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.
| Great Britain at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | GBR |
| NOC | British Olympic Association |
| in Athens, Greece April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896 | |
| Competitors | 10 in 7 sports and 19 events |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
| Other related appearances | |
| 1906 Intercalated Games | |
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.
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gold | John Pius Boland | Tennis | Singles | April 11 |
| Gold | John Pius Boland | Tennis | Doubles | April 11 |
| Gold | Launceston Elliot | Weightlifting | One hand lift | April 7 |
 Silver | Grantley Goulding | Athletics | 110 m hurdles | April 10 |
| Silver | Frederick Keeping | Cycling | 12 hour race | April 13 |
| Silver | Launceston Elliot | Weightlifting | Two hand lift | April 7 |
 Bronze | Charles Gmelin | Athletics | 400 m | April 7 |
| Bronze | Edward Battell | Cycling | Road race | April 12 |
| Bronze | George S. Robertson | Tennis | Doubles | April 9 |
| Medals by sport | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | | | | Total |
| Athletics | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Cycling | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tennis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Weightlifting | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Multiple medalists
The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.
| Name | Medal | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston Elliot | Gold Silver | Weightlifting | Men's one hand lift Men's two hand lift |
Competitors
| Medals by day | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | | | | Total |
| 1 | 6 April | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 7 April | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 8 April | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 9 April | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 10 April | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 11 April | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 12 April | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 13 April | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |
Athletics
Track & road events
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Launceston Elliot | 100 m | 12.9 | 3 | Did not advance | |
| Charles Gmelin | 12.9 | 3 | Did not advance | ||
| George Marshall | Unknown | 5 | Did not advance | ||
| Launceston Elliot | 400 m | DNS | Did not advance | ||
| Charles Gmelin | 1:00.5 | 2 Q | 56.7 | | |
| Grantley Goulding | DNS | Did not advance | |||
| George Marshall | DNS | Did not advance | |||
| George Marshall | 800 m | Unknown | 4 | Did not advance | |
| George Marshall | 1500 m | — | DNS | ||
| Grantley Goulding | 110 m hurdles | 18.4 | 1 Q | 17.7 | |
Field events
| Athlete | Event | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Position | ||
| George S. Robertson | Men's shot put | DNS | |
| George S. Robertson | Men's discus throw | 25.20 | 4 |
Cycling
Track
| Athlete | Event | Time / Distance | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Battell | Men's time trial | 26.2 | 4 |
| Frederick Keeping | 27.0 | =5 | |
| Edward Battell | 100 km | DNF | |
| Frederick Keeping | Men's 12 hour race | 294.946 km | |
Road
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Battell | Men's road race | Unknown | |
| Frederick Keeping | DNS | ||
Gymnastics
- Individual
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston Elliot | Men's rope climbing | Unknown | 5 |
Fencing
| Athlete | Event | Record | Touches | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Losses | For | Against | |||
| Edgar Seligman | Sabre | DNS | ||||
Shooting
Merlin and Machonet were unable to win any medals in the shooting events.
| Athlete | Event | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Rank | ||
| Machonet | Men's 200 m military rifle | Unknown | 14-41 |
| Sidney Merlin | 1156 | 10 | |
| Sidney Merlin | Men's 300 m free rifle | Unknown | 6-18 |
| Sidney Merlin | Men's 25 m military pistol | DNF | |
| Sidney Merlin | Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol | DNF | |
Swimming
| Athlete | Event | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | ||
| H.F Suter | 100 m freestyle | DNS | |
| H.F Suter | 500 m freestyle | DNS | |
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.
| Athlete | Event | First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | ||
| John Boland | Singles |  Traun (GER)W 6–0, 2–6, 6–2 |  Rallis (GRE)W | Paspatis (GRE) W | Kasdaglis (GRE) W 6-3, 6,1 | |
| George S. Robertson | Paspatis (GRE) L | Did not advance | ||||
| Frank Marshall | DNS | |||||
| George Marshall | DNS | |||||
 John Boland (GBR) Friedrich Traun (GER) | Doubles | — | Akratopoulos / Akratopoulos (GRE) W | Bye | Kasdaglis / Petrokokkinos (GRE) W 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 | |
| George S. Robertson (GBR) Edwin Flack (AUS) | — | Bye | Kasdaglis / Petrokokkinos (GRE) 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.
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston Elliot | Men's one hand lift | 71.0 | |
| Launceston Elliot | 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.
| Athlete | Event | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | ||
| Launceston Elliot | Men's Greco-Roman | Schuhmann (GER) L | Did not advance | =4 | |
References
- Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
- Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
- Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.