The Madmen database on the 1896 Olympic Games

The data on these pages are completely according to the Madmen database ( http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1896/)

Included Sports and Events

In contrast with 1900 and 1904, there is no discussion about the true Olympic nature of the events conducted at Athina in 1896. One event, the 100m swimming for Greek Sailors, is very strange according to later criteria, but it is generally accepted that it may keep its status.

Unknown Competitors

When counting the competitors, it is immaterial whether or not we know their actual names. In counting the unknown competitors, I have followed Mallon's book
"The 1896 Olympic Games - Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary", Jefferson NC, 1998.

My handling of the unknown competitors is as follows:

• In Gymnastics, there are 48 (32+16) members of the two Greek Parallel Bars teams that are not known. Mallon assumes that the 7 known gymnasts (in other events) are among those, so he adds 41 unknown Greeks.
• In Shooting, in the Military Rifle, there are 22 unknown competitors, all of which Mallon assumes to be Greeks.
• In Swimming, there are 4 unknown competitors in the 100m, and 3 in the 1200 m. Mallon, for no reason given, assumes there are in total 6 unknown Greeks

In total, there are 50 unknown Greek competitors, to add to the 176 known ones, brings us to 226

Total Competitors

My total of 226 competitors is equal to the number given by Mallon in the Olympdex (176), plus the 50 unknown ones.

This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here for a full Introduction.