The Hotel as it would have looked in 1896
By Philip Barker
The decision not to allow overseas spectators at the Olympics this July was soon followed by an announcement that the International Olympic Committee would not permit accompanying guests at the Games.
This was an interruption to a tradition which dates back to the first Olympic Games in the Modern Era which began 125 years ago this week.
Pierre de Coubertin and his wife Marie stayed at the imposing Hotel Grande Bretagne on Syntagma Square, a short distance from what is now the Greek parliament building.
The building had originally been a mansion but was converted into a hotel in the 1870s and poet George Souris suggested it was “not likely that a hotel like this will ever meet its match.”
It was not the first time he had visited. In 1894 he had been feted there by the Panhellenic Gymnastics Association. Fine wines from the hotel cellar were served during the course of a gala dinner.
In 1896, the Grande Bretagne served as the official IOC hotel for six other members gathered for the “Session of Athens.” More now attend Executive Board meetings.
At the hotel, Coubertin met a journalist from the Greek newspaper To Asty. He told him “I stand by my original concept and I am firmly dedicated to its aim which is to hold peaceful international competition among the youth of the world while creating an international athletic brotherhood.”
Meanwhile the final preparations for the Games were being made. Organisers had faced many obstacles, not least finding sufficient finance, but by March 1896, all was almost ready. Russian IOC member Alexei de Boutowsky recorded “during the last exhausting week in Athens, we observed further preparations” as flags and billboards were erected and illuminations installed.
There was also an influx of foreign spectators. An advertisement in the bulletin of the International Committee for the Olympic Games had proclaimed that the “Thomas Cook and sons’ agency has started talks with railway and cruise ship companies aimed at negotiating discounts for both competitors and the simply curious who will make their way to Greece on the occasion of the Olympic Games.”
The company had a presence in the lobby of the Grande Bretagne to assist its guests.
Many sports officials were also amongst the hotel’s guests that week. They included French Fencing Federation president Armand de la Frémoire and members of the team amongst the guests.
Some IOC meetings were held in the hotel. Proceedings were recorded in handwritten minutes of the first such gathering since 1894. These record that Dimitrios Vikelas of Greece, the first IOC President “made clear the necessity for more frequent meetings.”
Paris had already been chosen for the 1900 Games but Coubertin wanted progress on the selection for 1904 to give the young movement some stability. Sweden’s Viktor Balck proposed Stockholm and assured his fellow members that the Swedish Royal Family would look kindly on the bit. German member Willibald Gebhardt proposed Berlin. This was supported by Ferenc Kemeny of Hungary who also reminded his colleagues that Budapest too would be enthusiastic hosts.
Kemeny also spoke of his unhappiness at what he described as “the regrettable inactivity of some members.” Stricter rules on attendance were agreed and those who did not take a full part in the proceedings of the IOC would be considered to have resigned.
The Committee were received for an audience by the Crown Prince and Coubertin asked for flowers to be sent to the Princesses.
At this time his official IOC position was secretary, but on the second day, he chaired the meeting because Vikelas was unable to attend.
Although nations such as Greece, France and Hungary had already done so, Gebhardt “suggested the formation in each country of a strong National [Olympic] Committee, subsidized as much as possible by the Government.”
The excitement at the opening of the Games themselves is clear from Coubertin’s own description: “The great day finally arrived when the crowd was admitted to the stadium. The idea had become reality and was now part of history.”
James Connolly of the United States won the triple jump to become the first modern Olympic champion. “In compliment to his nationality, the American flag was hoisted in the centre of the arena.”
That night, “Arches of flaming gaslights were placed at equal distances on Constitution [Syntagma] Square. The effect was something magnificent.” The Parthenon was lit up and hotel guests enjoyed a perfect view.
The following day fencer Leon Pyrgos gave the host nation its first Olympic champion since the days of antiquity.
“One can easily imagine with what frenetic applause he was greeted from all sides,” said the official report.
Yet the most famous of all 1896 was a shepherd from Maroussi in what were then the Athenian suburbs. Spiridon Louis won the inaugural Olympic marathon.
“Everyone’s eyes were filled with tears of joy. The stadium was in a frenzy”, reported Estia – a newspaper in Athens.
Many receptions were held, and at the Grande Bretagne, Louis was feted and sculptor Georgios Vroutos presented each champion with a statuette of Nike, goddess of victory.
As the Games came to an end, Coubertin remained concerned at suggestions that the Olympics should thereafter be staged permanently in Greece.
“The group formed by the IOC represented the perennial nature of the enterprise and the international character I was determined to preserve at all costs.”
As Paris was to be the next host city, Coubertin himself replaced Vikelas as IOC President. His tenure was to be the four years to the next Games. In fact, he remained as president until 1925.
Coubertin died in in 1937 but when the IOC gathered in Paris some 58 years later French member Armand Massard read a message from Coubertin’s widow Marie.
“Permit me to recall a few remembrances, being today the only member of the Olympic family present at the birth of modern Olympism, and attending the first Games. The young International Olympic Committee, composed of seven eminent members, assembled to hold its first meeting under the presidency of the writer and patriot Vikelas.
Let us honour the memory of those who contributed to re-establishing this most grandiose manifestation of the highest of civilizations.”
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