page_title: 1896 Summer Olympics
section_title: Gymnastics
hierarchical_section_title: 1896 Summer Olympics / Events / Gymnastics
context_page_description: 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 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.
context_section_description: Gymnastics was at the infield of the Panathinaiko Stadium. Germany sent an 11-man team, which won five of the eight events, including both team events. In the team event on the horizontal bar, the German team was unopposed. Three Germans added individual titles: Hermann Weingärtner won the horizontal bar, Alfred Flatow won the parallel bars; and Carl Schuhmann, who also competed successfully in wrestling, won the vault. Louis Zutter, a Swiss gymnast, won the pommel horse, while Greeks Ioannis Mitropoulos and Nikolaos Andriakopoulos were victorious in the rings and rope climbing events, respectively.
caption: The German individual gymnastics champions: Schuhmann, Flatow, and Weingärtner
exif: {}