Fancy Running Into An 1896 (!!) Olympic Gold Medallist

Fancy Running Into An 1896 (!!) Olympic Gold Medallist

This simple statue of Edwin Flack, the athlete known as “the lion of Athens”, stands in Berwick, in semi-rural Victoria, my home state.

Edwin Flack was Australia’s only representative in the first modern Olympics, the 1896 Athens Games. He was also our first Olympic champion.

How he got there is an unusual story. He was based in London at the time, working as a junior accountant at what was then known as Price, Waterhouse and Company. He took a month’s leave and made the journey without any fanfare (there was no Australian Olympic Committee in those days) after paying for a sea passage to Athens.

He won the 800 metres and the 1500 metres and even competed in tennis – with a borrowed racquet. Interestingly enough, he even ran in the marathon and led the race until he was passed by the eventual winner, Spiridon Louis.

You can see more of my images of this statue, as well as a full-length feature article on Edwin Flack, on the pictorial blog post titled Running Mate on my blog.

I do not crop, enhance or post-edit my images in any way. Shot with a Pentax K100D, using a Sigma 18-125mm lens. F9.5, 1/350 sec, ISO 200, focal length 78mm.

Featured by my co-host in PASSIONATE ABOUT VINTAGE, October 2009.

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