At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals (12 silver for winners, 13 bronze for runner-up, none for third) were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern medals (12 gold, 13 silver, 12 bronze). All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon.
A second event held for the first time in international competition was the marathon foot race. It was conceived by Michel Bréal, a friend of Pierre de Coubertin, based on the legend of Pheidippides. This Athenian soldier first completed a two-day run to seek Spartan help against the invading Persians in the Battle of Marathon, and then ran from the town of Marathon to Athens days later to announce the victory, dying as a result of his heroic efforts. The race started in Marathon, and ran for 40 kilometres over dusty roads to Athens. The Greek public, disappointed as there had not yet been a Greek victor in athletics, was overjoyed when it was announced during the race that a Greek runner had taken the lead. When Spiridon Louis, a water carrier from Maroussi, arrived in the stadium he was accompanied by the Greek Crown Prince on his final lap. Louis would never again compete in a race, but his victory made him a national hero.
The exploits of Louis, Garrett, Connolly, and Flack would be chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens, 1896.
The day after the official marathon Stamata Revithi ran the 40-kilometer course in 5 hours 30 minutes, finishing outside Panathinaiko Stadium. She was denied entry into the official competition since the 1896 Olympics excluded women from competition.
Schedule
{| class="wikitable olympic-schedule athletics"
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
!colspan=11 | Men's
|-
! Date || colspan="2"| Apr 6 || colspan="2"|Apr 7 || colspan="2"|Apr 8 || colspan="2"|Apr 9 || colspan="2"|Apr 10
|-
!Event || M || E || M || E || M || E || M || E || M || E
|-
| class="event" | 100 m || colspan=2 class="heats" | H ||colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || ||class="final" | F
|-
| class="event" | 400 m || colspan=2 class="heats" | H || || class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | 800 m || colspan=2 class="heats" | H || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || class="final" | F || || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | 1500 m || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | 110 m hurdles || colspan="2"| || || class="heats" | H || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F
|-
| class="event" | Marathon || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F
|-
| class="event" | High jump || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F
|-
| class="event" | Pole vault || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F
|-
| class="event" | Long jump || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | Triple jump || ||class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | Shot put || colspan="2"| || || class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|-
| class="event" | Discus throw || ||class="final" | F || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"| || colspan="2"|
|}
Medal summary
These medals were retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and runners-up bronze medals. Athletes coming third received no award.
{|
|-valign="top"
|rowspan=2|100 metres<br />
|rowspan=2|||rowspan=2|12.0
|rowspan=2|||rowspan=2|12.2
|||rowspan=2|12.6
|-
|
|-
|400 metres<br />
|||54.2
|||55.2
|||56.7
|-
|800 metres<br />
|||2:11.0
|||2:11.8
|||2:28.0
|-
|1500 metres<br />
|||4:33.2
|||4:33.6
|||4:36.0
|-
|110 metres hurdles<br />
|||17.6
|||17.7
|none awarded ||
|-
|Marathon<br />
|||2:58:50
|||3:06:03
|||3:06:35
|-valign="top"
|rowspan=2|High jump<br />
|rowspan=2|||rowspan=2|1.81 m
|||rowspan=2|1.65 m
|rowspan=2|none awarded ||rowspan=2|
|-
|
|-valign="top"
|rowspan=2|Pole vault<br />
|rowspan=2|||rowspan=2|3.30 m
|rowspan=2|||rowspan=2|3.20 m
|||rowspan=2|2.60 m
|-
|
|-
|Long jump<br />
|||6.35 m
|||6.00 m
|||5.84 m
|-
|Triple jump<br />
|||13.71 m
|||12.70 m
|||12.52 m
|-
|Shot put<br />
|||11.22 m
|||11.03 m
|||10.36 m
|-valign="top"
|Discus throw<br />
|||29.15 m
|||28.95 m
|||27.78 m
|}
Medal table
Participating nations
thumb|Hungarian athletic team of 1896 Summer Olympics
A total of 63 athletes from 9 nations competed at the Athens Games. which would increase the total to 64 athletes from 10 nations, but other sources list Luis Subercaseaux as not having started.