Spectator programme for the re-enactment ceremony
By Philip Barker
Celebrations of the 125th anniversary of the first Olympic Games of the Modern era have been necessarily limited but earlier this month International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach did visit Athens where he inaugurated new floodlights at the stadium.
“Greece gave birth to the Olympic Games twice, once in Ancient Olympia and once here in 1896. Greeks gave to humanity the gift of the Olympic Games and also the gift of democracy. With the new lighting of the Panathinaiko Stadium, this heritage will become even more brilliant and enlighten the entire world,” he said.
25 years earlier in the same stadium, there had been celebrations on a different scale to mark the centenary of the modern Olympics.
Athens also chose the occasion to launch their candidacy for the 2004 Games. They had lost out to Atlanta in the race for 1996, a decision which had caused some bitterness in Greece.
Hellenic Olympic Committee President Antonios Tzikas announced
“We dedicate ourselves to the 21st Century as well as to the gods and goddesses of our past.”
A week of festivities in Greece began with the lighting of the Olympic torch in Ancient Olympia. The IOC Executive Board also met at the premises of the International Olympic Academy. When they returned to Athens, they paid homage to the pioneers of the modern Olympic movement by meeting at the Hotel Grande Bretagne just as the IOC had done in 1896. There was a display of stamps and other Olympic memorabilia in the entrance hall of the hotel during the week.
The city had also arranged a gala evening at the stadium itself.
“It is our way of saying happy 100th birthday to the Olympic Games tradition that was revived here in the Greek capital.”
This was to feature a re-enactment of the athletic competitions from 1896.
“Exciting moments from Olympic history will be revived in the same place which hosted the first Olympic Games,”organisers said.
It proved a chilly afternoon in Athens with rain in the air, but even so, the ancient marble stadium came alive with athletic performances as it had done a century before. As they had been in 1896, all the competitors were men, and drawn from the countries which had originally taken part.
“We have adopted the rules and regulations under which the first Olympics took place.” said organisers.
The first gold medal in the 1896 Games had been won by James Connolly of the United States of America in the triple jump. This time victory went to Jean-Pierre Sarant of France. His leap of 15.96 was over two metres longer than Connolly’s winning effort a century before.
For safety reasons, modern equipment was used in the pole vault where Kory Tarpenning of the United States of America achieved a clearance of 5.45m to win. He followed in the footsteps of another American William Hoyt who had won the same title in 1896 by vaulting 3.30 m.
On the track, false starts were punished by a regulation which required the transgressor to retreat behind the start line for the re-start.
The 110m hurdles featured double Olympic champion Roger Kingdom and his American compatriot Robert Reading. Both men clocked 13.5 but the verdict was given to Reading.
In the 400m American Otis Scott clocked 49.1 seconds despite having to negotiate the very tight bends at either end of the track.
Then European indoor 3000m bronze medallist Panyiotis Papoulias won the 1500m for the only Greek success of the night.
Swedish high jumper Stefan Holm was eventually to win Olympic gold at Athens 2004, but in 1996, his best clearance of 2.15 was only good enough for second behind American Rick Noji.
Some hours earlier at Marathon, 11 runners had set out in the classic foot race which bears the name of the town.
In the stadium, watching from the marble seats was Waldemar Cierpinski of Germany, Olympic gold medallist in both 1976 and 1980.
In 1896, a cannon had fired outside the stadium to announce the approach of the leading runners including the ultimate victor Spiridon Louis.
“Like lightning the word spread that the victor was a Greek” said the Greek newspaper Asty.
There was to be no repetition in 1996. Instead it was an Australian Gary Henry who came in first some way ahead of the American Marco Ochoa.
Henry’s time was half an hour faster than that achieved by Louis. In 1896, another Australian, Edwin Flack had started the race and at one stage even led the field, but he did not finish. Hardly surprising perhaps as he had already completed the middle-distance double of 800m and 1500m and taken part in the tennis tournament.
As darkness fell, the Olympic Flame arrived for the formal handover to Atlanta.
As the haunting music of composer Petros Tabouris filled the air, Balkan high jump champion Niki Bakoyianni and World windsurfing champion Nikos Kaklamanakis ignited a cauldron at the centre of the stadium.
“The two selected athletes represent the hopes of the younger generation in Greek sport.” said the HOC.
Fireworks spelt out the letters “Athens 1896-1996” at the far end of the stadium and the orchestra sounded the first notes of the Olympic hymn by Spiros Samaras, performed for the first time in the same stadium a century before to the very day.
In 1896, there had been a clamour for an encore. Here it was, the prelude to the grand finale of the evening.
“An international torch relay will take place. Olympic medallists and representatives of the cities which have hosted Olympic Games from 1896 until today will take part in the International Olympic Torch Relay.”
The runners all carried torches specially designed for the occasion.
“The celebration is based on the idea of unity. The Olympic ideas could only be achieved in the country in which they were born, thus simultaneously expressing peace, brotherhood, coexistence and faith in the ancient Olympic philosophy.”
The first runner, representing Athens 1896 was Voula Patalidou, gold medallist in 1992 after a dramatic finish to the 100m hurdles in Barcelona. She was followed by a cavalcade of other Olympic champions and medallists.
As each participant completed a short run of 200m, they were taken in an open top horse drawn carriage through the city, before arriving back at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
“The evening closed with a display of fireworks, to the delight of the valiant spectators who had experienced an historic moment in the Olympic movement,” said the Olympic Review.
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