1906 Athina Summer Games

The Games of 1906 were not of the caliber of many Olympics of later years. Again, many of the facilities were not of the highest quality. However, as in 1896, the Greeks approached their responsibility with enthusiasm and the most international field to date competed in these Olympics. A true opening ceremony was conducted for the first time, with the athletes marching with their teams following a flag bearer from their own country. In the United States, a team was selected for the first time and sent over as a true national team.

The newspapers considered these Games to be the Olympics and labeled them as such. Coubertin, at first opposed to the idea, even embraced them as Olympics when he saw that the Greeks organized the best “Olympics” of the modern era. Coubertin did not even attend the 1906 Olympic Games. The IOC did officially recognize these Games initially in some of the correspondance, but in later years their status was initially unclear. IOC did make an official ruling concerning the status of the 1906 Olympic Games. At the 41st Session of the IOC in London in 1948, Dr. Ferenc Mező, Hungarian member, made a proposal that the Intermediate Games in Athens (1906) should be accepted as the IIIb Olympic Games. It was decided that this proposal would be placed in the hands of the Brundage Commission. The Brundage Commission was a three-man commission headed by future IOC President Avery Brundage (USA). The other members were Sidney Dawes (CAN) and Miguel Angel Moenck (CUB). They met in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 1949.

In their report, the Brundage Commission noted, “It is not considered that any special recognition that the IOC might to participants in these Games at this late date would add any prestige, and the danger of establishing an embarrassing precedent would more than offset any advantage.” They presented their report at the 42nd Session in Rome in 1949. Their report dealt with 32 items, the 4th of which was the 1906 Olympic Games. The item was listed as “Acceptance of the Intermediate Games 1906,” and the Brundage Commission conclusion was “Rejected.”

In contradistinction to this IOC position, it appears that the Athens Olympic Games were considered official Olympic Games in 1906. They should maintain the designation as Olympic Games, for they deserve it. They were very important Olympic Games. After the problems that occurred in Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904, with the Olympic movement reeling, these successful Athens Games of 1906 helped resurrect the flagging Olympic Movement. The Games were the most international to date, they were the best held to date, and they had the most international media attention of any of the Games since the 1896 Olympics in Athens. In fact, all of the international newspapers termed this sporting festival of 1906 as “Olympic Games” using their native language for the appellation.

The Olympics of 1906 deserve that title much more so than do the farces that were 1900 and 1904. They resurrected the flagging Olympic movement. Though, as stated, a few historians do not consider them to be Olympic Games, most notable Olympic historians do. We support the thesis of those who consider the 1906 Intercalated Games as Olympic Games.

The Greek idea of holding these Games between the International Olympic Games was never again realized. After 1906 it was expected that further Intercalated Olympic Games would be celebrated in Athens every four years. They were planned for 1910 and it was assumed they would be held in 1914, 1918, and every four years thereafter. But they were never held again. The reason lies in the politics of Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. When studying the politics of the Balkan Peninsula and Greece, it is not surprising that the Games were never held again. In fact, it is far more unusual that there was enough peace in the region for Olympic Games to be held there in either 1896 or 1906. Wars in the region and the tenuous economic status of the nation prevented the Greeks from ever again holding Intercalated Olympic Games.