PersonJewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Alfred Flatow

German Jewish gymnast who won three gold medals and one silver at the 1896 Athens Olympic Games.

Germany

Unknown photographer / Wikimedia CommonsSourcePublic domain

Biography

Alfred Flatow was a German Jewish gymnast and one of the outstanding competitors at the inaugural modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Born in Gdańsk, then in Prussia, on 3 October 1869, he represented Germany in gymnastics and won three gold medals and one silver medal at the Athens Games. His individual victory on the parallel bars on 10 April 1896 is the achievement used for this JWR record. Flatow was Jewish, a fact documented in Olympic and Jewish-sports historical sources. His later life was shaped by Nazi persecution. He was deported to Theresienstadt, where he died on 28 December 1942. His Olympic record and his fate have made him an important figure in both Jewish sporting history and the history of the early modern Olympic movement.

Video

Historical context: Alfred Flatow appears between 1:51 and 2:31 in a video about Athens 1896 silver medallists; not footage of his individual gold medal.

Background video about this holder. It is not evidence for any JWR record value.

Records held by Alfred Flatow

Portrait of Jewish German Olympic gymnast Alfred Flatow.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Athlete to Win an Individual Olympic Gold Medal

Record holder

Alfred Flatow

Record value

10 April 1896

Alfred Flatow is recognized by JWR as the first Jewish athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal. At the inaugural modern Olympic Games in Athens, the German Jewish gymnast won the men’s individual parallel bars competition on 10 April 1896. Olympedia records Flatow as the gold medalist in that event and documents his wider success at the Games. The distinction is deliberately limited to individual medal events: Jewish athletes had already been part of winning team events on 9 April, but those results do not satisfy this record’s definition. A comparison with the documented Jewish medalists of Athens 1896 shows that Flatow’s individual gold on 10 April came before the Jewish swimming victories recorded on 11 April. His achievement therefore marks the earliest qualifying individual Olympic gold by a Jewish athlete.

Country represented: Germany
Achievement location: Athens, Greece
Achievement date: 10 April 1896

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