March 28th 1896: 4th day of the events
Shooting
In the morning forty-two athletes competed in the shooting contest with a rifle from a distance of 200m. Pantelis Karasevdas, a law student from Greece, was first and the lawyer Pavlos Paulides, came in second.
Tennis
The event continued with the preliminary games.
Fencing
The event resumed in the morning in Zappeion. Ioannis Georgiades, from Greece, was the winner and Telemachos Karakalos came in second.
Contests in the Stadium
During the fourth day, the events held in the Stadium were gymnastics. At 2.30 p.m. the trumpets sounded the arrival of the royal family and the king of Serbia in civilian attire. During the procession, the philharmonic bands played the Greek and the Serbian National Hymn while the spectators applauded the king and the guest of honor.
Immediately afterwards, the philharmonic bands started playing the Olympic Hymn, composed by S. Samaras, under the direction of the leading musician of the royal guard. The spectators were so excited that they demanded an encore and the band didn't disappoint them. The games began right after that.
800m. race
Edwin Flack, an Australian athlete, was the winner of this race.
Parallel Bars
The National Gymnastics Club of Athens, the Panhellenic Gymnastics Club and the German Team competed in this event and the German Team was declared winner.
Vaulting horse
Fourteen athletes participated in this event. Carl Schuhmann, an athlete form Germany, was the winner and Louis Zutter, a Swiss, came in second.
Pommel-horse
The Swiss Louis Zutter, was declared winner among the eleven athletes participating in the event.
Rings
During this event the spectators were pleasantly surprised. Among the twelve contestants, the winner was Ioannis Mitropoulos of the National Gymnastics Club, thus becoming the first Greek Olympic winner in contests held inside a Stadium. According to H. Anninos:
"The crowd bursts with wild enthusiasm, their eyes filled with tears. Their hats are flying in the air and they wave their hankies. The cheering and the endless applause create a unique atmosphere".
[Beck, Ch. (ed.), Oi Olympiakoi Agones, 776 BC - 1896 (The Olympic Games, 776 BC - 1896), Athens 1896, p.39].
Horizontal Bar
Sixteen athletes competed in the event, two of them Greeks, while most of them were German. The German flag flaunted for the third time that day, since Hermann Weingaertner was the winner.
|