Australia at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Australia at the
1896 Summer Olympics
Australia at the; 1896 Summer Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
in Athens, Greece; April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors	1 in 2 sports and 6 events
Medals; Ranked 8th	Gold 2 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;
Other related appearances
	1906 Intercalated Games; –––– Australasia (1908–1912)

Australia competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. One athlete from Victoria, a British colony which later formed part of Australia, competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Edwin Flack was born in the United Kingdom and was resident in London in 1896, but spent most of his life in Australia and so is considered an Australian athlete by the International Olympic Committee.^[1]

The Union Flag was used as the flag for the Australian colonies as well as Great Britain and Ireland at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

At the end of these Olympics, Australia was ranked in eighth position on the medal table with a total of 2 medals (2 gold).

Flack was the only competitor from an Australian colony. He entered five events, winning medals in three. The bronze medal in tennis, however, was part of a mixed team and therefore is not counted for Australia.

Medalists

First Australian Olympic medals, exhibited at the Australian Sports Museum

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded. Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Edwin Flack	Athletics	Men's 800 metres	April 9
Gold	Edwin Flack	Athletics	Men's 1500 metres	April 7
Bronze	Edwin Flack	Tennis	Men's doubles	April 9

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Athletics	2	0	0	2
Total	2	0	0	2

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Name	Medal	Sport	Event
Edwin Flack	Gold Gold	Athletics	Men's 800 metres Men's 1500 metres

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Sport	Men	Total
Athletics	1	1
Tennis	1	1
Total	1^[2]	1

Medals by day
Day	Date				Total
1	6 April	0	0	0	0
2	7 April	1	0	0	1
3	8 April	0	0	0	0
4	9 April	1	0	0	1
5	10 April	0	0	0	0
6	11 April	0	0	0	0
7	12 April	0	0	0	0
8	13 April	0	0	0	0
Total		2	0	0	2

Athletics

Both of Flack's gold medals came in the athletics competitions as he won both of his track races.

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Edwin Flack	400 m	DNS		Did not advance
Edwin Flack	800 m	2:10.0 OR	1 Q	2:11.0
Edwin Flack	1500 m	—		4:33.2 OR
Edwin Flack	Marathon	—		DNF

Tennis

In the singles tournament, Flack lost the only match he competed in. His loss in the semifinals of the doubles competition, while carrying no prize at the time, earned him a retroactive bronze medal from the International Olympic Committee. This medal is counted for mixed team rather than Australia, however.

Athlete	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Edwin Flack	Singles	Akratopoulos (GRE) L	Did not advance			=8
Edwin Flack (AUS) George S. Robertson (GBR)	Doubles	—	Marshall / Marshall (GBR) W WO	Kasdaglis / Petrokokkinos (GRE) L	Did not advance

Notes

^ See, e.g., [1], the IOC medal chart for the 1896 Games listing Flack's two gold medals for Australia.
^ Edwin Flack competed in athletics and tennis.

References

Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [2])
Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [3])
Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.

External links

Australian Olympic Committee

[Australian-1] See, e.g., [1], the IOC medal chart for the 1896 Games listing Flack's two gold medals for Australia.

[Flack-2] Edwin Flack competed in athletics and tennis.

[1]

[2]