Although no race in the ancient Greek Olympics was longer than 4,800 metres
(3 miles), the marathon was the centrepiece event at the first modern Olympics,
in part because of the legend of Pheidippides, who was said to have collapsed
and died after running from Marathon to Athens with news of the Greek victory
over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
Louis's background is in dispute, but he may have been a shepherd who served
in the Greek army. He was one of as many as 25 men who entered the marathon at
the 1896 Games. About 30 km (20 miles) into the race, he took the lead. He
finished in 2 h 58 min 50 sec, winning by more than seven minutes. As Louis
entered the Panathenaic Stadium for his final lap, he was met by a thundering
ovation; the Greek prince George and crown prince Constantine joined Louis on
the final lap.
Louis's victory brought him immense popularity—the phrase egine Louis
(“became Louis”) grew to be a common Greek phrase meaning “ran quickly”—and he
became a symbolic representative of the modern Olympics, offering Adolf Hitler
an olive branch at the start of the 1936 Games in Berlin.
