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Sunday, March 20, 2022

First Olympic Champions From Each Country

On the afternoon of April 6, 1896, the opening ceremony of the very first modern Olympic Games took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece



 
The Panathenaic Stadium during the 1896 Athens Olympics or the Games of the I Olympiad



 
James Brendan Connolly (a Harvard University student) from the USA won the men's triple jump in the 1896 Olympics becoming the first modern Olympics champion and first gold medallist of any country.


 
Discus thrower Halina Konopacka from Poland is the very first woman in Olympic history to give a first gold medal to her country by winning in the 1928 Amsterdam Games.



 
Tennis player Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain is the first woman Olympic gold medallist when she won the women's singles in the 1900 Paris Olympics.



 
Weightlifting at the 1896 Olympics



 
Swimming at the 1896 Olympics. All swimming events took place at the Piraeus coast off the Bay of Zea on April 11, 1896. There is a total of 13 swimming participants all are male as was true of all Olympic events that year. Women did not swim in the Olympics until 1912. The organizers refused to spend money to build a swimming stadium yet around 20,000 spectators showed up to witness the swimming competition among them is King George I of Greece. There were no diving blocks in the first Olympics. The competitors were taken into the bay by boat to leap into the frigid waters. The Bay of Zea was extremely cold at the time affecting the performance of the swimmers. It was noted that the water temperature was between 53 and 57 degrees Fahrenheit while the air temperature was only 64 degrees Fahrenheit.



 
The British 4x100 relay team which competed at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics were among the first women to compete in swimming.



 
The participating countries at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics




Winning an Olympic medal is already a great honor and glory to a nation but winning the Olympic gold is monumentally celebrated in the entire nation which accomplished that feat with their Olympic champions. By achieving the top podium in the sporting world's highest competition it is a bragging right for every nation to have an Olympic champion and put their beloved nation on the map of Olympic champion countries. 

Over 100 countries have won at least a gold medal at the Olympics. This is the list of first gold medal winners (male or female, Summer or Winter) from each country. For some countries, there were numerous gold medalists at the same Olympiad, and in these cases, we have looked closely at the events and dates and determined which of the athletes won their medal first and brought the first Olympic glory to their nation.

There are special delegations that also won gold medals at these games that are also worth mentioning here are included below.

                             

Country/territory Year  Notes
Algeria1992    

Hassiba Boulmerka won gold in the women's 1,500 meters run.

Argentina1924The Argentinian team won the men's polo tournament 
Armenia1996Armen Nazaryan won the men's flyweight (52 kg.) Greco-Roman wrestling.

Australia       1896 Athletics men's 1500-meter run won by Edwin Harold Flack               
Austria  1896Swimming men's 500 freestyle won by Paul Neumann
Azerbaijan 2000Shooting women's skeet Zemfira Meftəkhətddinova
Bahamas  1964 Sailing two-person keelboat, Durward Knowles and Cecil Cooke           
Bahrain2012 Athletics women's 1500 meter run won by Maryam Yusuf Jamal
Belarus1996Rowing women's single sculls won by Ekaterina Karsten
Belgium1900Equestrian individual jumping won by Aimé Haegeman                            
Bermuda2021Triathlete Flora Duffy won the women's triathlon at Tokyo 2020
Brazil 1920Shooting men's 30-meter rapid-fire pistol won by Guilherme Paraense
Bulgaria 1956  Wrestling men's freestyle middleweight won by Nikola Stanchev                
Burundi1996Athletics men's 5000 meters won by Vénuste Niyongabo


Cameroon 2000 Football, men's tournament won by Cameroon men's team
Canada1900 Athletics men's 2500 m steeplechase won by George Washington Orton
Chile2004Tennis men's doubles won by Fernando González and Nicolás Massú
China1984 Shooting men's 50-meter pistol won by Xu Haifeng
Chinese Taipei2004
Taekwondo women's (49 kg.) flyweight won by Chen Shih-Hsin
and men's (58 kg.) flyweight won by Chu Mu-Yen
Colombia2000The weightlifting women's (75 kg.) heavyweight category was won by María Isabel Urrutia.                                               
Costa Rica1996

Swimming women's 200 m. freestyle won by Claudia Poll 

Croatia1996Handball Croatia men's national team won the tournament
Cuba 1900Fencing Ramón Fonst won the men's individual épée
Czech Republic1996 Canoeing women's slalom singles kayak won by Štěpánka Hilgertová
Czechoslovakia1924Gymnastics men's rope climbing won by Bedřich Šupčík
Denmark1896  Weightlifting men's two-hand lift won by Viggo Jensen
Dominican Republic2004Athletics men's 400 m hurdles won by Félix Sánchez
East Germany 1968Athletics men's 50-kilometer walk won by Christoph Höhne
Ecuador 1996Athletics men's 20-kilometer walk won by Jefferson Pérez

Egypt 

1928

Weightlifting men's light heavyweight (-82.5 kg.) won by El-Sayed Nosseir

Estonia

1920

Weightlifting men's lightweight (67.5 kg.) won by Alfred Neuland

Ethiopia

1960

Athletics men's marathon won by Abebe Bikila

 

Fiji 

2016

Rugby Sevens won by Fiji men's national rugby sevens team

Finland 

1908

Wrestling men's Greco-Roman light-heavyweight won by Verner Weckman

France 

1896

Fencing, men's individual foil won by Eugène Henry Gravelotte

 

Georgia   

2004                 

 Judo, men's middleweight (90 kg.) won by Zurab Zviadauri

Germany  

1896 

The gymnastics men's vault was won by Carl Schuhmann. Several

 German gymnasts competed on April 9th, 1896 winning gold. Individual golds were won by Hermann Weingärtner, Carl Schuhmann, and Alfred Flatow.  

Great Britain    

1896      

Weightlifting men's one-hand lift won by Launceston Elliot


 

Greece

1896

Fencing men's individual master's foil won by Leonidas Pyrgos       

Grenada

2012 

Athletics men's 400 meters won by Kirani James

Hong Kong

1996

Sailing women's mistral won by Lee Lai Shan

 

Hungary

1896

Swimming men's 100-meter freestyle won by Alfred Hajos

India

1928

Field Hockey won by India men's national field hockey team(British India Team)

Indonesia

1992

Badminton women's singles won by Susi Susanti                                

 

Iran         1956              

Wrestling men's freestyle lightweight won by Emam Ali Habibi. Gholamreza Takhti also won gold in men's freestyle light heavyweight on the same evening

Ireland       1928  Athletics men's hammer throw won by Pat O'Callaghan
Israel   2004 Sailing men's mistral one design won by Gal Fridman

Italy  1900  Equestrian open  jumping high jump won by Gian Giorgio Trissino
Ivory Coast2016Taekwondo, men's (80 kg.) welterweight won by Cheick Sallah Cissé
Jamaica1948Athletics men's 400-meter run won by Arthur Wint                                                                                     

Japan 1928Athletics men's triple jump won by Mikio Oda
Jordan2016Taekwondo men's (68 kg) featherweight won by Ahmad Abu-Ghaush
Kazakhstan                1994, 1996Cross-country skiing. Kazakhstan's first Olympic champion came from the winter sport of cross-country skiing courtesy of Vladimir Smirnov in the men's 50 km. (classical) 

Kazakhstan's first Summer Olympic gold medal came two years later from wrestling courtesy of Yuriy Melnichenko in the men's Greco-Roman (57 kg) bantamweight division
Kenya                                         1968               Athletics. men's 10,000-meter run won by Naftali Temu                        
Kosovo 2016 Judo. women's 52 kg won by Majlinda Kelmendi                                
Kuwait 2016

Shooting. men's double trap won Fehaid Al-Deehani. Kuwait shooter 

Fehaid Al-Deehani won a gold medal in the men's Double Trap, though he competed as Independent Olympic Athletes under the Olympic flag due to  Kuwait being suspended.

Latvia                                      2000              Gymnastics men's floor exercise won by Igors Vihrovs                   
Liechtenstein                           1980 

Alpine skiing. women's giant slalom won by Hanni Wenzel

The tiny nation of Liechtenstein never won a Summer Olympic medal but they already have a total of 10 medals all from alpine skiing  with their first medal which is a bronze they won in the 1976 Games in Innsbruck, Austria      
Lithuania1992Athletics. men's discus throw won by Romas Obartas
Luxembourg                                              1952                   

Athletics. The men's 1500-meter run was won by Josy Barthel.

In 1900, an athlete from Luxembourg Michel Théato won the gold in the marathon but the win has been credited to France. In 1924 Jean Jacoby won gold in the painting Olympic art competition. In 1952, Josy Barthel won Luxembourg's first-ever official Olympic gold medal in a sporting event when he narrowly won the men's 1500 meters. 

Mexico 1948

Equestrian. The individual jumping was won by Humberto Mariles and by the team jumping event. 

Mexico's first-ever gold came in 1948 when Humberto Mariles (Equestrian) and the equestrian team of Humberto Mariles, Rubén Uriza, and Alberto Valdés both won gold medals in their events in London, England.

Mongolia2008Judo. Men's (100 kg.) Half-Heavyweight was won by Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar
Morocco                                                                                    1984                              Athletics. The women's 400-meter hurdle was won by Nawal El Moutawakel
Mozambique                                                                                        2000Athletics. The women's 800-meter run was won by Maria Mutola
Netherlands1900, 1920Rowing. Men's Coxed Pairs won by François Brandt and Roelof Klein. 

Sailing. 6.5 meter won by Joop Carp, Berend Carp and Piet Wernink 

In the 1900 Paris Olympics, a coxed pair mixed team of mostly Dutchmen won the gold medal including Francois Brandt and Roelof Klein. Dutch Hermanus Brockmann is the coxswain for the team in the semifinals but not in the finals in which an unknown French boy participated as the coxswain. Brockmann is considered a gold medalist by the IOC and is listed in that organization's medal database. Despite information from some sources (DutchNews), the IOC continues to attribute this medal to Mixed Team, as it must be shown in the  IOC database.

Netherlands' first official Olympic gold medal came twenty years later in  Antwerp when the 6.5-meter Dutch sailing team consisting of Joop Carp, Berend Carp, and Piet Wernink won first place.

New Zealand                                      1928             

Boxing. The men's welterweight division was won by Ted Morgan 

New Zealander Victor Lindberg was part of the Osborne Swimming Club representing Great Britain which won gold in water polo in 1900.

Competing for Australasia, New Zealander Malcolm Champion was part of the gold medal-winning team swimming 4 x 200 meters freestyle relay. 

Their first ever Olympic gold as an independent country was in 1928 when boxer Ted Morgan took the top spot in the men's welterweight division. 
Nigeria1996 Athletics. Women's long jump won by Chioma Ajunwa
North Korea 1972Shooting. Mixed open 50-meter rifle (small-bore rifle) prone won by Ri Ho-jun
Norway                                      1908             

Shooting. Men's 300-meter free rifle three positions won by Norway's men's national shooting team

Pakistan 1960Field Hockey. The men's event was won by Pakistan national field hockey team
Panama2008

Athletics. Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda won Panama's first and only gold medal at the Olympics in the athletics men's long jump event.

Peru                                        1948                Shooting. The men's 50-meter pistol event was won by Edwin Vásquez
Philippines 2021

Weightlifting. The women's 55 kg (featherweight) was won by Hidilyn Diaz held on July 26, 2021, a delayed date due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. 

Poland 1928Athletics. The women's discus throw was won by Halina Konopacka.
Puerto Rico                                                     2016                           Tennis. The women's singles were won by Monica Puig
Qatar 2021

Weightlifting. The men's 96 kgs. category was won by Meso Hassouna held in 2021 delayed date due to the global Covid-19 pandemic but it is still officially called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or the Games of the XXXII Olympiad

Romania 1952Shooting. Men's 50-meter rifle (small bore) prone was won by Iosif Sîrbu
Russia                                                 1994, 1996  

Speed skating. Russia's first Olympic champion was won by Aleksandr Golubev in Men's 500 m speedskate in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Fencing and shooting. Russia's first Summer Olympic gold came from the Men's saber won by Stanislav Pozdnyakov and women's 10-meter air pistol won by Olga Klochneva

Russian Empire1908 Figure Skating. The men's special figures won by Nikolai Panin
Soviet Union1952Athletics. Women's discus throw was won by Nina Ponomaryova
Serbia                                      2012                            Taekwondo. Women's (+67 kg.) heavyweight won by Milica Mandić
Serbia & Montenegro1996Shooting. Women's 50-meter rifle (small bore) three positions won by Aleksandra Ivošev
Singapore2016   

Swimming. Men's 100-meter butterfly was won by Joseph Schooling

Singapore's first Olympic gold medal was won in 2016 by swimmer Joseph Schooling in the men's 100-meter butterfly, beating a trio of tied second-place getters which included Michael Phelps.


Slovakia                                                                        1996                                              Canoeing. Men's C-1 slalom event won by Michal Martikán
Slovenia 2000

Shooting. Men's 50 meters (small bore) rifle 3 positions won by Rajmond Debevec

Rowing. Men's double sculls won by the pair of Iztok Čop and Luka Špik
Many Slovenians won gold while representing Yugoslavia. Competing as an independent nation, the first gold medal was won by Rajmond Debevec in the 50m  3 position Small-Bore Rifle event in 2000. The pair Luka Špik and Iztok Čop also won gold on the same day in the men's double sculls rowing event.
South Africa1908 Athletics. Men's 100-meter run won by Reggie Walker
South Korea                                     1976              Wrestling. Men's freestyle (62 kg.) featherweight division was won by Yang Jung-mo      
Spain 1900     

Basque Pelota. Men's two-man team won by José de Amézola and Francisco Villota

Suriname1988  Swimming. Men's 100-meter butterfly won by Anthony Nesty
Sweden                                     1908              

Shooting. Men's single-shot running deer was won by Oscar Swahn

In 1900, a combined Sweden/Denmark mixed team in the tug of war made up of three competitors from each country defeated the French team to win the title. It was Sweden's first unofficial Olympic gold medal.

In the London Olympic Games of 1908, Oscar Swahn won Sweden's first official Olympic gold medal, winning in single-shot running deer shooting. At 64 years and 258 days of age, he became the oldest gold medallist ever, a record he still holds. 

Switzerland1896Gymnastics. Men's pommel horse was won by Louis Zutter
Syria1996Athletics. The women's heptathlon was won by Ghada Shouaa 
Tajikistan                                         2016                    Athletics. Men's hammer throw won by Dilshod Nazarov
                                                                   
In 1972, Yury Lobanov became the first athlete from Tajikistan to win an Olympic gold medal, winning gold in the 1000 m sprint canoe event with Lithuanian Vladas Česiūnas, though they were competing for the Soviet Union. The nation of Tajikistan officially won an Olympic gold medal for the first time when Dilshod Nazarov won the men's hammer throw at the 2016 Rio Games.

   
Thailand1996Boxing. Men's Featherweight was won by Somluck Kamsing.
Trinidad & Tobago1976Athletics. Men's 100 meter-run was won by Hasely Crawford
Tunisia                                                       1968    Athletics. Men's 5000 meters was won by Mohammed Gammoudi
Turkey1936Wrestling. The men's Greco-Roman featherweight category was won by Yaşar Erkan
Uganda 1972Athletics. Men's 400-meter hurdles was won by John Akii-Bua
Ukraine                                                  1996           

Wrestling. Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight (90 kg.) category was won by Vyacheslav Oleynyk

UAE2004Shooting. Men's double trap was won by Ahmed Al-Maktoum
USA1896

Athletics. The men's triple jump was won by James Brendan Connolly.

The first Olympic champion of the modern games, James Brendan Connolly is the first Olympic gold medallist for any country


Uruguay                                          1924                     Football. Men's football was won by the Uruguayan men's national football team.   
Uzbekistan2000

Boxing. The men's light welterweight was won by Mahammatkodir Abdullaev

The nation's first gold medal was earned by Mahammatkodir Abdoollayev who went undefeated in the men's lightweight category in boxing at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. Uzbek athletes may have won medals previously when competing as part of the Soviet Union from 1952 to 1988.

Venezuela1968Boxing. Men's light flyweight was won by Francisco Rodríguez
Vietnam                                         2016               Shooting. Men's 10-meter air pistol was won by Hoàng Xuân Vinh                         
West Germany1968 Athletics. The women's pentathlon event was won by Ingrid Becker                                 
Yugoslavia1924Gymnastics. Men's horizontal bar was won by Leon Štukelj
Zimbabwe            1980                  Field Hockey. The women's event was won by Zimbabwe's national 
                                                       field hockey team. 


Special delegations and not an actual nation


Australasia                              1908            Rugby Union. Australian national rugby union team won the men's rugby
                                                                   union tournament

IOA                                         2016           Shooting. Men's double trap was won by Fehaid Al-Deehani, a Kuwaiti

Mixed Teams                          1896           Tennis. Men's doubles won by John Boland (GBR) and Fritz Traun (GER)

OAR                                       2018            Figure skating. Ladies singles was won by Alina Zagitova

Unified Team                          1992           Cross-country skiing. Women's 15 km. classical won by Lyubov Yegorova




Acronyms

IOA  - Independent Olympic Athletes

OAR - Olympic Athletes from Russia 


                                                                            


Sources:

Top End Sports - https://www.topendsports.com/

Endless Pools - https://www.endlesspools.com/blog/post/this-day-in-swimming-the-1st-modern-olympics-1896

Greek Reporter - https://greekreporter.com/2021/04/08/the-first-modern-olympics-are-held-in-greece-in-april-1896/