Spyridon Louis

Spyridon Louis
	Louis in 1896
Personal information
Born	12 January 1873; Marousi, Kingdom of Greece
Died	26 March 1940 (aged 67); Marousi, Kingdom of Greece
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Marathon
Achievements and titles
Personal best	2:58:50 (1896)
Medal record
Representing Greece
Olympic Games

Spyridon Louis (Greek: Σπυρίδων Λούης [spiˈriðon ˈluis], sometimes transliterated Spiridon Loues;^[3] 12 January 1873 – 26 March 1940), commonly known as Spyros Louis (Σπύρος Λούης), was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Following his victory, he was celebrated as a national hero.^[4]

A former soldier, Louis was encouraged to try out for the Olympics by his former commanding officer. After progressing through qualifying, he went on to win the inaugural Olympic marathon after placing first from seventeen competitors. Louis later became a police officer and a farmer. Outside of his athletics career, Louis was arrested for forgery, of which he was acquitted after spending a year in jail.^[5]

^ Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 209. ISBN 9780810875227.
^ Cite error: The named reference Spyro Story was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Verinis, James P. (May 2005). "Spiridon Loues, the Modern Foustanéla, and the Symbolic Power of Pallikariá at the 1896 Olympic Games"". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 23 (1): 139–175. doi:10.1353/mgs.2005.0010. S2CID 146732138.
^ "Spyros Louis at the Olympics". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
^ "Spyridon Louis". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 December 2020.

[1] Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 209. ISBN 9780810875227.

[Spyro_Story-2] Cite error: The named reference Spyro Story was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Verinis, James P. (May 2005). "Spiridon Loues, the Modern Foustanéla, and the Symbolic Power of Pallikariá at the 1896 Olympic Games"". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 23 (1): 139–175. doi:10.1353/mgs.2005.0010. S2CID 146732138.

[SportsReference-4] "Spyros Louis at the Olympics". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.

[5] "Spyridon Louis". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 December 2020.

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