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The First Olympics: Athens 1896

  • ️Fri Jul 26 2024

The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (Series)

The First Olympics: Athens 1896 is an American Mini Series about the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, focusing primarily on the first American Olympic team. It originally aired in two parts on NBC in 1984. The first part portrays the two years leading up to the games while the second part features the games themselves.

At the behest of Olympic founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin (Louis Jourdan), Dr. William Milligan Sloane (David Ogden Stiers) cobbles together an American team, which most notably includes Robert Garrett (Hunt Block), James Connolly (David Caruso), and Arthur Blake (Alex Hyde-White). At the same time, the stories of Australian athlete Edwin Flack (Benedict Taylor) and Greek athlete Spyridon Louis (Nicos Ziagos) are related. The cast also features Honor Blackman as Madam Ursula Schumann, Virginia McKenna as Annabel Flack (Edwin's mother), Angela Lansbury as Alice Garrett (Robert's mother), Jason Connery as Thomas Curtis, and Matt Frewer as Francis Lane.

Compare It Happened in Athens, which also fictionalized the 1896 Olympics but focused specifically on Spyridon Louis.

Tropes:

  • Anachronism Stew:
    • Gardner Williams mentions chocolate chip cookies, which weren't invented until the 1930s.
    • While this is one of the few works to correctly portray the U.S. as not having a National Anthem prior to 1931, when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is suggested for representing the U.S. team, it's claimed that the song has "no lyrics" as of 1896. In fact, the lyrics were written over eighty years earlier by Francis Scott Key. It should also be noted that the Olympic medal ceremony wasn't introduced until 1932, so the need for a national anthem at the Olympics is itself anachronistic.
    • The concept of national teams wasn't added to the Olympics until 1908. This means that the inclusion of the Parade of Nations is anachronistic, as is all the drama about Edwin Flack competing for Australia instead of Britain. Indeed, Australia consisted of six separate British colonies in 1896, and they wouldn't unite to form the Commonwealth of Australia until 1901. It is true that Flack's medals are now counted as Australian wins, but this is a decision that the IOC made retroactively.
  • Artistic License – History: Not counting what's already listed under Anachronism Stew:
    • James Connolly is portrayed as a first-generation Irish immigrant who came over from Ireland himself. In reality, he was a second-generation immigrant, born in Boston to parents who had emigrated from Ireland.
    • Robert Garrett is incorrectly portrayed as participating in the marathon.
  • Cliffhanger: The first part ends with the complication that, due to confusion between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the American team is set to arrive in Greece on the wrong day. Dr. Sloane then vows that he will "move heaven and earth" to get them to the Olympics on time, which is followed by a To Be Continued caption.
  • Creator Provincialism: Although it's intercut with the stories of Edwin Flack (Australia) and Spyridon Louis (Greece), the series focuses overwhelmingly on the American team. To be fair, the Americans did win the majority of the gold medalsnote  in 1896, so it does make some sense for them to be focused on.
  • Description Cut: As the Olympic organizers struggle to sort out the problem of the American team being set to arrive in Athens on the wrong date, it's pointed out that the athletes themselves have no idea of their predicament as they are cut off from communication while crossing the Atlantic. Mary Sloane replies that it's just as well since they'll be able to relax. Cut to their ship in the middle of a storm with most of the team getting seasick.
  • Ensemble Cast: The series has no real main character, instead relating the stories of various officials and athletes who were involved with the 1896 games.
  • The Gay '90s: Set from 1894 to 1896.
  • It Will Never Catch On:
    • The series portrays a time when the modern Olympics were seen as an experiment, with many naysayers expressing their doubts.
    • When "The Star-Spangled Banner" is first played for a winning American athlete, spectators question whether the tune will catch on.
  • Never Learned to Read: It's mentioned that Spyridon Louis is illiterate, not surprising given his background as a poor shepherd.
  • Produce Pelting: Pompous British athlete Grantley Goulding (played by Robert Addie) has fruit thrown at him due to his poor sportsmanship.
  • Sentenced to Down Under: Edwin Flack mentions that this happened to his grandfather and that this is how his family ended up living in Australia. Not true, by the way. In reality, Flack was born in London, and he came to Australia with his parents when he was five.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: It's mentioned a couple times that women weren't included in the 1896 games. Historically, the next Olympics in 1900 were the first to feature women, but for some reason, the ending epilogue claims that the Olympics wouldn't permit women until 1928. The 1928 games were the first to allow women to participate in track and field events, so that's presumably what they meant.
  • Training Montage: There are several of these as the American team prepares for the games in Athens.
  • Translation Convention: In scenes that feature Spyridon Louis alongside his fellow Greeks, they all speak English. When interacting with the Americans, the Greeks speak their own language.
  • "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The series ends with a narrator explaining what the featured personages went on to next in their lives.