Medal table of the 1900 Summer Olympics

The medal table for the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris , which were held as part of the World Exhibition there ( Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Paris ) , is influenced by a wealth of assumptions due to problems in later processing the events and their classification in Olympic history . The main reason for this is the complete insignificance of Pierre de Coubertin , the founder of the modern Olympic Games , and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) , who had to submit to the organization of the world exhibition.

World exhibition badge
for some sports competitions

Nevertheless, the IOC legitimized the 1900 Summer Olympics as such and published its official stance on Olympic competitions and on the Olympic champions and those placed or their nationality. This also includes a medal table, although the IOC expressly declares that this is purely for information purposes and does not represent a ranking of nations, as the IOC rejects such a ranking in principle.

For the official medal table, it should be noted that the team competitions at that time were not intended as a nation ranking, but were advertised for club or association teams. In international competitions, they usually represented the country in which the club or association was based. It did not prove to be a hindrance when athletes from different nations were represented in these teams. These teams are now classified separately by the IOC as mixed teams .

The IOC assumes 89 competitions in its medal table (when awarding two first places in a competition, the high jumping in the equestrian competitions). The first three places in their current form with gold, silver and bronze medals were not awarded in 1900. In some sports and competitions, silver or bronze plaques were awarded. This leads to the general practice that for the 1900 Summer Games, 1st place is shown with silver, 2nd place with bronze and 3rd place without medal identification.

Official medal table of the IOC

Medal table
space	country	silver	bronze	3rd place	total
1	France	26th	41	34	101
2	United States	19th	14th	14th	47
3	Great Britain	15th	6th	9	30th
4th	Mixed team	6th	3	3	12
5	Switzerland	6th	2	1	9
6th	Belgium	5	5	5	15th
7th	German Empire	4th	2	2	8th
8th	Italy	2	2	-	4th
9	Australia	2	-	3	5
10	Denmark	1	3	2	6th
11	Hungary	1	2	2	5
12	Cuba	1	1	-	2
13	Canada	1	-	1	2
14th	Spain	1	-	-	1
	Austria	-	3	3	6th
16	Norway	-	2	3	5
17th	British India	-	2	-	2
18th	Netherlands	-	1	3	4th
19th	Bohemia	-	1	1	2
20th	Mexico	-	-	1	1
	Sweden	-	-	1	1
Total		90	90	88	268

Overview of the mixed teams

In eight competitions, the IOC has stipulated the participation of one or more mixed teams, i.e. teams with athletes from different nations. A total of twelve mixed teams took part, with athletes from nine nations.

It should be noted that individual mixed teams are highly controversial even among sports historians. This includes in particular the team in the 5,000-meter team race in athletics from the United Kingdom (GBR) and Australia (AUS) , and the two-man with a helmsman in the row from the Netherlands (NED) with an unknown French street boy (FRA) as helmsman.

In various publications, mixed teams are generally not listed, but the medals are assigned to each country individually or only to the country which was represented by the club or association.

Medal table for mixed teams
space	country	silver	bronze	3rd place	total
1	GBR / FRA	2	-	1	3
2	GBR / USA	1	1	1	3
3	GBR / AUS	1	-	-	1
	SWE / DEN	1	-	-	1
	NED / FRA	1	-	-	1
6th	GBR / USA / ESP	-	1	1	2
	USA / FRA	-	1	-	1
8th	GBR / BOH	-	-	1	1
Total		6th	3	4th	13

Alternative medal table (unofficial)

The circumstances under which the Summer Olympics in 1900 took place made it extremely difficult to come to terms with what happened and to place it in Olympic history. The IOC made use of the work of numerous well-known sports historians. Nevertheless, the current presentation is often viewed as incomplete, and a number of the assignments and interpretations made by the IOC are highly controversial.

In the meantime, it can also be read from the IOC that they are assuming 95 competitions at the 1900 Summer Olympics. A number z. B. also considers the important sports historian Bill Mallon to be correct. The medal table was not adjusted by the IOC in this regard.

Other historical facts have long been or are still being ignored. It was not until 2007 that the medal table was changed so that the ranking of second place for the fencer Italo Santelli was transferred to Italy, after Santelli had always been regarded as a Hungarian for decades. On the other hand, the winner of the marathon , Michel Théato, is still incorrectly listed as a Frenchman in the winners' lists. In the meantime, however, his birth certificate has been found that Théato was born in Luxembourg . He lived in Paris, but he was definitely too young to take French citizenship.

These and other historically documented facts lead to an alternative medal table shown here. The following circumstances are taken into account within this list:

• an additional archery competition , 50-meter target shooting - championat du monde
• an additional competition in cycling , 5000 meter points race
• two additional competitions in riding , demonstration of riding horses and team driving
• three additional competitions in sailing , 0.5 to 1 tonne, 2nd race , 3 to 10 tons, 1st race and over 20 tons
• a missing competition in shooting , orderly revolver 20 meters
• Allocation of first place in the marathon to Luxembourg instead of France
• Allocation of third place in water polo to a mixed team instead of France

Medal table
space	country	silver	bronze	3rd place	total
1	France	28	43	37	108
2	United States	19th	14th	15th	48
3	Great Britain	16	7th	9	32
4th	Mixed team	6th	3	4th	13
5	Belgium	6th	6th	5	17th
6th	Switzerland	6th	2	1	9
7th	German Empire	4th	3	2	9
8th	Italy	3	2	-	5
9	Australia	2	-	3	5
10	Denmark	1	3	2	6th
11	Hungary	1	2	2	5
12	Cuba	1	1	-	2
13	Canada	1	-	1	2
14th	Spain	1	-	-	1
	Luxembourg	1	-	-	1
16	Austria	-	3	3	6th
17th	Norway	-	2	3	5
	Netherlands	-	2	3	5
19th	British India	-	2	-	2
20th	Bohemia	-	1	1	2
21st	Sweden	-	-	1	1
	Mexico	-	-	1	1
Total		96	96	93	285

literature

• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle I. Athens 1896 - Berlin 1936. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00715-6 .
• Karl Lennartz , Walter Teutenberg: II. Olympic Games 1900 in Paris. Presentation and sources. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1995, ISBN 3-928562-20-7 .
• Bill Mallon : The 1900 Olympic Games . McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina 1998, CIP 97-36094.

Web links

• Side of the IOC for the Olympic Summer Games in 1900 (English)
• Official report (French, PDF, 3 parts in total; 8.10 MB)
• Page about all Olympic participants by Herman de Wael (English)