Australia at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Australia competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. One athlete from Victoria, a British colony which later formed part of Australia, competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Edwin Flack was born in the United Kingdom and was a resident in London in 1896, but spent most of his life in Australia and so is considered an Australian athlete by the International Olympic Committee.^[1]

Australia at the 1896 Summer Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
in Athens, Greece April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors	1 in 2 sports and 6 events
Medals Ranked 8th	Gold 2 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games ––––  Australasia (1908–1912)

The Union Flag was used as the flag for the Australian colonies as well as Great Britain and Ireland at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

At the end of these Olympics, Australia was ranked in eighth position on the medal table with a total of 2 medals (2 gold).

Flack was the only competitor from an Australian colony. He entered five events, winning medals in three. The bronze medal in tennis, however, was part of a mixed team and therefore is not counted for Australia.

Medalists

Further information: 1896 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 1896 Summer Olympics medal winners

First Australian Olympic medals, exhibited at the Australian Sports Museum

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded. Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Edwin Flack	Athletics	Men's 800 metres	April 9
Gold	Edwin Flack	Athletics	Men's 1500 metres	April 7
Bronze	Edwin Flack	Tennis	Men's doubles	April 9

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Athletics	2	0	0	2
Total	2	0	0	2

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Name	Medal	Sport	Event
Edwin Flack	Gold  Gold	Athletics	Men's 800 metres Men's 1500 metres

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Sport Men Women Total Athletics 1 0 1 Tennis 1 0 1 Total 1[2] 0 1

Medals by day Day Date Total 1 6 April 0 0 0 0 2 7 April 1 0 0 1 3 8 April 0 0 0 0 4 9 April 1 0 0 1 5 10 April 0 0 0 0 6 11 April 0 0 0 0 7 12 April 0 0 0 0 8 13 April 0 0 0 0 Total 2 0 0 2

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Both of Flack's gold medals came in the athletics competitions as he won both of his track races.

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Edwin Flack	400 m	DNS		Did not advance
Edwin Flack	800 m	2:10.0 OR	1 Q	2:11.0
Edwin Flack	1500 m	—		4:33.2 OR
Edwin Flack	Marathon	—		DNF

Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics

In the singles tournament, Flack lost the only match he competed in. His loss in the semifinals of the doubles competition, while carrying no prize at the time, earned him a retroactive bronze medal from the International Olympic Committee. This medal is counted for mixed team rather than Australia, however.

Athlete	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Edwin Flack	Singles	Akratopoulos (GRE) L	Did not advance			=8
Edwin Flack (AUS)  George S. Robertson (GBR)	Doubles	—	Marshall / Marshall (GBR) W WO	Kasdaglis / Petrokokkinos (GRE) L	Did not advance