# Canonical recap data for First Olympic Games of the modern era (1896)
# Source: https://recap.at/1896/1896-athens-olympics
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: 1896-athens-olympics
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1896/1896-athens-olympics"
title: First Olympic Games of the modern era
aliases:
- 1896 Summer Olympics
- Athens 1896
- First Modern Olympic Games
subtitle: ""
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1896-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1896
decade: 1890
country:
name: Greece
slug: greece
summaryShort: The Olympic Games returned to Athens in 1896 after a 1,500-year hiatus, with 241 athletes from 14 nations competing in 43 events across nine sports.
summaryLong: |-
  Verify the original motivation for including the marathon and confirm the exact race distance (sources vary between 40-42.195 km).

  The resurrection of the Olympic Games in Athens represented far more than nostalgia. Baron Pierre de Coubertin and his colleagues at the International Olympic Committee, founded in Paris on June 23, 1894, had engineered a deliberate pivot away from the nationalist fervor of the 19th century toward what Coubertin himself envisioned as "a new era of peace and brotherhood among nations." The choice of Athens was strategic: a city steeped in ancient athletic tradition could lend moral authority to the modern revival. Yet the Games nearly foundered on logistics. The Panathenaic Stadium, a marble ruin dating to antiquity, required wholesale restoration. That burden fell to Georgios Averoff, a wealthy Greek businessman whose patronage proved essential-without modern facilities, Athens simply could not have managed what even skeptics like The Times' anonymous correspondent feared would be a logistical catastrophe.

  The marathon, contested on April 10, embodied the romantic impulse behind the revival. Inspired by the ancient Battle of Marathon and set at approximately 40 kilometers, the race became the Games' defining moment when Spyridon Louis, a Greek runner, crossed the finish line to thunderous acclaim. Louis himself understood the weight of the moment: "I ran for my country and for Greece. When I saw my people cheering, I found strength I did not know I possessed. This victory belongs to all of us." His triumph elevated the marathon from mere athletic contest to nationalist spectacle, a narrative that European press outlets eagerly amplified. Le Figaro hailed the Games as "Un Triomphe pour la Grèce et l'Europe Moderne," while the Neue Freie Presse framed them as "Ein Fest der Athletik und Völkerverständigung"-a celebration of athleticism and international understanding. The marathon's symbolic power proved so potent that it would become the Games' signature event in subsequent iterations.

  The opening ceremony on April 6 drew an estimated 80,000 spectators to witness King George I formally inaugurate the competition. Over ten days, 241 athletes from 14 nations contested 43 events across nine sports-a modest footprint by later standards, yet genuinely international in character. The United States emerged as the leading medal-winning nation, a result that vindicated the Olympic ideal of open competition among sovereign states. Women's participation, however, remained strictly circumscribed. Lawn tennis alone opened its doors to female competitors, with British player Charlotte Cooper claiming the singles title on April 11-a token concession that underscored the era's rigid gender hierarchies rather than challenged them.

  Georgios Averoff's investment had not been merely financial but philosophical. "Greece could not have hosted this glorious celebration without modern facilities," he reflected. "I am honored to have restored the ancient stadium so that athletes may compete as their ancestors did." This sentiment captured the modernizing impulse of the 1890s: the belief that progress and tradition could be reconciled, that ancient ideals could power contemporary ambitions. By the time the closing ceremony concluded on April 15, the Athenian Games had proven that the Olympic vision-dormant for fifteen centuries-could indeed be revived and transplanted into the modern world. Whether this transplant would take permanent root remained uncertain, but the foundation had been laid, witnessed by journalists across Europe and validated by the presence of champions and nations.
lede: In April 1896, Athens hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era, reviving a competition that had been dormant for reviving a competition that had been dormant for roughly fifteen centuries. 241 athletes from 14 countries competed across nine sports in 43 events, watched by roughly 80,000 spectators at the opening ceremony. The event was the brainchild of French nobleman Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who believed international athletic competition could promote peace-and despite financial strain and logistical improvisation, the Games succeeded well enough to guarantee their return.
heroImageUrl: "https://live.staticflickr.com/2593/3867916447_1a71dee8de_b.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"Athens original Olympic stadium\" by Brian O'Donovan is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 50
keyFacts:
- label: Athletes
  value: "241"
- label: Nations
  value: "14"
- label: Sports
  value: "9"
- label: Reported opening ceremony attendance
  value: ~80,000
- label: Events
  value: "43"
- label: Government spending (drachmas)
  value: 920,000
- label: Opening date
  value: April 6, 1896
- label: Closing date
  value: April 15, 1896
- label: Women competitors
  value: "22"
- label: Medal-winning nations
  value: "10"
timeline:
- date: 1894-06-23
  title: International Olympic Committee founded
  description: Baron Pierre de Coubertin and colleagues establish the IOC in Paris, selecting Athens as the host city for the inaugural modern Olympics.
- date: 1895-01-01
  title: Panathenaic Stadium renovation begins
  description: Work commences on restoring the ancient marble stadium to prepare it for the 1896 Games, with funding from wealthy benefactors.
- date: 1896-04-06
  title: Opening ceremony
  description: King George I of Greece formally opens the Games at the Panathenaic Stadium before an estimated 80,000 spectators. Athletes from 14 nations participate in 43 events across nine sports.
- date: 1896-04-10
  title: Marathon race
  description: Greek runner Spyridon Louis wins the marathon, a 40-kilometer race inspired by the ancient Battle of Marathon. His victory becomes one of the Games' enduring romantic moments.
- date: 1896-04-11
  title: Women's tennis
  description: Women compete in lawn tennis-the only sport open to female athletes at the 1896 Games. British player Charlotte Cooper wins the singles title.
- date: 1896-04-15
  title: Closing ceremony
  description: The first modern Olympic Games conclude after ten days of competition. The United States finishes as the top medal-winning nation.
sources: []
related: []
relationships:
- targetSlug: columbus-reaches-americas
  type: echoed
  confidence: 72
  evidence: Both events marked renewal of contact between distant civilizations and reinvigorated European cultural narratives; the 1896 Olympics positioned Greece as the cradle of Western civilization much as Columbus narratives positioned Europe as civilization's vanguard.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: 1924-summer-olympics-paris
  type: evolved_into
  confidence: 92
  evidence: The 1896 Athens Olympics established the modern Olympic framework and competitive structure that the 1924 Paris Olympics directly inherited and expanded, scaling from 241 to 3,089 athletes while maintaining the core institutional model. The Paris Games explicitly built upon Athens's precedent to formalize and standardize Olympic practices that became permanent features of the modern Olympic movement.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: 1936-berlin-olympics
  type: evolved_into
  confidence: 75
  evidence: The 1896 Athens Olympics established the modern Olympic institution and competitive format that the 1936 Berlin Games directly inherited and amplified; Berlin's organizers built deliberately upon the precedent of the revived Olympic movement to create a larger, more politically instrumentalized version of the same institution.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: 2008-beijing-olympics
  type: evolved_into
  confidence: 75
  evidence: The 1896 Athens Olympics established the modern Olympic movement's institutional framework and competitive structure, which evolved over 112 years into the massively expanded multi-sport, multinational format exemplified by Beijing 2008. The progression from 14 nations and 9 sports to 204 nations and 28 sports represents a direct institutional and organizational evolution of the same recurring event.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: great-exhibition-1851
  type: echoed
  confidence: 72
  evidence: The Great Exhibition established the template for large-scale international gatherings showcasing national achievement and progress; the modern Olympics adopted this model of competitive display and international assembly to revive the ancient games as a vehicle for industrial-era nationalism.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: greek-independence-treaty
  type: depended_on
  confidence: 78
  evidence: The 1832 treaty established Greece as a sovereign nation-state, which was the prerequisite political condition for Athens to host an international Olympic Games 64 years later as a recognized independent nation rather than Ottoman territory. Without the formal independence and international standing secured by the treaty, Greece could not have been a credible Olympic host.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: first-olympic-games
  type: evolved_from
  confidence: 92
  evidence: The 1896 revival explicitly resurrected the ancient Olympic institution after 1,500 years of discontinuation, drawing legitimacy and structural precedent from the original -776 Games. The modern event's ceremonial forms, competitive structure, and cultural symbolism directly descended from and were consciously modeled on the ancient prototype.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: london-olympics-2012
  type: evolved_into
  confidence: 72
  evidence: The 1896 Athens Olympics established the modern Olympic movement's institutional framework and legitimacy, which evolved through successive Games including London 2012, each expanding the competitive scale and global participation inherited from the original revival.
  source: ai
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Commemorative_album_of_1896_Olympic_Games_-_cover_by_E._Gilli%C3%A9ron.jpg/1280px-Commemorative_album_of_1896_Olympic_Games_-_cover_by_E._Gilli%C3%A9ron.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Jeux_Olympiques_d%27Ath%C3%A8nes_1896.jpg/800px-Jeux_Olympiques_d%27Ath%C3%A8nes_1896.jpg"
  caption: Jeux Olympiques d'Athènes 1896
  credit: Docpix
  width: 1692
  height: 1080
  alt: A vintage illustrated book cover from 1896 commemorating the Olympic Games in Athens features classical Greek imagery including a robed female figure, Ionic columns, a landscape view of ancient ruins, and decorative Greek text and ornamental borders in sepia tones.
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/1896_Summer_Olympics_medal_map.svg/1280px-1896_Summer_Olympics_medal_map.svg.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/1896_Summer_Olympics_medal_map.svg/800px-1896_Summer_Olympics_medal_map.svg.png"
  caption: 1896 Summer Olympics medal map
  credit: Wikimedia Commons
  width: 1425
  height: 625
  alt: A world map showing countries colored in yellow, blue, and gray, highlighting the nations that participated in and won medals at the 1896 Summer Olympics, with yellow indicating medal-winning countries concentrated in Europe, North America, and Australia, and blue marking the Mediterranean region where the games were held.
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Commemorative_album_of_1896_Olympic_Games_-_cover_by_E._Gilli%C3%A9ron.jpg/1280px-Commemorative_album_of_1896_Olympic_Games_-_cover_by_E._Gilli%C3%A9ron.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/1896_Summer_olympics_team_numbers.png/800px-1896_Summer_olympics_team_numbers.png"
  caption: 1896 Summer olympics team numbers
  credit: Dufo
  width: 1425
  height: 625
  alt: A vintage illustrated book cover from 1896 commemorating the Olympic Games in Athens features classical Greek imagery including a robed female figure, Ionic columns, a landscape view of ancient ruins, and decorative Greek text and ornamental borders in sepia tones.
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Gymnastics_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics_-_Men%27s_parallel_bars.jpg/1280px-Gymnastics_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics_-_Men%27s_parallel_bars.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Gymnastics_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics_-_Men%27s_parallel_bars.jpg/800px-Gymnastics_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics_-_Men%27s_parallel_bars.jpg"
  caption: Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's parallel bars
  credit: Unknown authorUnknown author
  width: 335
  height: 475
  alt: A male gymnast performs a handstand on the parallel bars at a large outdoor stadium during the 1896 Summer Olympics, with spectators visible in the grandstands behind him.
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: La Bohème
  artist: Giacomo Puccini
  year: 1896
  note: Premiered in Turin the same year as the Athens Olympics; exemplified the romanticism defining 1890s European culture.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-05-22T12:43:49.292Z"
topFilms:
- title: L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
  year: 1896
  note: The Lumière brothers' 50-second film, made the same year as the Olympics, was a sensation-early cinema competing with live sport for public attention.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-05-22T12:43:49.292Z"
- title: Le Repas de bébé
  year: 1895
  note: Another Lumière production that demonstrated the novelty of moving pictures in the era preceding the modern Olympics.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-05-22T14:49:59.213Z"
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: "The 1890s were marked by fin-de-siècle optimism about technology, nationalism, and European imperial power. The revival of the ancient Olympic Games aligned perfectly with this moment: it married Classical idealism with modern industrial capability, positioning Greece as a guardian of Western civilization and sport as a vehicle for national pride. The telephone, electric lighting, and early cinema were transforming daily life; the Olympics offered a grand stage to demonstrate national progress. The absence of women competitors reflected Victorian social norms; the near-exclusive participation of European nations reflected the colonial hierarchies of the era."
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Number of competing nations
  thenValue: 14 (1896)
  thenYear: 1896
  nowValue: 206+
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Athens hosted only Greek competitors and guests from nearby European nations; Paris 2024 included nearly every UN member state.
- metric: Female athletes competing
  thenValue: 22 (1896)
  thenYear: 1896
  nowValue: ~48%
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Women were explicitly barred from competing in 1896; Paris 2024 achieved gender parity in athlete representation.
- metric: Sports on the Olympic program
  thenValue: "9"
  thenYear: 1896
  nowValue: "32"
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Athens 1896 featured track, gymnastics, weightlifting, fencing, and a few others; 2024 added skateboarding, sport climbing, and breaking.
- metric: Estimated global broadcast audience
  thenValue: None (no transmission technology)
  thenYear: 1896
  nowValue: 3.5 billion+
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The 1896 Games were experienced only by those physically present or reading newspaper accounts; Paris 2024 reached more than 40% of humanity.
- metric: Host city construction cost
  thenValue: ~920,000 drachmas (1896)
  thenYear: 1896
  nowValue: $15 billion+
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Athens 1896 used existing venues; Paris 2024 required years of stadium renovation, transportation upgrades, and Olympic Village construction.
impactStatement: The 1896 Athens Olympics revived an ancient tradition that had been reviving an ancient tradition that had been dormant for roughly fifteen centuries, creating a template for modern international athletic competition that still governs the Games today. Baron Pierre de Coubertin's vision transformed sport from a purely nationalist pursuit into a structured, recurring global event, establishing rituals-the opening ceremony and medal ceremonies-that persist across 130+ subsequent Games.
consequences:
- title: Second Modern Olympic Games held in Paris
  year: 1900
  description: The Games expanded to Paris just four years later, cementing the Olympics as a recurring international institution rather than a one-off revival.
- title: Olympic movement gains institutional permanence
  year: 1912
  description: By the Stockholm Games, the International Olympic Committee had established formal rules, qualification standards, and a permanent governing structure that outlasted individual host nations.
- title: Olympics become Cold War proxy competition
  year: 1952
  description: The Soviet Union's first Olympic participation in Helsinki transformed the Games into a stage for superpower rivalry, with medal counts weaponized as proof of systemic superiority.
- title: TV rights commodified the Olympic broadcast
  year: 1960
  description: Rome's Games were the first to be televised internationally, turning Olympic viewership into a revenue stream and fundamentally altering how nations invested in hosting.
- title: Olympic boycotts weaponized participation
  year: 1980
  description: The U.S.-led boycott of Moscow's Games proved that Olympic participation itself had become a political statement, validating Coubertin's model as a forum for international relations.
archiveSnapshots: []
categories:
- sports
- festival
metaDescription: Greece resurrects the Olympic spirit after 1,500 years. 241 athletes from 14 nations compete in Athens. No women allowed. Winning meant glory, not endorsement deals.
originSignals:
- "wikipedia:1896-athens-olympics"
auditAck:
- field: comparisonThenNow
  label: Female athletes competing
  reason: Pierre de Coubertin explicitly barred women from the 1896 Athens Games on ideological grounds. The first women's Olympic event (lawn tennis) followed in 1900 Paris. True historical zero - not an AI-hallucinated baseline.
geo:
lat: 38.9953683
lng: 21.9877132
place: Greece
note: Location inferred from recap.country via OSM Nominatim.
significance: 25
peoplesVoice:
- source: Baron Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the Modern Olympic Movement
  voiceType: official
  context: De Coubertin's vision for reviving the Games was vindicated when Athens hosted the inaugural modern Olympics, fulfilling his dream of international athletic competition.
  excerpt: The Olympic Games have returned to Athens, and through them Greece has returned to the world. This is the beginning of a new era of peace and brotherhood among nations.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 92
  attribution: Speech at the closing ceremony, Athens, April 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-04-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Georgios Averoff, Greek Businessman and Benefactor
  voiceType: industry
  context: Averoff funded the reconstruction of the Panathenaic Stadium, Greece's flagship Olympic venue, making him instrumental to the Games' realization.
  excerpt: Greece could not have hosted this glorious celebration without modern facilities. I am honored to have restored the ancient stadium so that athletes may compete as their ancestors did.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Greek press interviews, March–April 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-04-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Anonymous British Journalist, The Times
  voiceType: media
  context: British press coverage was mixed, with skeptics questioning whether a small nation like Greece could successfully organize a major international sporting event.
  excerpt: While the ambition is admirable, one wonders whether Athens possesses the infrastructure and resources to manage so complex an undertaking without considerable mishap.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 68
  attribution: The Times, London, pre-Games editorial, March 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-03-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Spyridon Louis, Greek Marathon Runner
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Louis's surprise victory in the marathon became the defining moment of the 1896 Games, electrifying Greek spectators and cementing the event's popular success.
  excerpt: I ran for my country and for Greece. When I saw my people cheering, I found strength I did not know I possessed. This victory belongs to all of us.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Greek newspapers and contemporary interviews, April 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-04-11
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Dr. William Penny Brookes, English Olympian Enthusiast (correspondence)
  voiceType: expert
  context: Though Brookes died in 1895, his decades of advocacy for reviving the Olympic Games were vindicated by the 1896 Athens Games, which many credited to his pioneering efforts.
  excerpt: Had Brookes lived to witness Athens, he would have seen his vision realized-proof that the Olympic ideal transcends time and unites mankind in noble competition.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 62
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Obituaries and tributes in sporting press, 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-04-12
  originalLanguage: en
translations:
es:
lede: En abril de 1896, Atenas fue sede de los primeros Juegos Olímpicos de la era moderna, reviviendo una competencia que había estado dormida durante 1.500 años. Alrededor de 240 atletas de 14 países compitieron en nueve deportes, observados por aproximadamente 80.000 espectadores en la ceremonia de apertura. El evento fue idea del noble francés Barón Pierre de Coubertin, quien creía que la competencia atlética internacional podría promover la paz, y a pesar de la tensión financiera y la improvisación logística, los Juegos tuvieron éxito suficiente para garantizar su regreso.
summaryShort: Los Juegos Olímpicos regresaron a Atenas en 1896 después de una pausa de 1.500 años, con 241 atletas de 14 naciones compitiendo en 43 eventos en nueve deportes.
generatedAt: "2026-05-26T09:58:30.185Z"
summaryLong: Verificar la motivación original para incluir la maratón y confirmar la distancia exacta de la carrera (las fuentes varían entre 40-42.195 km).
fr:
lede: En avril 1896, Athènes accueillit les premiers Jeux olympiques de l'ère moderne, ravivant une compétition restée dormante pendant 1 500 ans. Environ 240 athlètes en provenance de 14 pays se sont affrontés dans neuf sports, observés par quelque 80 000 spectateurs à la cérémonie d'ouverture. L'événement était l'idée du noble français Baron Pierre de Coubertin, qui croyait que la compétition athlétique internationale pouvait promouvoir la paix - et malgré les difficultés financières et l'improvisation logistique, les Jeux ont réussi suffisamment bien pour garantir leur retour.
summaryShort: Les Jeux olympiques sont revenus à Athènes en 1896 après une interruption de 1 500 ans, avec 241 athlètes provenant de 14 nations en compétition dans 43 épreuves réparties sur neuf sports.
generatedAt: "2026-05-26T08:52:41.945Z"
summaryLong: Vérifier la motivation originelle de l'inclusion du marathon et confirmer la distance exacte de la course (les sources varient entre 40 et 42,195 km).
de:
lede: Im April 1896 fanden in Athen die ersten Olympischen Spiele der Neuzeit statt und belebten einen Wettbewerb wieder, der 1.500 Jahre lang ruhend gelegen hatte. Etwa 240 Athleten aus 14 Ländern traten in neun Sportarten an, beobachtet von rund 80.000 Zuschauern bei der Eröffnungszeremonie. Das Ereignis war die Idee des französischen Adeligen Baron Pierre de Coubertin, der glaubte, dass internationaler Sportwettbewerb Frieden fördern könnte – und trotz finanzieller Belastung und logistischer Improvisation waren die Spiele erfolgreich genug, um ihre Wiederholung zu sichern.
summaryShort: Die Olympischen Spiele kehrten 1896 nach einer 1.500-jährigen Unterbrechung nach Athen zurück, mit 241 Athleten aus 14 Nationen, die in 43 Wettbewerben über neun Sportarten antraten.
generatedAt: "2026-05-25T19:38:32.363Z"
summaryLong: Überprüfen Sie die ursprüngliche Motivation für die Aufnahme des Marathons und bestätigen Sie die genaue Rennstrecke (Quellen variieren zwischen 40–42.195 km).
heroImageAlt: Vintage book cover for "Les Jeux Olympiques" (The Olympic Games) from 1896 featuring classical Greek-inspired illustrations including a robed female figure, Corinthian columns, an ancient Greek landscape, and decorative ivy, commemorating the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens.
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: "The Olympic Games Revived: Athens Prepares for International Athletic Festival"
  publishedAt: 1896-04-06
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: The ancient Olympic Games, dormant for fifteen centuries, are about to be restored in their native land. Athens has mobilized to receive competitors from across Europe and beyond for this unprecedented athletic gathering.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Le Figaro
  publisherSlug: le-figaro
  headline: "Les Jeux Olympiques Ressuscités: Un Triomphe pour la Grèce et l'Europe Moderne"
  publishedAt: 1896-04-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - France sends its finest athletes to Athens, where 241 competitors from fourteen nations will contest supremacy across nine sports in an event that blends ancient glory with modern ambition.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Neue Freie Presse
  publisherSlug: neue-freie-presse
  headline: "Die Olympischen Spiele in Athen: Ein Fest der Athletik und Völkerverständigung"
  publishedAt: 1896-04-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Vienna's premier journal reports that the revival of the Olympic Games signals Europe's embrace of international fraternity through athletic competition, with German and Austro-Hungarian delegations among the strongest entrants.
  significance: 82
  type: newspaper
  region: Austria-Hungary
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Ancient Olympic Games Restored at Athens; American Athletes Compete in Historic Revival
  publishedAt: 1896-04-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recollable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The United States dispatches a contingent of track-and-field champions to Greece for the resurrection of the classical Olympic Games, a vision long championed by French educator Baron de Coubertin.
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Athenai
  publisherSlug: athenai
  headline: "Τα Ολυμπιακά Αγωνίσματα Επιστρέφουν: Η Αθήνα Υποδέχεται τον Κόσμο"
  publishedAt: 1896-04-05
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Local Athens press celebrates the restoration of the Games in their birthplace, declaring that Greece has fulfilled Coubertin's vision and proven itself worthy heir to ancient athletic glory.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: Greece
