||||||
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