The 1906 Olympic Games

Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary

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About the Book

One of the early concepts of the Olympic Games was to include “intercalated” Games every four years between the normal cycle, and to hold these Games in Athens, the ancestral home of the Olympics. In 1906 the first, and only one, of these games was held. Occurring only two years after the St. Louis Games of 1904 and two years before the London Games of 1908, the Athens Games were considered by many not to be “official”; social and political forces prevented continuation of the intercalation cycle in 1910 and later. Yet these Games were surprisingly successful and helped guarantee the survival of the modern Olympics.
This book, fourth in the series on the early Olympics, presents all the data on 29 nation and city-state participants in more than a dozen events in the Athens Games. Scores and descriptions are provided, and many historical errors and omissions in other sources are corrected. Appendices include the published program for the Games, the actual schedule followed during the Games, and country-by country listings of all participating athletes.

About the Author(s)

Bill Mallon is a co-founder and vice-president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the original editor of the Journal of Olympic History. He is a surgeon in Durham, North Carolina.

Bibliographic Details

Bill Mallon
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 250
Bibliographic Info: tables, statistics, appendices, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2009 [1999]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4067-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0951-5
Imprint: McFarland
Series: History of the Early Olympics

Table of Contents

Introduction      vii

Abbreviations and Usage Notes      ix

NOTES      xiv

References      xv

1906 Intercalated Olympic Games—Background      1

NOTES      19

Summary and Statistics      22

NOTES      35

Athletics (Track & Field)      36

NOTES      59

Cycling      64

NOTES      73

Diving      75

NOTES      77

Fencing      78

NOTES      89

Football (Association Football [Soccer])      92

NOTES      95

Gymnastics      97

NOTES      102

Rowing & Sculling      105

NOTES      109

Shooting      111

NOTES      124

Swimming      126

NOTES      131

Tennis (Lawn)      133

NOTES      139

Tug-of-War      141

NOTES      143

Weightlifting      144

NOTES      147

Wrestling      148

NOTES      153

Other Sports and Events      154

NOTES      155

Appendix I: Schedule of Events and Festivities      157

Appendix II: Program of Events and Festivities      163

Appendix III: “The Song of the Branwen”      172

Appendix IV: Competitors (by Country)      175

Notes      218

Index      219

Book Reviews & Awards

“highly recommended”—ARBA; “detailed…offers more value and depth than the [competition]”—Reference Reviews; “this book provides numerous interesting facts about the poorly documented early years of Olympic history”—Booklist; “[an] absolute must for any library, public or personal”—Journal of Olympic History; “if Mallon has missed anything about the 1906 Olympiad…you would be hard pressed to name it. Public librarians will be particularly pleased with the exhaustive coverage offered here”—Against the Grain; “extensive research…wealth of information…an indispensable resource”—The International Journal of the History of the Sport.