Spyros Louis
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
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| Born | 12 January 1873 Marousi, Greece |
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| Died | 26 March 1940 (aged 67) Marousi, Greece |
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| Sport | ||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||
| Event(s) | Marathon | |||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 2:58:50 (1896) | |||||||||
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Medal record
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Spiridon "Spyros" Louis (Greek: Σπυρίδων "Σπύρος" Λούης, sometimes transliterated Loues; 12 January 1873 – 26 March 1940) was a Greek water-carrier who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming a national hero.
Louis was born in the town of Marousi, which is now a suburb to the north of Athens, into a poor family. Louis's father sold mineral water in Athens, at the time lacking a central water supply, and his son helped him by transporting it.
After the decision to revive the Olympic Games in 1894, preparations were made to organise the first modern Olympics in Athens. One of the races would be the marathon, an event which had never been held before. It had been suggested by Frenchman Michel Bréal, who was inspired by the legend of the messenger Phidippides, who had run from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Athenian victory in the Battle of Marathon.
The Greeks were very enthusiastic about this new event and decided to stage qualifying races for would-be Greek participants. These were organised by an army colonel, Papadiamantopoulos, who had been Louis' commanding officer during his military service (1893–1895). The first qualifying race—the first ever marathon race—was held on 22 March, and was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours, 18 minutes. Louis participated in the second qualifying race, two weeks later. Papadiamantopoulos, who knew Louis' running talents, had convinced him to try out. Louis crossed the line in fifth place, behind winner Dimitrios Deligiannis.
The Olympic marathon was run on 10 April (or 29 March by the Julian Calendar then in use in Greece). The Greek public had been very enthusiastic about the Games, but was disappointed in the fact that no track and field event had yet been won by a Greek competitor. The victory in the discus throw, a classical Greek event, by the American Robert Garrett had been particularly painful. Because of its close connection with Greek history, the public desperately yearned for the marathon to be won by one of their countrymen.
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