Aristidis Konstantinidis

Gold medal, April 12, 1896, Aristidis Konstantinidis 87km. road race. Athens 1896

According to the program, the six participating cyclists had to cover the distance Athens – Marathon – Faliro. In Marathon, where the return point was located, they had to register with the Organizing Committee to be confirmed before starting the return journey. The start was approximately at the level of Evangelismos Hospital, and the finish was on the Palaio Faliro bike course. According to reports at the time, the Greek Aristides Konstantinidis was the first to reach the marathon, while the Austrian August Godrich and the Briton Edward Battel, an employee of the British Embassy in Athens, were close behind him. Konstantinides had a lot of bad luck in the beginning, but his will and soul changed his destiny. Once his bike broke and twice he crashed, losing valuable time and Battel overtook him. Finally, he borrowed bicycles from his friends who were following the race, and just before Faliro, he was able to regain the lead and became the Olympic champion. The second place was taken by the Austrian Godrich and the third by Battel, who finished completely exhausted after a fall he suffered when he tried to defend himself against the attack of Konstantinidis. The final ranking: Konstantinidis (Greece) 3.21.10 Godrich (Germany) 3.31.14 Battel (M. Great Britain).