Denmark at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Sporting event delegation

Denmark at the
1896 Summer Olympics

IOC code| DEN
NOC| National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark
Website| www.dif.dk (in Danish and English)
in Athens, Greece
April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors| 3 in 5 sports and 12 events
Medals
Ranked 9th|

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

* 1896
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Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Three athletes from Denmark competed in five sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Two of the three combined to win a gold medal, two silvers, and three bronzes, while Eugen Schmidt earned no medals. Viggo Jensen contributed one of each color, while Holger Nielsen earned the second silver and two bronzes. Shooting and weightlifting were Denmark's most successful sports. Denmark had 15 entries in 12 events, winning six medals.

## Medalists

[edit]

Further information: 1896 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 1896 Summer Olympics medal winners

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded.

Medal  | Name  | Sport  | Event  | Date

|
|
|
|

Gold | Viggo Jensen | Weightlifting | Men's two hand lift | April 7
Silver | Holger Nielsen | Shooting | Men's 30 m free pistol | April 11
Silver | Viggo Jensen | Weightlifting | Men's one hand lift | April 7
Bronze | Holger Nielsen | Fencing | Men's sabre | April 9
Bronze | Viggo Jensen | Shooting | Men's 300 m free rifle, three positions | April 12
Bronze | Holger Nielsen | Shooting | Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol | April 11
Medals by sport

Sport  |  |  |  | Total
Weightlifting | 1  | 1  | 0  | 2
Shooting | 0  | 1  | 2  | 3
Fencing | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
Total  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 6

### Multiple medalists

[edit]

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Name  | Medal  | Sport  | Event

|
|
|

Viggo Jensen |  Gold
Silver
Bronze | Weightlifting
Shooting | Men's two hand lift
Men's one hand lift
Men's 300 metre free rifle
Holger Nielsen |  Silver
Bronze
Bronze | Shooting
Fencing | Men's 30 metre pistol
Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol
Men's sabre

## Competitors

[edit]

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

| Sport  | Men  | Women  | Total

|
|
|

Athletics | 3 | 0 | 3
Fencing | 1 | 0 | 1
Gymnastics | 1 | 0 | 1
Shooting | 2 | 0 | 2
Weightlifting  | 1 | 0 | 1
Total | 3[1] | 0 | 3

| Medals by day

Day  | Date  |  |  |  | Total
1  | 6 April  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
2  | 7 April  | 1  | 1  | 0  | 2
3  | 8 April  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
4  | 9 April  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
5  | 10 April  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
6  | 11 April  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 2
7  | 12 April  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
8  | 13 April  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
Total  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 6

## Athletics

[edit]

Main article: Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Viggo Jensen

Denmark's three athletes had little success in the 100 metres or the discus throw. Jensen took fourth place in the shot put competition, the closest to an athletics medal the Danish team came.

Track & road events

Athlete  | Event  | Heat  | Final

|
|
|

Time  | Rank  | Time  | Rank
Eugen Schmidt | 100 m | Unknown  | 4  | Did not advance

Field events

Athlete  | Event  | Final

|
|

Distance  | Position
Viggo Jensen | Men's shot put | Unknown  | 4
Holger Nielsen | DNS
Charles Winckler | DNS
Viggo Jensen | Men's discus throw | Unknown  | 5-9
Holger Nielsen | Unknown  | 5-9
Charles Winckler | DNS

## Fencing

[edit]

Main article: Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics

One of Nielsen's two bronzes came in the fencing competition, in which he won half of his four matches.

Athlete  | Event  | Record  | Touches  | Rank

|
|
|
|

Wins  | Losses  | For  | Against
Holger Nielsen | Sabre | 2  | 2  | 10  | 9  |
Opponent nation | Wins | Losses | Percent

|
|
|

Austria | 1 | 0 | 1.000
Greece | 1 | 2 | .333
Total | 2 | 2 | .500

## Gymnastics

[edit]

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Jensen placed fourth of five competitors in the rope climbing contest, not reaching the top of the 14-metre rope. His actual distance climbed is unknown but it was less than 12.5 metres, the distance of the bronze medallist.

Athlete  | Event  | Result  | Rank

|
|
|

Viggo Jensen | Rope climbing | Unknown  | 4

## Shooting

[edit]

Main article: Shooting at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Jensen and Nielsen both earned bronze medals in the shooting competitions, with Nielsen also winning a silver medal. Jensen specialized in the rifle events, taking 6th of 42 and 3rd of 20 in the two events. Nielsen did not finish his rifle competition, but performed well in the pistol events, in which he won two medals and took 5th place of 16 in the third event.

Athlete  | Event  | Final

|
|

Score  | Rank
Viggo Jensen | Men's 200 m military rifle | 1640  | 6
Holger Nielsen | DNF
Viggo Jensen | Men's 300 m free rifle | 1305  |
Holger Nielsen | Men's 25 m military pistol | Unknown  | 5
Holger Nielsen | Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol | Unknown  |
Holger Nielsen | Men's 30 m pistol | 285  |

## Weightlifting

[edit]

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Jensen tied Launceston Elliot for weight lifted in the first event, the two handed lift. Prince George of Greece, the judge for the event, determined that Jensen had lifted the 111.5 kilograms in better style than Elliot, awarded the Dane the gold medal. In the second event, the one handed, Jensen's 57 kilograms were not close to Elliot's 71 kilograms and thus Jensen took second place in that event.

Athlete  | Event  | Weight  | Rank

|
|
|

Viggo Jensen | One hand lift | 57.0  |
Viggo Jensen | Two hand lift | 111.5  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Viggo Jensen competed in athletics, gymnastics, shooting and weightlifting while Holger Nielsen competed in athletics, fencing and shooting

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Denmark at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

* Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 - AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
* Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
* Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.

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* t
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National Olympic Committees at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece

* Australia
* Austria
* Bulgaria
* Chile
* Denmark
* France
* Germany
* Great Britain
* Greece
* Hungary
* Italy
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* United States
* Mixed teams

*[DNS]: Did not start
*[DNF]: Did not finish
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