![]() Louis in 1896 | ||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Born | [1] Marousi, Kingdom of Greece | 12 January 1873|||||||||||
Died | 26 March 1940 Marousi, Kingdom of Greece | (aged 67)|||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | Marathon | |||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
Personal best | 2:58:50 (1896)[2] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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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 among 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]
Spyro Story
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).