Olympic Cavalcade

THE ATHENIAN CELEBRATI<?N, 1906 47 Some people have protested that the Celebration at Athens in 1906 was in no true sense of the word the termination of an Olympiad: In any case the Athenian Celebration -has been ignored in the official archives as kept by the British. But the fact remains that the gathering, call it how you will, shows clearly how interest in international sport was increasing. The Ist Modern Olympiad, we know, arqused g:r~at enthusiasm among the Greeks, although the only victory won by a Greek was -in the Marathon race, which was won by Spiridon Loues, but the 2nd and vd men were also Greeks. _ - Despite rpe strange assortment of contests which comprised the pro– gramme at the second official Celebration of the Games at Paris, in 1900, those Games were made famous by the improved performances of a scratch team of Americans. In 1904 there was, in America, a further gigamic programme, comprising not less than 309 events. It was almost entirely a local celebration. For example, of all the 3.09 co_mpetitions only I4 _were woh by men of nations- ~ other than America. A spirit of inter-club, rather than 'international, rivalry obtained, and the. constituent colleges of the East of U.S.A. banned the - meeting. - The athletic enthusiasm of Greece was as great as ever in 1906. Greece and other competing countries had expanded and 3rgahized their Olympic Committees. The nations- were represented bJcompetirors at Athens '!S ~ under: - - Greece (including Athens, Sparta, Isle of Cfe~e, S_alonika, Samos, Isle _ of Cyprus, Thessaly, and the Greek Archipelage.) Finlancl . . ·- . . . . . . . . Great Britain (including England proper, Ireland, Scotland,_Canada and Australia) - . Germany - . _- . Belgium - . . Constantinople (Turkey) - Sweden . . . Denmark Italy Holland . . . . . . . . . . . No - -- ~ rway . . . . . . . . . . . U.S.A. (including two entries from Robert College at Constanrinople) France Bohemia . Switzerland Egypt Russia Hungary Austria Total of ~tries received 298 4 66 52 23 12 57 )6 39 Ill 44 43 73 27 5 4 j) 35 901