the first modern olympic games were held at athens, greece.
where was the first modern olympic games held?
athens , greece
the congress was held on 23 june 1894 at the sorbonne in paris. once there, participants divided the congress into two commissions, one on amateurism and the other on reviving the olympics. a greek participant, demetrius vikelas, was appointed to head the commission on the olympics, and would later become the first president of the international olympic committee. along with coubertin, c. herbert of britain's amateur athletic association and w.m. sloane of the united states helped lead the efforts of the commission. in its report, the commission proposed that olympic games be held every four years and that the program for the games be one of modern rather than ancient sports. they also set the date and location for the first modern olympic games, the 1896 summer olympics in athens, greece, and the second, the 1900 summer olympics in paris. coubertin had originally opposed the choice of greece, as he had concerns about the ability of a weakened greek state to host the competition, but was convinced by vikelas to support the idea. the commission's proposals were accepted unanimously by the congress, and the modern olympic movement was officially born. the proposals of the other commission, on amateurism, were more contentious, but this commission also set important precedents for the olympic games, specifically the use of heats to narrow participants and the banning of prize money in most contests.
pierre de coubertin
as 1996 marked the centennial of the first modern olympic games held in athens, a series of five gold and ten silver coins were struck by five countries: canada, australia, france. austria, and greece. the concept for the program was first discussed in 1986 and 1987. the royal canadian mint held the view that the centennial of the modern olympic games should be commemorated. the international olympic committee was approached on the idea and five mints were invited to participate in the program. this marked the first time that the international olympic committee participated in an international commemorative coin program.
summer olympic coins