Athletics at the 1906 Intercalated Games

Dates 25 April – 2 May 1906
Medal Events 21

The track & field events were held in the ancient Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The track was short, at only about 330 metres in circumference, with long straightaways and very short, sharp turns. It also consisted of very soft, loose cinders and made running difficult. Consequently most of the existing Olympic track records survived despite the almost perfect weather - sunny every day, with temperatures in the 70’s F. (circa 22-26° C.).

In addition, the 1906 Olympic Organizing Committee chose to have the runners run in a clockwise direction, opposite to the norm for current running events, as they had in 1896. While in the 19th century, some British meets were conducted with the runners racing clockwise, this virtually never occurred in major meets by 1906.

But it should not be construed that the 1906 Olympic Games did not constitute a major track & field athletics meet. In fact, this was the greatest international gathering of track & field athletes the world had yet seen. While some of the world’s top athletes were not in Athens, the quality of the field in 1906 far surpassed the Olympics of 1896, 1900, and 1904.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
100 metres, Men Intercalated 25 – 27 April 1906 42 13
400 metres, Men Intercalated 27 – 30 April 1906 25 8
800 metres, Men Intercalated 25 April – 1 May 1906 23 8
1,500 metres, Men Intercalated 27 – 30 April 1906 20 9
5 miles, Men Intercalated 25 April 1906 28 12
Marathon, Men Intercalated 1 May 1906 53 16
110 metres Hurdles, Men Intercalated 30 April – 1 May 1906 15 8
1,500 metres Race Walk, Men Intercalated 30 April 1906 9 6
3,000 metres Race Walk, Men Intercalated 2 May 1906 8 5
High Jump, Men Intercalated 30 April – 1 May 1906 24 11
Standing High Jump, Men Intercalated 1 May 1906 11 6
Pole Vault, Men Intercalated 25 April 1906 11 8
Long Jump, Men Intercalated 27 April 1906 27 10
Standing Long Jump, Men Intercalated 25 April 1906 30 12
Triple Jump, Men Intercalated 30 April 1906 21 9
Shot Put, Men Intercalated 27 April 1906 17 8
Stone Throw, Men Intercalated 27 April 1906 16 8
Discus Throw, Men Intercalated 25 April 1906 21 9
Discus Throw, Greek Style, Men Intercalated 1 May 1906 21 10
Javelin Throw, Freestyle, Men Intercalated 26 April 1906 22 8
Pentathlon (Ancient), Men Intercalated 27 – 28 April 1906 26 11
233 (233/0) 20 (20/0)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres, Men Archie HahnUSA Fay MoultonUSA Nigel BarkerAUS
400 metres, Men Paul PilgrimUSA Wyndham HalswelleGBR Nigel BarkerAUS
800 metres, Men Paul PilgrimUSA Jim LightbodyUSA Wyndham HalswelleGBR
1,500 metres, Men Jim LightbodyUSA John McGoughGBR Kristian HellströmSWE
5 miles, Men Henry HawtreyGBR John SvanbergSWE Edward DahlSWE
Marathon, Men Billy SherringCAN John SvanbergSWE William FrankUSA
110 metres Hurdles, Men Bob LeavittUSA Alfred HealeyGBR Vincent DunckerGER
1,500 metres Race Walk, Men George BonhagUSA Don LindenCAN Konstantinos SpetsiotisGRE
3,000 metres Race Walk, Men György SztanticsHUN Hermann MüllerGER Georgios SaridakisGRE
High Jump, Men Con LeahyGBR Lajos GönczyHUN Themistoklis Diakidis
Bert Kerrigan
GRE
USA
Standing High Jump, Men Ray EwryUSA Léon Dupont
Martin Sheridan
Lawson Robertson
BEL
USA
USA
Pole Vault, Men Fernand GonderFRA Bruno SöderströmSWE Ed GloverUSA
Long Jump, Men Meyer PrinsteinUSA Peter O'ConnorGBR Hugo FriendUSA
Standing Long Jump, Men Ray EwryUSA Martin SheridanUSA Lawson RobertsonUSA
Triple Jump, Men Peter O'ConnorGBR Con LeahyGBR Tom CronanUSA
Shot Put, Men Martin SheridanUSA Mihály DávidHUN Eric LemmingSWE
Stone Throw, Men Nikolaos GeorgantasGRE Martin SheridanUSA Michail DorizasGRE
Discus Throw, Men Martin SheridanUSA Nikolaos GeorgantasGRE Verner JärvinenFIN
Discus Throw, Greek Style, Men Verner JärvinenFIN Nikolaos GeorgantasGRE István MudinHUN
Javelin Throw, Freestyle, Men Eric LemmingSWE Knut LindbergSWE Bruno SöderströmSWE
Pentathlon (Ancient), Men Hjalmar MellanderSWE István MudinHUN Eric LemmingSWE

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 11 6 6 23
Great Britain GBR 3 5 1 9
Sweden SWE 2 4 5 11
Hungary HUN 1 3 1 5
Greece GRE 1 2 4 7
Canada CAN 1 1 0 2
Finland FIN 1 0 1 2
France FRA 1 0 0 1
Germany GER 0 1 1 2
Belgium BEL 0 1 0 1
Australia AUS 0 0 2 2