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Spiridon Louis delights Greece at the first Olympics

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  • Spiridon Louis delights Greece at the first Olympics

    Deutsche Presse-Agentur
    July 23, 2004, Friday

    FEATURE: Spiridon Louis delights Greece at the first Olympics

    By John Bagratuni, dpa
    Hamburg


    When Spiridon Louis was taken from Athens to Marathon on April 9,
    1896, he was a poor shepherd from the village of Maroussi near the
    Greek capital. But a day later the 23-year-old was the biggest hero
    of the first Olympics of the modern era - winning the marathon race
    by more than seven minutes and with it a place in sports history. The
    legend has it that he drank a glass of wine en route and that Greek
    King George I. and Crown Prince Constantine accompanied him on the
    final metres to the finish line in the Panathinaikon stadium. Apart
    from the official prizes - a silver medal, olive branch and diploma -
    Louis received a goat, a donkey cart, a pension and a small piece of
    land for his heroics. The marathon race had its tradition in ancient
    Greece, but was in fact never part of the ancient Olympics which were
    outlawed in 393 A.D. by Roman Emperor Theodosius because he
    considered them pagan. The idea to revive the Games came from French
    Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who later become president of the
    International Olympic Committee, in the early 1890s. Originally due
    to take place 1900 in Paris, the first edition was brought forward to
    1986 in Athens (the ancient site of Olympia was remote and
    undeveloped) due to huge support from Greece. Prince Constantine's
    organising committee raised the necessary funds through the sale of
    souvenir stamps and a donation from a businessman allowed the
    renovation of the Panathinaikon stadium to become the first Olympic
    stadium. It was there on Easter Monday, April 6, 1896, that George I.
    officially declared open the first modern era Olympics which brought
    together 245 athletes (all men) from 14 countries in 43 events. James
    Connolly of the U.S. became the first Olympic champion by winning the
    triple jump - 1,527 years after Varasdates, Prince of Armenia, was
    the last recorded Olympic winner in 369. Connolly, 27, left Harvard
    University to compete at the Games and was thrown out of the elite
    university for this move. He was not rehabilitated until 1949.
    Compatriot Thomas Burke won the 100m and 400m races and American
    brothers John and Sumner Paine finished first and second in the
    revolver shooting event. German Carl Schuhmann was the most
    successful athlete, winning three gymnastics events, the wrestling
    competition, placing third in weightlifting and fourth in the shot
    put. Rowing and yachting events had to be cancelled owing to bad
    weather while the swimming took place in chilly Mediterranean Sea
    water in Piraeus. The first modern era Olympics lasted 10 days and
    set the stage for the Games' huge success. They now return to Greece
    for the first time in 108 years and run August 13-29. The marathon
    will end in the Panathinaikon stadium again, but the real centre of
    the Games including the Olympic stadium are in Maroussi - Louis'
    former home which has for a long time become part of Athens.
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