1906 Intercalated Games

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The 1906 Intercalated Games, sometimes called the 1906 Olympic Games, were held in Athens, Greece, from April 22 to May 2, 1906. The events took place at the Panathenaic Stadium.

Facts at a glance
- Nations: 20
- Athletes: 854 (848 men and 6 women)
- Events: 78 in 14 disciplines, spanning 12 sports
- Notable addition: javelin throw and pentathlon
- Opening: King George I
- Closing ceremony: featured thousands of schoolchildren (about 6,000)

What happened
- These Games were treated as Olympic Games at the time and were meant to be a regular, intercalated event held in Athens between the main Games.
- They introduced a formal opening ceremony with athletes marching behind their national flags, a tradition that influenced later Olympics.
- Medals were awarded, and the events were well organized. The Games were praised as a high point in early Olympic history.

Legacy and official status
- The International Olympic Committee later decided that the 1906 Games are not official Olympic Games. The medals from these Games are not counted in Olympic records, and the events are not displayed in the Olympic Museum.
- The idea of intercalated Games in Greece every four years was abandoned after 1906. The next official Olympics were in 1908 in London, and Greece did not host again until 2004.
- Today the 1906 Games are often called the forgotten or lost Games, but they helped shape how the Olympics are run and inspired traditions that continued in later Games.