Austria at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Austria at the Olympic Games
Flag of Austria IOC code  AUT NOC Austrian Olympic Committee Website www.oeoc.at (German)
At the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens
Competitors	3 in 3 sports
Medals	Gold 2	Silver 1	Bronze 2	Total 5
Olympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014
Intercalated Games
1906

Three sportsmen from Austria competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Though Austria was then a part of Austria-Hungary, most sources separate Austrian competitors from the Hungarians at the 1896 Games.

Medalists

Austria finished in seventh position in the final medal rankings, with two gold medals and five medals overall.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Schmal, AdolfAdolf Schmal	Cycling	12 hour race
Gold	Neumann, PaulPaul Neumann	Swimming	500 m freestyle
Silver	Herschmann, OttoOtto Herschmann	Swimming	100 m Freestyle
Bronze	Schmal, AdolfAdolf Schmal	Cycling	Time trial
Bronze	Schmal, AdolfAdolf Schmal	Cycling	10 km

Cycling

All three of Schmal's medals were won in the cycling competitions, even though he competed in two different sports. He competed in four events, earning a top three finish in three of them. In the time trial event, Schmal tied for second place Stamatios Nikolopoulos. A race-off between the two broke the tie in favor of the Greek athlete.

Track

Athlete	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Adolf Schmal	Time trial	26.0
	10 km	Unknown
	100 km	DNF	-
	12 hour race	314.997 km

Fencing

Schmal also competed in the sabre fencing tournament, placing fourth in the five-man round robin.

Athlete	Event	Record		Touches		Final Rank
		Wins	Losses	For	Against
Adolf Schmal	Sabre	1	3	7	11	4

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Denmark	0	1	.000
Greece	1	2	.333
Total	1	3	.250

Swimming

Two Austrian swimmers competed in 1896. One of the two competed in each of the three open events, and each swimmer won one medal.

Athlete	Events	Final
		Time	Rank
Otto Herschmann	100 m freestyle	1:22.8
Paul Neumann	500 m freestyle	8:12.6
	1200 m freestyle	DNF	-

References

• 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 )
• 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 )
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.