Unknown author · Public domain · Source
Person1873 – 1940
Spyridon Louis
Greek runner who won the first Olympic marathon at the 1896 Athens Games and became a national hero
He is said to have earned his living carrying and selling water in Marousi, north of Athens. At the first modern Olympics in 1896 he ran the first Olympic marathon, from Marathon to Athens, and won in 2:58:50. Since the host nation had won almost nothing in athletics, all of Greece went wild. He never again ran in a major race, living in his home town as a farmer and police officer, and in 1936 he was invited to the opening of the Berlin Olympics, where he presented Hitler with an olive branch.
