The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee.
The total number of bronze medals is greater than the total of gold or silver because in boxing and judo, two bronze medals were awarded in each weight class.
Countries are ranked firstly by the number of gold medals they have, then by the number of silver, and then by the number of bronze. Where countries have the same number of each type of medal, they are listed alphabetically and given the same ranking.
Medal numbers shown in bold are the highest in their section. Greece, the host nation is highlighted in lavender.
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, were held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 1964, through October 24 1964.
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were held at Athens in Greece.
The games took place from April 6 to 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era. As Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Athens was an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also instituted during this congress.
The 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success even though there were many obstacles and setbacks. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathinaiko Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 19th Century, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events.
After the Games, Rhys Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, some 108 years later.
The stories about the events and people of these Games were in the 1984 NBC miniseries, "The First Olympics: Athens, 1896" – starring David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane and Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin.
In the 18th century, several small-scale sports festivals in Europe were named after the Ancient Olympic Games. The 1870 Olympics at the Panathenaic stadium had 30,000 people. Coubertin took Dr William Penny Brooke's idea to have a multi-national and multi-sport event—the ancient games were in a sense international, because various Greek city-states and colonies were represented, but only free male athletes of Greek origin were allowed to participate. In 1890, Coubertin wrote an article in "La Revue Athletique", which talked about the importance of Much Wenlock—a rural market town in the English county of Shropshire. It was here that, in October 1850, the local physician William Penny Brookes started the Wenlock Olympian Games, a festival of sports and recreations that included athletics and team sports, such as cricket, football and quoits. Coubertin also took inspiration from the earlier Greek games organized under the name of Olympics by businessman and philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859, 1870 and 1875. The 1896 Athens Games was funded by the legacies of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas and by George Averoff who had been specifically requested by the Greek government, through crown prince Constantine, to sponsor the second refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium. The Greek government did fix the stadium even though the cost of refurbishing the stadium in marble had already been funded in full by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier.
On June 18, 1894, Coubertin put together a group at the Sorbonne, in Paris, to present his plans to representatives of sports societies from 11 countries. After his proposal's acceptance by the congress, a date for the first modern Olympic Games needed to be chosen. Coubertin suggested that the Games be held at the same time as the 1900 Universal Exposition of Paris. Concerned that a six-year wait might lessen public interest, congress members instead chose 1896. With a date established, members of the congress turned to the choice of a host city. Since Greece was the original home of the Olympics, all the congress approved the decision of Athens. Vikelas was then elected the first president of the newly established International Olympic Committee (IOC).
On April 6 (March 25 according to the Julian calendar then in use in Greece), the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened; it was Easter Monday for both the Western and Eastern Christian Churches and the anniversary of Greece's independence. The Panathinaiko Stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators, including King George I of Greece, his wife Olga, and their sons. Most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organizing committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the Games:
"I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens. Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people."
Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras, with words by poet Kostis Palamas. Thereafter, a variety of musical offerings provided the backgrounds to the Opening Ceremonies until 1960, since which time the Samaras/Palamas composition has become the official Olympic Anthem (decision taken by the IOC Session in 1958). Other elements of current Olympic opening ceremonies were started later: the Olympic flame was first lit in 1928, the first athletes' oath was sworn at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and the first officials' oath was taken at the 1972 Olympic Games.
At the 1894 Sorbonne congress, a large roster of sports were suggested for the program in Athens. The first official announcements regarding the sporting events to be held featured sports such as football and cricket, but these plans were never finalized, and these sports did not make the final list for the Games. Rowing and yachting were scheduled, but had to be canceled due to poor weather on the planned day of competition.
The athletics events had the most international field of any of the sports. The major highlight was the marathon, held for the first time in international competition. Spyridon Louis was the only Greek athletics champion and a national hero. Although Greece had been favored to win the discus or the shotput, the best Greek athletes finished just behind the American Robert Garrett in both events.
No world records were set, as few top international competitors had elected to compete. In addition, the curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events hard. Despite this, Thomas Burke, of the United States, won the 100 meter race in 12.0 seconds and the 400 meter race in 54.2 seconds. was the only one who used the "crouch start" (putting his knee on soil), confusing the jury. Eventually, he was allowed to start from his "uncomfortable position".
The rules of the International Cycling Association were used for the cycling competitions. The track cycling events were held at the newly built Neo Phaliron Velodrome. Only one road event was held, a race from Athens to Marathon and back (87 kilometers).