Breal's Silver Cup

Bréal's Cup is the trophy awarded to Spyros Louis, the Marathon winner at the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens, in 1896.

[1] The Cup was designed by French philhellene Michel Bréal, who had the original idea to include a Marathon race in the Olympic Games.

[2][3] The remaining surface of the Cup had a relief decoration depicting birds and aquatic plants, which were known to exist in the swamp lands of Marathon in ancient times.

With this reference, Breal wanted to give the Cup a symbolic significance and connect the ancient Olympic Games with the modern ones.

Today, the Cup belongs to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which acquired it at an auction held on April 18, 2012 by Christie's in London.