Fourteen competitors from the United States competed in three sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Americans were the most successful athletes in terms of gold medals, beating host nation Greece, 11 to 10, despite fielding only 14 competitors compared to an estimated 169 Greek entrants. However, the Greeks' 46 total medals dwarfed the Americans' 20.
The United States team had 27 entries in 16 events, with 20 of the 27 resulting in top-three finishes.
Most of the American competitors were students at Harvard University or Princeton University or members of the Boston Athletic Association. The team trained at The Pennington School, in Pennington, New Jersey, while preparing for the first modern Olympic Games.
Medalists
Of the 14 Americans at the Athens Games, 12 won medals. Charles Waldstein, a shooter, and Gardner Williams, a swimmer, were the two who did not win any medals. The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded.
MedalNameSportEventDate Athletics Men's triple jump Athletics Men's discus throw Athletics Men's shot put Athletics Men's long jump Athletics Men's 400 metres Athletics Men's 100 metres Athletics Men's 110 metre hurdles Athletics Men's high jump Athletics Men's pole vault Shooting Men's 25 metre military pistol Shooting Men's 30 metre free pistol Athletics Men's 400 metres Athletics Men's 1500 metres Athletics Men's long jump Athletics Men's high jump Athletics Men's high jump Athletics Men's pole vault Shooting Men's 25 metre military pistol Athletics Men's long jump Athletics Men's 100 metres
Medals by sportSportTotalAthletics96217Shooting2103Total117220
Multiple medalists The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games. Name Medal Sport Event Athletics Men's shot putMen's discus throwMen's high jumpMen's long jump Athletics Men's 100 mMen's 400 m Athletics Men's high jumpMen's long jump Athletics Men's triple jumpMen's high jumpMen's long jump Shooting Men's 30 metre pistolMen's 25 metre military pistol
Competitors
| width=78% align=left valign=top | The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 10 0 10Shooting 3 0 3Swimming 1 0 1 Total 14 0 14
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |
Medals by dayDayDate Total1April 620022April 733173April 800004April 900005April 10541106April 11100 17April 1221038April 130000Total117220
Athletics
The United States squad of 11, which featured only one national champion, won nine gold medals in the twelve athletics events, with contributions from six different athletes. Six silver medals and two bronze medals also went to the Americans in athletics.
Track & road events AthleteEventHeatFinalTimeRankTimeRankThomas Burke100 m11.8 OR1 Q12.0Thomas Curtis12.21 QRalph DerrDid not advanceFrancis Lane12.21 Q12.6Charles VanoniDid not advanceThomas Burke400 m58.41 Q54.2 ORHerbert Jamison56.81 Q55.2 Thomas Burke800 mDid not advanceArthur Blake1500 mcolspan=2 4:33.6James Brendan Connolly110 m hurdlesDid not advanceThomas Curtis18.01 Q17.6 ORWilliam HoytUnknown2Fred LordDid not advanceCharles VanoniDid not advanceArthur BlakeMarathoncolspan=2
Field events AthleteEventFinalDistancePositionEllery Harding ClarkMen's high jump1.81 ORJames Brendan Connolly1.65John Stanley EdwardsRobert Garrett1.65William HoytMen's pole vault3.30 ORAlbert Tyler3.20Charles VanoniEllery Harding ClarkMen's long jump6.35 ORJames Brendan Connolly6.11Thomas CurtisRalph DerrRobert Garrett6.18James Brendan ConnollyMen's triple jump13.71 OREllery Harding ClarkMen's shot putUnknown5-7Robert Garrett11.22 ORCharles VanoniRobert GarrettMen's discus throw29.15 WRCharles Vanoni
Cycling
Road
AthleteEventTimeRankA. JohnsonMen's road raceB. MacDonald
Fencing
AthleteEventRound 1FinalRankOpposition ScoreRankFred HellenMen's foilAlbertson Van Zo PostMen's sabre
Shooting
The Paine brothers contested only two events, taking the top two spots in the event in which they both competed, the military pistol. Sumner was the only one of the two to enter the free pistol, which he won. Waldstein was the third member of the American shooting contingent, competing in the military rifle event.
AthleteEventFinalScoreRankCharles WaldsteinMen's 200 m military rifleUnknown14-41John PaineMen's 25 m military pistol442Sumner Paine380Sumner PaineMen's 30 m pistol442
Swimming
Williams competed in two swimming events, with his results currently being unknown (lost in the years since).
AthleteEventFinalTimeRankGardner Williams100 m freestyleUnknown3-10Gardner Williams1200 m freestyleUnknown3-8
References
(Excerpt available at )