The original Olympic marathon trophy goes on sale

The Breal’s Silver Cup, the marathon winner’s trophy from the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, is expected to sell for at least £120,000 when it is auctioned tomorrow.

The endurance race was held for the first time competitively at the 1896 Games, in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.

Contested by only 17 runners, it was the Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux who claimed the early lead.

But the distance involved was extreme for the Victorian athletes, and when Lermusiaux collapsed after 32 kilometres, followed by the Austrian Edwin Flack, it was Spyridon “Spyros” Louis, a Greek water carrier, who raced into the stadium to win the race in front of the home crowd.

His winning time was 2:58:50, and it was said that he was helped along the way by half an orange and a glass of cognac.

Louis was an instant Greek hero, but preferred his modest life and returned to his hometown, never again competing in marathons or long distance running of any kind.

Later in life, at the age of 63, Louis was the standard bearer for Greece at the 1936 Olympic Games, and offered an olive branch to Adolf Hitler.