Games of the I Olympiad
Time: From 06 April to 15 April 1896
Country of the host city: Greece

希臘首都雅典是歐洲古代文明的中心，古奧運會發源地奧林匹亞就在離此約300公里的地方。1894年6月經過巴黎國際體育會議協商，歷史名城雅典贏得了首屆現代奧運會主辦權。

應邀參加首屆現代奧運會的有澳大利亞、奧地利、保加利亞、英國、匈牙利、德國、丹麥、美國、法國、智利、瑞士、瑞典和東道主希臘14個國家的311名運動員，希臘陣容最大，共230人，占總數的三分之二；德國、法國各19人；美國14人，居第四位。美國詹姆斯·康諾利在三級跳遠賽中旗開得勝，成績是13.71米，成為現代奧運會的第一個冠軍。他獲勝后，運動場奏起了美國國歌，升起了美國國旗。這在以后就成了奧運會的傳統發獎儀式。

During the first Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held in Paris on 18-23 June 1894, the city of Athens was selected for the Games of the I Olympiad. Pierre de Coubertin's dream finally came true, and the revival of the ancient Olympics attracted athletes from 14 nations, with the largest delegations coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. On 6 April 1896, the American James Connolly won the triple jump to become the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years.

德國人卡爾·舒曼是一位跨項選手，除摔跤外，他還參加了田徑、體操比賽。他在體操賽中也取得了出色的成績，獲跳馬冠軍和雙杠、單杠團體第一名，加上摔跤，總共4項第一，是本屆獲金牌最多的選手。

The German athlete Carl Schumann won three events in gymnastics (individual horse vault and horizontal bar and parallel bars team competitions) en 1896. He also won the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament in a major upset. Schumann also competed in three events in athletics (long jump, triple jump and shot put) and in weightlifting.

在最受關注的馬拉松比賽中，身著淺藍背心的希臘人斯皮里東·魯易斯第一個沖入運動場，為希臘贏得了極高的榮譽。

The people of Athens greeted the Games with great enthusiasm. Their support was rewarded when a Greek shepherd, Spyridon Louis, won the most popular event, the marathon. On 10 April 1896, Louis, wearing shoes that had been donated by his fellow villagers, set off from Marathon with sixteen other runners. He took the lead four kilometers from the Panathenaic Stadium and, to the great joy of the 100,000 spectators in and around the stadium, won the race by more than seven minutes.

當時的冠軍獲得了銀牌，橄欖枝和證書，第二名則獲得了銅牌，月桂枝和證書。獎牌的正面是希臘神話中主神宙斯的臉，他的手中握著地球，地球上是勝利女神，獎牌的背面則是雅典衛城。

First place winners were awarded a silver medal, an olive branch and a diploma. Those in second place were given a copper medal, a branch of laurel and a diploma.

The obverse side of the medal has Zeus' face along with his hand holding a globe with the winged victory on it, with the caption in Greek "Olympia". The reverse side had the Acropolis site with the caption in Greek "International Olympic Games in Athens in 1896."