Great Britain at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Ten athletes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed in seven sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Great Britain athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.

Two tennis players (one English, one Irish) also played in mixed team squads, contributing to a gold and a bronze medal. These medals are not counted as part of the Great Britain total.

Medallists

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.

{|class="wikitable sortable" style=font-size:95%

! Medal

! Name

! Sport

! Event

! Date

| || || Tennis || Singles ||

| ' || ' || Tennis || Doubles || '

| || || Weightlifting || One hand lift ||

| || || Athletics || 110 m hurdles ||

| || || Cycling || 12 hour race ||

| || || Weightlifting || Two hand lift ||

| || || Athletics || 400 m ||

| || || Cycling || Road race ||

| ' || ' || Tennis || Doubles || '

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; float:right;"

!colspan=5|Medals by sport

!Sport

|bgcolor=F7F6A8|

|bgcolor=DCE5E5|

|bgcolor=FFDAB9|

!Total

|Athletics

|bgcolor=F7F6A8|0

|bgcolor=DCE5E5|1

|bgcolor=FFDAB9|1

|Cycling

|bgcolor=F7F6A8|0

|bgcolor=DCE5E5|1

|bgcolor=FFDAB9|1

|Tennis

|bgcolor=F7F6A8|1

|bgcolor=DCE5E5|0

|bgcolor=FFDAB9|0

|Weightlifting

|bgcolor=F7F6A8|1

|bgcolor=DCE5E5|1

|bgcolor=FFDAB9|0

!Total

!style=background:gold|2

!style=background:silver|3

!style=background:#c96|2

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%"

! Name

! Medal

! Sport

! Event

| || ||Weightlifting|| Men's one hand lift Men's two hand lift

Competitors

| width=78% align=left valign=top |

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center

! width=180|Sport

! width=55|Men

! width=55|Women

! width=55|Total

| align=left|Athletics

| 5 || 0 || 5

| align=left|Cycling

| 2 || 0 || 2

| align=left|Gymnastics

| 1 || 0 || 1

| align=left|Shooting

| 2 || 0 || 2

| align=left|Tennis

| 2 || 0 || 2

| align=left|Weightlifting

| 1 || 0 || 1

| align=left|Wrestling

| 1 || 0 || 1

! Total || 10 || 0 || 10

| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:85%;float:right;text-align:center

!colspan=6|Medals by day

!Day

!Date

| bgcolor=F7F6A8|

| bgcolor=DCE5E5|

| bgcolor=FFDAB9|

!Total

|6 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

|- style="text-align:center"

|7 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |1

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |1

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |1

|- style="text-align:center"

|8 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

|- style="text-align:center"

|9 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

|- style="text-align:center"

|10 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |1

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

|- style="text-align:center"

|11 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |1

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

| 1

|- style="text-align:center"

|12 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |1

|- style="text-align:center"

|13 April

| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0

| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |1

| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0

!colspan=2|Total

! style="background:gold" |2

! style="background:silver" |3

! style="background:#c96" |2

Athletics

Track & road events

{| class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Event

!colspan=2|Heat

!colspan=2|Final

|-style=font-size:95%

!Time

!Rank

!Time

!Rank

|align=left|Launceston Elliot

|align=left rowspan=3|100 m

|12.9

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|Charles Gmelin

|12.9

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|George Marshall

|Unknown

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|Launceston Elliot

|align=left rowspan=4|400 m

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|Charles Gmelin

|1:00.5

|2 Q

|56.7

|align=left|Grantley Goulding

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|George Marshall

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|George Marshall

|align=left|800 m

|Unknown

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|align=left|George Marshall

|align=left|1500 m

|colspan=2

|colspan=2|

|align=left|Grantley Goulding

|align=left|110 m hurdles

|18.4

|1 Q

|17.7

Field events

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Event

!colspan=2|Final

|-style=font-size:95%

!Distance

!Position

|align=left|George S. Robertson

|align=left|Men's shot put

|colspan=2|

|align=left|George S. Robertson

|align=left|Men's discus throw

|25.20

Cycling

Track

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!Athlete

!Event

!Time / Distance

!Rank

|align=left|Edward Battell

|align=left rowspan=2|Men's time trial

|26.2

|align=left|Frederick Keeping

|27.0

|=5

|align=left|Edward Battell

|align=left|100 km

|colspan=2|

|align=left|Frederick Keeping

|align=left|Men's 12 hour race

|294.946 km

Road

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!Athlete

!Event

!Time

!Rank

|align=left|Edward Battell

|align=left rowspan=2|Men's road race

|Unknown

|align=left|Frederick Keeping

|colspan=2|

Gymnastics

;Individual

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!Athlete

!Event

!Result

!Rank

|Launceston Elliot

|Men's rope climbing

|Unknown

Fencing

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!colspan="2"|Record

!colspan="2"|Touches

!rowspan="2"|Rank

!Wins

!Losses

!For

!Against

|Edgar Seligman

|Sabre

|colspan=5|

Shooting

Merlin and Machonet were unable to win any medals in the shooting events.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

!rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!colspan=2|Final

|-style="font-size:95%"

!Score

!Rank

|-align=center

|align=left|Machonet

|align=left rowspan=2|Men's 200 m military rifle

|Unknown

|14-41

|-align=center

|align=left|Sidney Merlin

|1156

|10

|-align=center

|align=left|Sidney Merlin

|align=left|Men's 300 m free rifle

|Unknown

|6-18

|-align=center

|align=left|Sidney Merlin

|align=left|Men's 25 m military pistol

|colspan=2|

|-align=center

|align=left|Sidney Merlin

|align=left|Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol

|colspan=2|

Swimming

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Event

!colspan=2|Final

|-style=font-size:95%

!Time

!Rank

|align=left|H.F Suter

|align=left|100 m freestyle

|colspan=2|

|align=left|H.F Suter

|align=left|500 m freestyle

|colspan=2|

Tennis

Boland (later best known as an Irish nationalist politician) was by far the best player in the tennis competition, amassing a 6-0 record over both events and two gold medals, though one of them was as part of a mixed team. He defeated Traun in the first round of the singles competition, then teamed up with him for the doubles competition. Robertson was much less successful, losing both of the matches he played, though he was awarded a retroactive bronze medal by the International Olympic Committee as his bye in the doubles quarterfinals put him in third place in that event. Like Boland's doubles gold medal, Robertson's bronze is not counted as part of the British total because the two played on mixed teams. Some sources include George Marshall and his brother Frank; the two were entered but appear to have not competed.

{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center

!rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Event

!First round

!Quarterfinals

!Semifinals

!colspan=2|Final

|-style=font-size:95%

!Opposition Score

!Rank

|align=left|John Boland

|align=left rowspan=4|Singles

| W 6–0, 2–6, 6–2

| W

| W 6-3, 6,1

|align=left|George S. Robertson

| L

|colspan=4|Did not advance

|align=left|Frank Marshall

|colspan=5|

|align=left|George Marshall

|colspan=5|

|align=left|

|align=left rowspan=2|Doubles

| W

| W 5-7, 6-4, 6-1

|align=left|

| L

|Did not advance

Weightlifting

Elliot (born in British India of Scottish ancestry) lifted the same amount as Viggo Jensen in the two handed lift, but was declared by Prince George of Greece to have taken second place based on lifting form. In the one handed lift, he easily defeated Jensen, who lifted only 57 kilograms.

{|class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"

!Athlete

!Event

!Result

!Rank

|align=left|Launceston Elliot

|align=left|Men's one hand lift

|71.0

|align=left|Launceston Elliot

|align=left|Men's two hand lift

|111.5

Wrestling

Elliot was defeated by eventual champion Carl Schuhmann in the first round of the wrestling competition, tying for 4th and last place.

{|class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"

!rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Event

!Quarterfinal

!Semifinal

!colspan=2|Final

!Opposition Result

!Rank

|align=left|Launceston Elliot

|align=left|Men's Greco-Roman

| L

|colspan=2|Did not advance

|=4

References

(Digitally available at [http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1896/1896.pdf])
(Excerpt available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080411091042/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/Mallon/1896.pdf])