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Denmark at the 1896 Summer Olympics

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Denmark at the
1896 Summer Olympics
IOC codeDEN
NOCNational Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark
Websitewww.dif.dk (in Danish and English)
in Athens, Greece
April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors3 in 5 sports and 12 events
Medals
Ranked 9th
Gold
1
Silver
2
Bronze
3
Total
6
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
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

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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 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
Weightlifting 1 1 0 2
Shooting 0 1 2 3
Fencing 0 0 1 1
Total 1 2 3 6

Multiple medalists

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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

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Athletics

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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

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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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent
Austria 1 0 1.000
Greece 1 2 .333
Total 2 2 .500

Gymnastics

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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

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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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Holger Nielsen Men's 25 m military pistol Unknown 5
Holger Nielsen Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol Unknown 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Holger Nielsen Men's 30 m pistol 285 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Weightlifting

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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 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Viggo Jensen Two hand lift 111.5 1st place, gold medalist(s)

References

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  • 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.