by porkbelly
This Olympic session is based on the statistics provided by TCS Games Early Olympics add-on pack for their Central Lanes Athletics and Higher, Faster, Longer games. CLA provides rules for track events up to 400 meters, where HFL includes rules for track, from 800 meters, and field events. Both rule-sets provide mechanics for short and simple statistical replays that will generate the basic results necessary to recreate a solitaire spectator simulation of the competition. The enjoyment here is just in watching the whole thing take shape, rather than any kind of challenging game-play.The first Olympiad in Athens included a a number of different sporting events, but full data is still unavailable so this replay is limited to the athletic events only. And sadly I'll have to omit the popular marathon event as there are no rules or statistics available for road events.
The complete 1896 Olympiad drew 64 participants from 10 nations. I'm only covering the eleven track and field events in this simulation and TCS provides statistics for only 48 individuals from 9 nations. The 10th nation, Chile, was represented by a single athlete, Luis Subercaseaux, who was only 15 at the time. Although he was entered for three track events, we have no data recorded and it is in dispute whether or not he actually ran.
The 1896 Olympiad is also notable for the fact that it excluded women completely. Things started to change slowly from 1900, but women's participation in track & field events would not yet be seen until 1928.
I also understand that only silver and copper medals were handed out for first and second places, as well as a laurel branch and a diploma. In my simulation I will apply the modern Gold, Silver and Bronze medal awards for all events, and we'll leave the laurels on the trees.
1896 Athens Summer Olympics - Schedule of Events
6 April
100 meters (Heats)
Triple Jump
800 meters (Heats)
Discus Throw
400 meters (Heats)
7 April
110 meter Hurdles (Heats)
Long Jump
400 meters (Final)
Shot Put
1500 meters
9 April
800 meters (Final)
10 April
100 meters (Final)
High Jump
110 meter Hurdles (Final)
Pole Vault
6th April
Opening Ceremony
Crown Prince Constatine of Greece gives his opening speech:
"I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens. Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people."
Bands and choirs follow but the Olympic flame won't be a part of the opening ceremony until 1928. And so, on with the games....!!
100 Metres (Heats)
The 100 metres was first event to be held at the Olympiad, with the heats taking place on 6 April. Fifteen athletes from eight nations ran in three heats, with the top two from each heat qualifying for the final. In the TCS add-on pack I only have statistics for eight runners from five nations. Since I can identify the other seven runners and I'd like to replay the historical heats, I'll just add them as class E athletes.
Records to Beat
In 1896 the world record for this event was 10.8 seconds held by British runner Harry Beaton (not competing). For this Olympic event Thomas Burke (USA) outclasses the other runners by a wide margin, but there's still no chance of any runners breaking records for this competition.
Francis Lane (USA) is off-form today but manages to make good after a poor start. He goes down in history as the first runner to win a modern Olympic race.
A strong performance from Thomas Curtis (USA) closely followed to the ribbon by Alexandros Chalkokondylis (GRE)
Heat 3 sees some confusion among the Olympic jurors when Thomas Burke uses the "crouch start", with his knee on the soil. Eventually he is allowed to start from this "uncomfortable position" and dominates the pack all the way to the finish.
Historical Comparison
As in the actual events, the US athletes all finish first although it wasn't such a clear lead this time. In fact, we have ended up with the same six finalists as qualified in the actual heats. We'll have to wait for the final to see how it turns out.
Triple Jump
The Triple Jump follows next and, with seven athletes from five nations competing, this event will be completed in only one round.
Note: After some internal debate I decided to apply some house rules on this event. The game rules use the same modifier chart for both the Long Jump and Triple Jump and this just doesn't feel like the right range for the Triple Jump. My house rule was simply to double all results printed on the chart when simulating the Triple Jump. As a side note, I think I'll have similar issue with the Shot Put modifiers but I'll get to that event later.
Records to Beat
There was no world record recognized for the Triple Jump until 1911. Since that record was 15.52m, set by Dan Ahearn of USA, and I'm unlikely to be close to that, the winning finalist here will simply give us a benchmark for future games.
A very nice effort from James Connolly (USA) on his third try and he goes down in history as the first modern Olympic champion. For a few minutes following his last jump there is concern that he has injured himself but he waves to the crowd and seems to be okay.
Historical Comparison
All the medals in my replay went to the same athletes as the historical games. Connolly cleared 13 meters and deservedly received a gold (noted I applied some house rules) but risked injury to do so, which would have removed him from the competition. If injured, I would have removed him from the Long Jump and High Jump events which would have been interesting.
800 Meters (Heats)
The 800 meters heats are up next and we have nine athletes from six nations competing. The preliminary round is split into two heats where the top two runners in each heat will earn a place in the final.
Records to Beat
Nothing was recognized for the 800 meters until 1912, with Ted Meredith (USA) setting 1:51.9, recorded during the course of a longer race. With the tight bends at Panathinaiko Stadium, setting record times in Athens wasn't really a possibility.
A slow race but Friedrich Traun (GER) doesn't manage complete. George Marshall (GBR) runs well but can't quite manage to keep up with the leaders on the last straight. Edwin Flack (AUS) loses his lead early to Nandor Dani (HUN) and never manages to regain it.
Angelos Fetsis (GRE) fails to complete and Albin Lermusiaux (FRA) and Dimitrios Tomprof (GRE) can't keep up with the leaders. Georges de la Neziere (FRA) leads Dimitrios Golemis (GRE) all the way to the finish.
Historical Comparison
A reversal of fortune in heat one where Australia's runner, Edwin Flack, took the actual win. In heat two we lost historical winner, Albin Lermusiaux, early. Golemis remains in second place with de la Neziere taking first.
Although Lermusiaux made it into the historical final he decided not to race in order to save himself for the marathon instead. We'll have to wait and see how well de la Neziere performs in his place for this Olympic games.
Discus
The Discus throw follows next with nine athletes from six nations competing. In the 1896 Discus event, each athlete made three throws with the top three finalists competing with a further two throws.
Of note is that fact that many of the non-Greek athletes had never thrown a discus before this competition and, for some, the real thing turned out to be much lighter than the substitutes they had used in practice.
Records to Beat
The first throw on world record comes in 1900 from Harrison Heath (GBR) who managed 46m. For these 1896 Olympics the competitors will be extremely lucky if they can make 30m.
Alphonse Grisel (FRA) manages to injure himself on his second attempt. This is an unfortunate result for him as he will have to drop out of the games and will therefore miss the 400 meters and Long Jump events.
Robert Garrett (USA), Panagiotis Paraskevopolous (GRE) and Sotirios Versis (GRE) all throw the same qualifying distance on their third attempt. Only Garrett manages to improve on this with his 4th throw, to take the gold.
Historical Comparison
Robert Garrett wins it again, beating the same two Greek finalists. Since the Greeks both threw the same distance I've awarded two silver medals, where Versis historically took the bronze. I think the normal practice is to assign a bronze to the next runner up but since Viggo Jensen didn't qualify for the extra throws I think the correct thing is to pass out a gold and two silvers only.
400 Meters (Heats)
The final event held on 6th April is the 400 meters heats. Seven athletes from four nations signed up but we have already seen Alphonse Grisel (FRA) drop out from a Discus injury. The original heats will still stand, with two groups of three runners competing for four places in the final.
Records to Beat
The 400 meters record wasn't ratified until 1912 for Charles Reidpath (USA) at 48.2 seconds. At the same time the committee also recognized the superior performance of 47.8 seconds by Maxie Long (USA) on a 440 yards (402.34 meters) race. The tight track at the 1896 Olympic stadium won't put these future records in any danger.
A reasonable start from Kurt Dorry (GER) but he quickly falls into third place and stays there. Herbert Jamison (USA) leads the race to the finish with Fritz Hofmann (GER) taking a comfortable second.
Thomas Burke (USA), who dominated in the 100 meters earlier, proves to have tired himself by the end of the day. He drops from second to third then back to second, puts on a final burst to momentarily gain the lead but eventually finishes second. An unexpectedly good performance from a weak runner, Frantz Reichel (FRA), gives us an exciting surprise win to end the day.
Historical Comparison
Jamison and Hofmann complete heat 1 with historical results. More notable though, is the poor performance from Thomas Burke in heat 2 who was very lucky to take the second. Gmelin also underperformed and paid for it by losing his historical place in the final. Reichel performed excellently, managing to beat his historical time by just over 8 seconds! I'm looking forward to see if he can maintain his form well enough to win a medal in the final tomorrow.
6 April Round-Up
An exciting day that sees the USA pick up Golds in both the Triple Jump and Discus events. France wins a Silver in the Triple Jump, while the host Greece takes two Silvers, both for the Discus, and a Bronze in the Triple Jump.
Alphonse Grisel (FRA) has had to drop out of the competition from an injury sustained in the Discus throw. He wasn't able to run the 400 meters today and will not be taking his place in the Long Jump tomorrow.
This session report to be continued ....