When the 32nd Summer Olympic Games were ceremonially opened, Tokyo became a place where, despite the coronavirus, almost the entire world elite ‘flocked’, and Japan, in addition to top athletes, also hosted a large number of statesmen from all over the world. In contrast, at the first modern Olympics, held in Athens back in 1896, only one ruler responded to the invitation of the Greek King George I to attend the competitions – the Serbian King Aleksandar Obrenović.
As Greece, or rather the city of Olympia, hosted all the Olympic Games in ancient times, when the idea of restarting them was born, Athens, as the capital of modern Greece, was the logical choice for the first host. The first modern Olympic Games were held from April 6 to 15, 1896, and the fact that they were ceremonially opened by the Greek King George I, who with members of the royal family watched most of the games live, testifies to their significance for the country.
When the idea of only Greeks competing at the Olympics was rejected and it was decided that the games should be international in character, the French pedagogue, historian, and founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, convinced the Greek king to personally invite European rulers and their athletes to the spectacle.
Athletes from 14 countries responded to the invitation, however, only one foreign ruler decided to attend the event – the King of Serbia Aleksandar Obrenović, even though there were no athletes from the Kingdom of Serbia at the first Olympic Games!
The young Serbian king, then 20 years old, often went abroad, and he arrived in Athens with a delegation. On the way, he stopped in Niš, Skopje, Thessaloniki, and also visited Hilandar, where he stayed for three days. Aleksandar and his entourage stayed in Athens for four days, where he witnessed with the Greek king the beginning of something that would become a global phenomenon and the largest sporting competition of the modern age.
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In honor of the ruler of Serbia, the Greek king issued an order for the anthem “Bože pravde” to be performed several times at the stadium in Athens.
Although King Aleksandar was the most important guest, many prominent figures were also in the royal entourage, such as the Serbian general and Minister of War Dragutin Franasović, the writer and president of the Serbian Academy of Sciences Milan Đak Milićević, a doctor from the Paris Faculty of Medicine and the personal physician of the Serbian king Đoka Jovanović, Marshal Mihailo Rašić, and the legendary Živojin Mišić, the future famous Serbian Duke, and at that time an aide-major at the Obrenović court.
There is another interesting fact related to the first modern Olympics – although Serbia did not have an official representative, a Serb from the village of Nadalj in Vojvodina named Momčilo Tapavica competed under the flag of Hungary. He competed in as many as four disciplines – athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and tennis – and managed to win a bronze medal in tennis, in the individual competition.
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Source: Serbian Times, Foto: Wikimedia Creative Commons