Olympic Champions 1896-1936
the first 40 years
These pages are dedicated to the
2,050 men and 115 women who brought great pride to their nations when they became Olympic champions. Most may have passed
away with the years but their achievements live on in Olympic history.
From James Connolly who triple-jumped to the first Gold medal on 6 April 1896 to the German riders who completed their courses on 16 August 1936, the early Olympic Games provided 1,138 occasions of drama, excitement and passion.
35 nations have produced Olympic champions during that time and their names and short biographies are recorded here (number of champions shown in brackets):
|
Canada (96) |
Finland (49) |
British India (39) |
New Zealand (3) | Sweden (188) * | |
|
Argentina (16) |
Cuba (2) |
France (154) * |
Ireland (2) |
Norway (114) * |
Switzerland (53) |
|
Australia (28) |
Czechoslovakia (9) |
Germany (156) * |
Italy (151) * |
Poland (5) |
Turkey (1) |
|
Austria (15) |
Denmark (41) |
Great Britain (314) * |
Japan (17) |
Russia (1) | United States (482) * |
|
Belgium (54) |
Egypt (4) |
Greece (13) |
Luxembourg (2) |
South Africa (12) |
Uruguay (24) |
|
Brazil (1) |
Estonia (5) |
Hungary (57) |
Netherlands (50) |
Spain (5) |
Yugoslavia (1) |
| Legend | |
| Flags | the national flags are those as of 1936 |
| M/F | male or female (if column not shown all are male) |
| Year | year in which athlete first became Olympic champion |
| Gold | number of gold medals won during career |
| Sport | if participated in multiple sports, this is the one with the best results |
| Dates | shown as day.month.year |
| The Olympic champions are arranged in the order in which they achieved their first Gold medal, except for Great Britain and USA. These are sorted first by sport, then by year of first Gold medal, due to their long list of champions. Pages marked * take a little longer to load. | |
| If
you have information that can fill some gaps in these lists, especially
missing dates, please let me know. Corrections and comments are also
welcome. Send e-mail to bernard @ invoiceit.com (remove spaces) |
|
| The complete guide to the medal results of all Olympic Games and biographies of all medal winners - purchase on CD for only US$49.95 | |
Olympic champions who achieved further Gold after 1936
|
Name |
Country |
Sport |
Year |
|
Jan Brzák-Felix |
Czechoslovakia |
Canoeing |
1948 |
|
André Jousseaume |
France |
Equestrian |
1948 |
|
René Bougnol |
France |
Fencing |
1948 |
|
Pál Kovács |
Hungary |
Fencing |
1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 |
|
Aladár Gerevich |
Hungary |
Fencing |
1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 |
|
László Rajcsányi |
Hungary |
Fencing |
1948, 1952 |
|
Tibor Berczelly |
Hungary |
Fencing |
1948, 1952 |
|
Ilona Elek |
Hungary |
Fencing |
1948 |
|
Edoardo Mangiarotti |
Italy |
Fencing |
1952, 1956, 1960 |
|
Manlio Di Rosa |
Italy |
Fencing |
1956 |
|
Earl Thomson |
USA |
Equestrian |
1948 |
The information on these pages was compiled by
Bernard Reber
Auckland, New Zealand
e-mail: bernard @
invoiceit.com (remove spaces)