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Panhellenic Games: part one
Certain scholars, specialists in the history of Greek sport, regard the Tinia, the sports games organized in Tinos in 1895 by the Ethnikos, as the first  unofficial Panhellenic Games. Others consider that the prelude to the Panhellenic Games were the so-called Test Events, which were held a few days before the 1896 Olympics, with a view to forming the Greek Olympic team. In both cases there are many elements that would characterize the future Panhellenic Games: harmonization of the games' programme with the internationally acknowledged contests and rules in force, participation of associations from different regions - even outside the Greek boundaries - which were considered Greek and in this capacity aimed at being incorporated in the Greek territory.
Indeed, both the Tinia and the Test Events are the prehistory of the Panhellenic Games. This prehistory also includes:
– The sports infrastructures and the experience (both at competition and organization level) that the Olympic Games of 1896 bequeathed to the recently established sports organizations.
– The approbation of sport and its diffusion to broader social strata through the association of sport with the "Greek element", the incorporation of the discipline of gymnastics in education, but also through the "equalizing" example of the victory of Spyridon Louis.
– The organization of quite a few sports games compared to the previous years, both in and out of Greece, as a result of the foundation of many new associations right after the Olympics. That was a development, which perforce called for further coordination.
Therefore, in 1897 was founded the SEAGS, whose first president was Spyridon Lampros and its founding members were 28 associations, 3 of which were active outside the Greek boundaries (Smyrna, Limassol, Nicosia). One of the first decisions of the SEAGS was the organization of Panhellenic Games. Their name corresponded to the peculiar sports geography of the SEAGS and connected the identity of the games with the Greek liberation struggle and the processes of political unification and cultural homogenization of the Greeks.
The original decision of the SEAGS was that the Panhellenic Games be organized in 1897 and held once a year. However, the war of 1897 - Spyridon Lampros played the leading part in its declaration as a leading member of the National Society, led to the postponement of the games until 1898. Still, the economic and organizational problems did not allow the organization of the Panhellenic Games before 1901.
So, the first Panhellenic Games took place from 5 to 8 April 1901 in the Panathenaic Stadium. The participant athletes were almost 130 from 12 associations, among which 3 were from Cyprus (Olympia of Limassol, Zinon, Pagkypria). At the opening of the Games, which was attended by the royal family and the political and ecclesiastical dignitaries, the spectators greeted the Cypriot athletes with pro-union chants. Another thing is that during the games the SEAGS organized an exposition of Cypriot products in the Zappeion. It was there that the reception for the closure of the first Panhellenic Games was held, during which the dignitaries delivered patriotic speeches.
Those games were characterized by the increase of the track and field events in relation to gymnastics (wrestling and weightlifting events were also carried out), the recording of the performances and the institution of the Nike award for the most victorious association. The Panhellenic and the Ethnikos associations achieved the same number of first victories. As a result, after the refusal of the associations to draw lots, and despite the mutual concessions, finally the Nike was not awarded to any association that year. In the following years, and until 1920 when the prize was removed, the Nike was the bone of contention between the two strong sports associations. What is more, only a few months after the Panhellenic Games, the confrontation between the Ethnikos and the Panhellenic associations led to the split of the SEAGS and to the cancellation of the games of 1902 and 1903. As a result, the second Panhellenic Games were held in 1904.
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