Spyros Louis was the winner of the first Modern Olympics Marathon of 1896. In addition to the olive branch, accustomed for winners of the Games, Louis received two cups as prizes. The first is the Silver Cup created, specifically for the Marathon winner, by the inspirer of the race, Michel Bréal. In 2012, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) acquired the Cup at a Christie’s auction, in order to make it available to the general public. Today, the Cup is permanently on display at the Agora of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
The second prize is the black-figure skyphos vase, gifted to Louis by antique dealer, Ioannis Pavlou Lambros. After its recent repatriation from the Archaeological Museum of the University of Münster, Germany, by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, it is now on permanent display at the Ancient Olympic Games Museum.
For the first time, the two cups will be reunited. For Olympic Games fanatics, this is yet another reason to visit Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
This is not the first time that Spyros Louis’ Silver Cup travels away from home. It has also been hosted at the Acropolis Museum for a total of about 2.5 years in two different exhibitions. It also traveled to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, for 6 months, on the occasion of the Lausanne International Marathon, in September 2014.