Australia competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. One athlete from the Colony of Victoria, a British colony which later formed part of Australia, competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Edwin Flack was born in England and was a resident in London in 1896, but spent most of his life in Australia and so is considered an Australian athlete by the International Olympic Committee.See, e.g., , the IOC medal chart for the 1896 Games listing Flack's two gold medals for Australia.
The Union Flag was used as the flag for the Australian colonies as well as Great Britain and Ireland at the 1896 Summer Olympics.
At the end of these Olympics, Australia was ranked in eighth position on the medal table with a total of 2 medals (2 gold).
Flack was the only competitor from an Australian colony. He entered five events, winning medals in three. The bronze medal in tennis, however, was part of a mixed team and therefore is not counted for Australia.
Medalists
The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded. Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.
MedalNameSportEventDateAthleticsMen's 800 metresAthleticsMen's 1500 metresTennisMen's doubles
Medals by sportSportTotalAthletics2002Total2002
Multiple medalists The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games. Name Medal Sport Event Athletics Men's 800 metresMen's 1500 metres
Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
| width=78% align=left valign=top | SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 1 0 1Tennis 1 0 1 Total 1Edwin Flack competed in athletics and tennis. 0 1
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |
Medals by dayDayDate Total16 April000027 April100138 April000049 April1001510 April0000611 April000 0712 April0000813 April0000Total2002
Athletics
Both of Flack's gold medals came in the athletics competitions as he won both of his track races.
Track & road events AthleteEventHeatFinalTimeRankTimeRankEdwin Flack400 mDid not advanceEdwin Flack800 m2:10.0 OR1 Q2:11.0Edwin Flack1500 mcolspan=2 4:33.2 OREdwin FlackMarathoncolspan=2
Tennis
In the singles tournament, Flack lost the only match he competed in. His loss in the semifinals of the doubles competition, while carrying no prize at the time, earned him a retroactive bronze medal from the International Olympic Committee. This medal is counted for mixed team rather than Australia, however.
AthleteEventFirst roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankEdwin FlackSinglesL Did not advance=8Doubles W L Did not advance
Notes
References
(Digitally available at ) (Excerpt available at )
External links
Australian Olympic Committee