Great Britain at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Great Britain at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United Kingdom
IOC code	GBR
NOC	British Olympic Association
in Athens
Competitors	10 in 7 sports
Medals	Gold 2 Silver 3 Bronze 2 Total 7
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
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Ten athletes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed in seven sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Great Britain athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.

Two tennis players (one English, one Irish) also played in mixed team squads, contributing to a gold and a bronze medal. These medals are not counted as part of the Great Britain total.

Medallists[]

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	John Pius Boland	Tennis	Singles
Gold	Launceston Elliot	Weightlifting	One hand lift
Silver	Grantley Goulding	Athletics	110 m hurdles
Silver	Frederick Keeping	Cycling	12 hour race
Silver	Launceston Elliot	Weightlifting	Two hand lift
Bronze	Edward Battell	Cycling	Road race
Bronze	Charles Gmelin	Athletics	400 m

Results by event[]

Athletics[]

The British athletes took two medals and a fourth-place finish in athletics. The 100 metres and the 800 metres were the two events in which they had little success.

Athlete	Events	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Launceston Elliot	100 m	12.9	3	Did not advance
Charles Gmelin		12.9	3	Did not advance
George Marshall		Unknown	5	Did not advance
Charles Gmelin	400 m	Unknown	2 Q	55.6
George Marshall	800 m	Unknown	4	Did not advance
Grantley Goulding	110 m hurdles	18.4	1 Q	17.6
George S. Robertson	Discus throw	N/A		25.20	4

Cycling[]

Battell and Keeping each won a medal in the cycling program, earning a 4th place and a 5th-place finish as well.

Track[]

Cyclist	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Edward Battell	Time trial	26.2	4
	100 km	DNF	—
Frederick Keeping	Time trial	27.0	5
	12 hour race	294.946 km

Road[]

Cyclist	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Edward Battell	Road race	Unknown

Gymnastics[]

Elliot finished in last place in the rope climbing competition. He did not make it all the way up the 14-metre rope, retiring at some point below 12.5 metres (the distance of the bronze medallist).

Artistic[]

Gymnast	Event	Result	Rank
Launceston Elliot	Rope climbing	Unknown	5

Shooting[]

Merlin and Machonet were unable to win any medals in the shooting events.

Shooter	Event	Hits	Score	Rank
Sidney Merlin	200 m military rifle	Unknown	1156	10
	300 m free rifle, 3 positions	Unknown	Unknown	6–18
	25 m military pistol	DNF		—
	25 m rapid fire pistol	DNF		—
Machonet	200 m military rifle	Unknown	Unknown	14–41

Tennis[]

Boland (later best known as an Irish nationalist politician) was by far the best player in the tennis competition, amassing a 6-0 record over both events and two gold medals, though one of them was as part of a mixed team. He defeated Traun in the first round of the singles competition, then teamed up with him for the doubles competition. Robertson was much less successful, losing both of the matches he played, though he was awarded a retroactive bronze medal by the International Olympic Committee as his bye in the doubles quarterfinals put him in third place in that event. Like Boland's doubles gold medal, Robertson's bronze is not counted as part of the British total because the two played on mixed teams. Some sources include George Marshall and his brother Frank; the two were entered but appear to have not competed.

Player	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
John Pius Boland	Singles	Traun (GER) W	Rallis (GRE) W	Paspatis (GRE) W	Kasdaglis (GRE) W 6-2, 6-2
George S. Robertson	Singles	Paspatis (GRE) L	Did not advance			8

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Germany	1	0	1.000
Greece	5	2	.714
Total	6	2	.750

Weightlifting[]

Elliot (born in British India of Scottish ancestry) lifted the same amount as Viggo Jensen in the two handed lift, but was declared by Prince George of Greece to have taken second place based on lifting form. In the one handed lift, he easily defeated Jensen, who lifted only 57 kilograms.

Weightlifter	Event	Weight	Rank
Launceston Elliot	One hand lift	71.0
	Two hand lift	111.5

Wrestling[]

Elliot was defeated by eventual champion Carl Schuhmann in the first round of the wrestling competition, tying for 4th and last place.

Wrestler	Event	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Launceston Elliot	Greco-Roman	Schuhmann (GER) L	Did not advance		4

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Germany	0	1	.000
Total	0	1	.000

References[]

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.