Australia at the 1896 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:AUS
Nocname:Australian Olympic Committee
Games:Summer Olympics
Year:1896
Location:Athens, Greece
Date:April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors:1
Sports:2
Events:6
Rank:8
Gold:2
Silver:0
Bronze:0
Appearances:auto
See also:1906 Intercalated Games
(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

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.

MedalNameSportEventDate
AthleticsMen's 800 metres
AthleticsMen's 1500 metres
TennisMen's doubles
Medals by sport
SportTotal
Athletics2002
Totalstyle=background:gold2style=background:silver0style=background:#c9602

Multiple medalists

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

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.| width=78% align=left valign=top |

width=180Sportwidth=55Menwidth=55Womenwidth=55Total
Athletics1 0 1
Tennis1 0 1
Total 1[2] 0 1

| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

Medals by day
DayDateTotal
16 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
27 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 1bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 01
38 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
49 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 1bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 01
510 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
611 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
712 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
813 Aprilbgcolor=F7F6A8 0bgcolor=DCE5E5 0bgcolor=FFDAB9 00
Total2002

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Both of Flack's gold medals came in the athletics competitions as he won both of his track races.

Track & road events

AthleteEventHeatFinal
TimeRankTimeRank
Edwin Flack400 mDid not advance
Edwin Flack800 m2:10.0 OR1 Q2:11.0
Edwin Flack1500 m4:33.2 OR
Edwin FlackMarathon

Tennis

See main article: Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

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.

AthleteEventFirst roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Edwin FlackSingles
L
Did not advance=8

Doubles
W

L
Did not advance

Notes

  1. See, e.g., http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/table_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1896, the IOC medal chart for the 1896 Games listing Flack's two gold medals for Australia.
  2. [Edwin Flack]

References

External links