The 1906 Olympics, held in Athens, turned out to be extraordinary because its organizers did not comply with the requirement for the traditional four-year break between games. For this reason, the Olympics were not even officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
The 1906 Games were held to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the first Olympiad, which was also held in Athens. To further emphasize the connection between the two events, the organizers of the Olympics chose the same competition scheme as in 1896. For the most part, the competitions were held at the Marble Stadium.
At first, when a proposal was received from Greece to hold the Olympics in 1906, the IOC did not give a categorical refusal. The fact is that by that time the prestige of the Olympic Games had fallen, and the public no longer showed its former interest in them. To prevent the final collapse of the Olympic movement, it was necessary to take measures, and there was no longer an opportunity to wait until 1908. And although the IOC will subsequently refuse to recognize the 1906 Olympics, it will be called the salvation of the games, which allowed the public and especially athletes to return to the event, to support the movement and its very idea.
The difficulty was also in the fact that, according to tradition, the Olympics were supposed to be held in different countries of the world, but in 1906 the event was planned to be held in Greece, which caused discontent among the members of the IOC. One way or another, but on April 22, the grand opening of the games was held. As the media focused on the 1906 Olympics, many athletes and guests arrived in Athens.
The event was attended by about 900 athletes from 20 countries, moreover, among them there were seven women. As part of the 1906 Olympics, competitions were held in the following sports: weightlifting, Greco-Roman wrestling, fencing, rowing, sailing, swimming, diving, athletics, trap and bullet shooting, cycling and tennis. Unfortunately, since the IOC did not recognize the 1906 Olympics, all awards received by its participants were invalid and were not taken into account in the future.
The closing ceremony of the Olympics took place on May 2. After the end of the event, its results were discussed for a long time in different countries, which significantly increased public interest in the games. This became especially noticeable during the 1908 London Olympics, in which more than 2,000 athletes took part.
