1896   Games of the I Olympiad   in Athens ( Greece ) .

In the first summer Olympics which were celebrated in Athens, only 280 male athletes from 14 advanced nations competed for 43 events in 8 sports.
In t he popularity events, the athletics , t he United States was awarded 9 gold medals in 11 events. The US athlete Thomas Burke attracted people' s attention by his unique "crouch start" .