Share | Olympics Art  Olympic Years Athens 1896 London 1908 Stockholm 1912 Antwerp 1920 Paris 1924 Amsterdam 1928 Los Angeles 1932 Berlin 1936 London 1948 Helsinki 1952 Rome 1960 Tokyo 1964 Mexico City 1968 Munich 1972 Sydney 2000 Beijing 2008  Olympic Sports Baseball Basketball Bicycling Boxing Diving Fencing Gymnastics Soccer Swimming Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Water Polo Weightlifting Wrestling More Olympics Posters  Features The Ancient Olympic Games Olympic Mythology The Athletes The Sports Events Did You Know?	Athens Olympics, 1896
	The Olympic Games in Athens, from "Le Petit Journal", 26th April 1896 Framed Giclee Print Meyer, Henri 26.25 in. x 32.25 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Crowning the Winner with Laurel in Ancient Greek Olympic Games Giclee Print 12 in. x 16 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Framed   Mounted Olympic Celebration-Athens 1896 25 in. x 34 in. Check Out & Buy this Art Print Framed   Mounted The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established during this congress. Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathinaiko Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 19th Century, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events. After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, some 108 years later. The stories surrounding the events and personalities of these Games were chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens, 1896 - starring David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane and Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin.