1896 Olympics

[OliDegu2008]

Britain's Launceston Elliot breezes to gold in the Men's one hand lift

Men's one hand lift - The Men's one hand lift started directly after the Men's two hand life competition Tuesday afternoon at the Panathinaiko Stadium.

Four athletes took part in the competition with Great Britain's Launceston Elliott the favorite for gold.

Format - Single round of lifts with each lifter receiving three lifts and the top three after that receiving three more lifts.

The type of lift used is similar to the modern day snatch event.

Results - Great Britain's Launceston Elliot shocked no one and dominated the lifts, recording the top lift of 77 kilograms.

Placing second and earning the silver medal was Alexandros Nikolopoulos of Greece with a lift of 65 kilograms. Viggo Jensen who won the gold in the two handed lift placed third.

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Next up: We wave goodbye to Tuesday and welcome in Wednesday at these Inaugural Olympic Games. Wednesday will feature cycling, shooting and tennis.

[OliDegu2008]

No surprises as tennis gets underway with the Men's singles competition

Tennis Men's singles - In the first official event of Wednesday, thirteen competitors from six nations make up your field for the Men's singles tennis competition.

None of the leading players of the time such as Wimbledon champion Harold Mahony, U.S champion Robert Wrenn, William Larned or Wilfred Baddeley will participate in the Olympic games.

There were supposed to be fifteen players to start the competition but neither Frank nor George Marshall participated.

Great Britain's John Boland and Greece's Konstantinos Akratopoulos were considered the favorites entering the competition.

Format - Single elimination bracket with one competitor, Konstantino Akratopoulos receiving a first round bye.

Results - In a very predictable first round of action, there were no surprises as Aristidis Akratopoulos, Dionysios Kasdaglis, Evangelos Rallis, John Boland, Konstantinos Paspatis and Momcilo Tapavica all advanced to the quarter-finals which are to be held tomorrow, Thursday April 9.

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Next up: We stay at the Athens Lawn Tennis Club as the first round of the Men's doubles competition gets underway.

[OliDegu2008]

The favorites advance out of the first day of play in Tennis Men's doubles

Tennis Men's doubles - The men's doubles competition started directly after the first round of play in the singles competition at the Athens Lawn Tennis Club.

Six teams entered but only five competed. The five pairs were made up of two teams from Greece and three mixed teams.

This competition is the only Olympics games that will have mixed teams. As with the Men's singles competition, none of the leading players in the world participated.

Format - Single elimination bracket with the winner of the Aristidis Akratopoulos/Konstatinos Akratopoulos and John Boland/Friedrich Traun match getting a bye in the semi-finals and advancing directly to the final match.

Results - In a very quick morning of tennis action, the mixed team of John Boland and Friedrich Traun breezed past the Akratopoulos's en route to the finals.

Frank and George Marshall withdrew from the competition meaning Edwin Flack and George Robertson will advance to the semifinals where they will face-off against the Greek team of Dionysios Kasdaglis and Demetrios Petrokokkinos.

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Next up: The first shooting competition of these games with the Men's Miltary rifle 200 metres.

[OliDegu2008]

Greece dominates in the first strings of the Men's 200 metre military rifle

Men's 200 metre military rifle - Unbeknownst at the time, this was the only appearance of the 200 metre military rifle event.

According to history, 42 shooters entered the event but historical data only shows scores (some partial) for 13.

The event was held at the just built Kallithea shooting range. A ceremonial first shot was fired by the queen consort of the Hellenes, Olga Constantinovna of Russia.

Format - The competition will see each shooter fire 40 shots, in 4 strings of 10, at a range of 200 metres.

The first two strings will take place on April 8 while the final two will occur on April 9.

Results - Greeks make up the first four positions after the first two strings Wednesday.

Pantelis Karasevdas, Anastasios Metaxas, Panagiotis Pavlidis and Nicolaos Trikupis lead the way followed by Viggo Jensen of Denmark.

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Next up: Just like that we are finishing up Wednesday already with cycling and the Men's 100 kilometre race.

[OliDegu2008]

France's Leon Flameng captures Gold in cycling - Men's 100 kilometres

Cycling Men's 100 kilometres - The men's 100 kilometres was the first of five cycling events to be held at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

It was held at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. 11 cyclists entered.

The French riders were considered the favorites coming into the event with the Greeks not far behind.

Format - The track was one-third of a kilometre in length, so the cyclists had to complete 300 laps. Pacemakers were allowed in the event.

Results - As predicted, France's Leon Flameng easily won the event finishing in a time of three hours and nine seconds. His closest competitor, Georgios Kolettis of Greece finished in a time of three hours, twenty-one seconds.

Aristidis Konstantinidis took home bronze.

One of the favorites going in, Paul Masson of France finished last as he primarily served as a pacer for Flameng early and later in the competition.

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Next up: The fourth day of these Olympics Games sets forth with the men's 800 metre final, fencing, gymnastics, shooting and tennis.

[OliDegu2008]

Greece sweeps the podium in the Men's 200 metre military rifle

Men's 200 metre military rifle - Thursday was the final day of the Men's 200 metre military rifle competition. The final strings, strings three and four started at 10:30 a.m. and were the first event of the day in Athens.

A trio of Greeks made up the podium entering Thursday.

Format - The competition will see each shooter fire 40 shots, in 4 strings of 10, at a range of 200 metres.

Results - In the first podium sweep of these Olympics, Greek shooters placed one, two and three.

Pantelis Karasevdas won gold with impressive total score of 1589 which included a perfect fourth and final string.

Karasevdas' countrymen, Panagiotis Pavlidis and Anastasios Metaxas finished second and third to win the silver and bronze medals. An impressive final string for Pavlidis secured him the silver over Metaxas.

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Next up: We get back to the tennis court with the men's singles and doubles competitions.

[OliDegu2008]

The final four are set in the Tennis Men's Singles competition

Tennis Men's singles - In the the second day of tennis action in Athens, we saw the quarterfinals take place in the Tennis Men's Singles competition.

The quarterfinal field consisted of five Greeks, John Boland from Great Britain and Momcilo Tapavica from Hungary.

Format - Single elimination bracket.

Results - As was the case in the first round, no real surprises in the quarterfinals either as all the expected winners won. Advancing to the semifinals which will be played tomorrow is Dionysios Kasdaglis, John Boland, Momcilo Tapavica and Konstantinos Paspatis.

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Next up: We head to the Zappeion for some fencing with the Men's sabre competition.

[OliDegu2008]

Greece's Ioannis Georgiadis takes gold in the Men's sabre competition

Fencing Men's sabre - The Men's sabre event in fencing commenced at 10 a.m. and featured five competitors, three from Greece, one from Denmark and one from Austria.

The favorite coming into the competition was said to be the Austrian, Adolf Schmal.

Format - The event featured a pool-play final. Each bout was to three touches.

Sabre rules were used, except that the target area was the entire body (rather than being limited to above the waist).

Results - Greece's Ioannis Georgiadis breezed past most of his competition en route to a perfect 4-0 record, winning the gold medal.

His country-mate Tilemachos Karakalos went 3-1 to capture the silver. Karakalos only loss was a 3-2 to Georgiadis.

Taking the bronze was Adolf Schmal of Austria who finished with a record of 2-2.

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Next up: We continue Thursday with the first gymnastics competitions of these Olympics, the Men's long horse vault.