Olympic Intermediate Games 1906

1906 Olympic Intermediate Games
not recognized by the IOC

Venue:	Athens ( Greece )
Stadion:	Panathinaic Stadium
Opening ceremony:	April 22, 1906
Closing ceremony:	May 2, 1906
Opened by:	Crown Prince Constantine of Greece
Olympic oath :	-
Disciplines:	14 (12 sports)
Competitions:	74
Countries:	21st
Athletes:	840 (including 6 women)
← St. Louis 1904
London 1908 →

Medal table
space	country	G	S.	B.	Ges.
01	France	15th	9	16	40
02	United States	12	6th	6th	24
03	Greece	8th	13	12	33
04th	Great Britain	8th	11	5	24
05	Italy	7th	6th	3	16
06th	German Empire	4th	6th	5	15th
07th	Switzerland	4th	3	1	8th
08th	Austria	3	3	3	9
09	Denmark	3	2	1	6th
10	Sweden	2	5	7th	14th
Complete medal table

The 1906 Olympic Intermediate Games took place in Athens from April 22nd to May 2nd, 1906 . The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not count them as part of the Olympic Games that fall under the jurisdiction of the IOC and are therefore neither officially recognized as such nor taken into account in the numerical listing. A later attempt in 1949 to have the Games recognized by the IOC as the Olympiad IIIB also failed.

Emergence

The interludes in 1906 are a result of the disagreement over the rhythm of the event. Baron Pierre de Coubertin , founder of the Olympic Games and at that time President of the IOC, had always pursued the goal of creating a global Olympic movement , which is why he wanted to hold the Games every four years in a different location of the then "civilized states". Greece, on the other hand, saw itself strengthened by the success of the Olympic Games in 1896 and the failure of the Games in Paris in 1900 to establish the Games in the country on a permanent basis, not least because of the historical background. With this, however, the IOC would have lost its raison d'etre and Coubertin saw his idea at risk. As a compromise, some IOC members suggested that the Olympic Games be held every two years, alternating between Athens and other cities. In 1901, this regulation was decided upon during an IOC meeting despite Coubertin's negative attitude. Coubertin was of the opinion that regular games in Athens could only have a national character and should be described as Panhellenic Games .

The Greek King George I issued a decree in 1901 that provided for the planning and hosting of the Olympic Games in Athens, which could not have taken place until 1903 at the earliest. Financial problems and the award of the 1904 Olympic Games to Chicago (these games actually took place in St. Louis ) initially made the project fail. Coubertin now saw his chance to overturn the decision about regular games in Athens, which he did not want, at the IOC meeting in Brussels in 1905 . Even before this IOC meeting, the Greek Committee for the Organization of the Olympic Games in Athens had already sent out invitations to participate in such games for 1906. In addition, Coubertin was confronted with allegations at the IOC meeting, which had the bad organization of the games in 1900 in Paris and 1904 in St. Louis. His position was so weakened that he was forced to accept the Athens Games. The IOC decided to support the games and leave the organization to the Greek committee. Coubertin stayed away from the games. The Athens Games, scheduled for 1910 and 1914, fell victim to a number of unfavorable political developments and armed conflicts in the Balkans .

meaning

Visitors on the way to the Olympic Stadium

The Athens interludes were extremely conducive to the Olympic idea. After the competitions in Paris and St. Louis were embedded in the respective world exhibition and spread over several months, the Greeks (as in 1896) again succeeded in organizing a purely sporting festival in which the original Olympic idea was the focus. Sports historians even consider the Games to be the savior of the Olympic movement. Some ceremonies still in use today , such as the invasion of the nations , go back to these games.

Competition program

The competitions in fencing

Weightlifting

74 competitions (including 72 for men, one for women and a mixed competition) in 12 sports were held. Differences to the program of the previous Olympic Games in St. Louis 1904 in detail:

• Archery , boxing , golf , lacrosse and roque were missing from the program of the Olympic interludes.
• For fencing , epee, saber team, epee for fencing masters and sabers for fencing masters have been added - on the other hand, foil team and single stick have been removed.
• In athletics , the 5 miles, 1500 m walking, 3000 m walking, discus throwing (ancient style), stone throwing, javelin throwing (freestyle) and the pentathlon extended the program - on the other hand, the 60 m, 200 m, 200 m hurdles, 400 m hurdles were missing , 2590 m obstacle, 4 mile team run, triple jump from a standing position, hammer throw, weight throwing, three-way fight and the all-around event.
• In cycling , the program was completely restructured - the seven competitions in St. Louis were replaced by the 5 km, 20 km, tandem and two time trial competitions - there was also a road race again.
• In wrestling , St. Louis freestyle wrestling was completely replaced by the Greco-Roman style . There were the light, medium and heavy weight classes. There was also an open weight class.
• In rowing , the sixes and sixteen with a helmsman expanded the program - the two and four with a helmsman replaced the two and four without a helmsman - the double sculls and the eighth were also missing.
• After shooting was missing in the previous Olympic Games, it was at the Olympic interludes of 1906 there. New in the program were double trap, free rifle any position 300 m, free rifle three-position fight 300 m team, dueling pistol 20 m and dueling pistol 25 m - in addition, army rifles were 200 m, army rifles any position 300 m, army pistol 25 m and free pistol 50 m again in program.
• In swimming , only one St. Louis competition remained in the program - the other eight were replaced by 100 m freestyle, 400 m freestyle and a 4 × 250 m freestyle relay.
• In water jumping , the head long jump was canceled.
• In tennis , the women's singles and the mixed doubles were held again.
• The gymnastics program has been massively cut. The individual equipment competitions were omitted - there was only a double individual all-around competition and gymnastics in bars.

Olympic Sports / Disciplines 1906

• Fencing total (8) = men (8)
• Football total (1) = men (1)
• Weightlifting total (2) = men (2)
• Athletics total (21) = men (21)
• Cycling
  • Track total (5) = men (5)
  • Road total (1) = men (1)
• Wrestling total (4) = men (4)
• Rowing total (6) = men (6)
• Shooting total (12) = men (12)
• Swimming
  • Swimming total (4) = men (4)
  • Diving total (1) = men (1)
• Tug of war total (1) = men (1)
• Tennis total (4) = men (2) / women (1) / mixed (1)
• Gymnastics total (4) = men (4)

Number of competitions in brackets

Time schedule

Time schedule
discipline		Sun. 22.	Mon. 23.	Tuesday 24th	Wed. 25.	Thursday 26.	Fr. 27.	Sat. 28.	Sun 29.	Mon. 30.	Tuesday 1	Wed. 2.	Decision- disk- applications
		April									May
Opening ceremony
fencing					2	1	2	2			1		8th
Soccer					1								1
Weightlifting						1	1						2
athletics					4th	1	4th	1		4th	6th	1	21st
Cycling	train		1	2	2								5
	Street											1	1
Wrestling						1	1	1		1			4th
rowing				3			3						6th
shoot			4th	3	1	2		2					12
Swimming	swim			1	1		1	1					4th
	Diving							1					1
Tug of war										1			1
tennis					1	3							4th
do gymnastics			1			3							4th
Closing ceremony
decisions			6th	9	12	12	12	8th		6th	8th		74
		Sun. 22.	Mon. 23.	Tuesday 24th	Wed. 25.	Thursday 26.	Fr. 27.	Sat. 28.	Sun 29.	Mon. 30.	Tuesday 1	Wed. 2.	Decision- disk- applications
		April									May

Color legend

Opening ceremony

Competition day (no decisions)

Competition day (x decisions)

Closing ceremony

Attendees

Participating Nations

Europe (793 athletes from 17 nations)
Belgium  (13)  Bohemia  (13)  Denmark  (49)  German Empire  (51)  Finland *  (4)  France  (56)	Greece  (312)  Great Britain  (47)  Italy  (76) Crete *  (8)  Netherlands  (16)  Norway  (32)	Ottoman Empire *  (2)  Austrian Empire  (31)  Sweden  (39)  Switzerland  (9)  Hungary  (35)
America (41 athletes from 2 nations)
Canada  (3)	United States  (38)
Oceania (4 athletes from 1 nation)
Australia  (4)
Africa (2 athletes from 1 nation)
Egypt  (2)
Others (3 athletes)
Mixed Team  (3)
(Number of athletes) * first-time participation

Outstanding athletes

The most successful participants
space	athlete	country	sport	gold	silver	bronze	total
01	Martin Sheridan	United States	athletics	2	3	-	5
02	Léon Moreaux	FRA	shoot	2	1	2	5
03	Louis-Marcel Richardet	SUI	shoot	3	1	-	4th
04th	Gustav Casmir	GER	fencing	2	2	-	4th
05	Eric Lemming	SWE	Athletics tug of war	1	-	3	4th
06th	Max Décugis	FRA	tennis	3	-	-	3
	Francesco Verri	ITA	Cycling	3	-	-	3
	Enrico Bruna	ITA	rowing	3	-	-	3
	Giorgio Cesana	ITA	rowing	3	-	-	3
	Emilio Fontanella	ITA	rowing	3	-	-	3

The youngest participant was the thirteen-year-old athlete Vahram Papazyan from the Ottoman Empire . The oldest was the French shooter Léon Moreaux at the age of 54, who with a total of five medals was one of the most successful athletes in these interludes.

Worth mentioning

• For the first time the usual opening ceremony took place today, during which the athletes marched into the stadium behind their flags. The Germans were the first to arrive, the reason being unknown. In the end, the Greeks came in as hosts.
• For the first time, the US team appeared in uniform team clothing.
• The idea of ​​the Olympic village was born through the joint accommodation of the athletes in the Zappeion .
• The Kallimarmaro Stadium was only clad in marble for these games .
• The graduation ceremony was organized by 6,000 school children.
• The competitions were attended by around 900,000 spectators.
• When the Union Jack was pulled up on the flagpole for the long jump winner, the Irishman Con Leahy , who started for the team from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , his teammate Peter O'Connor (silver medal, also Irishman on the British team) climbed the flagpole up and waved the Irish flag before angry officials brought him back down. Participation in the Olympic Games was only possible within the British team. According to Volker Kluge (page 204 of Chronicle I), who refers to Mallon, O'Connor only hoisted the flag of Ireland after the award ceremony.

Web links

Commons : Olympic Intermediate Games 1906  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ according to today's classification, cf. Olympic sports
2. ↑ 1906 Athens Summer Games. Retrieved August 21, 2012 . 
3. ^ Arnd Krüger : Olympic Games as a means of politics. In: Eike Emrich, Martin-Peter Büch, Werner Pitsch (eds.): Olympic Games - still up to date? Values, goals, reality from a multidisciplinary perspective. Universitätsverlag des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken 2013, ISBN 978-3-86223-108-9 , pp. 35–54, especially p. 40; see. Guiney, D. (1996). The Olympic Council of Ireland. Citius, Altius Fortius 4 (3), 31-33.