Viggo Jensen, injured from the first event, was able to lift only enough to earn a silver medal while Launceston Elliot far surpassed all of the other athletes in the field on his way to winning the United Kingdom's first gold medal of the Olympics.

Prince George of Greece and Denmark, one of the judges, demonstrated his strength after the event by moving one of the heavy weights with ease after an assistant struggled to clear the weight from the competition area.

Top visiting weightlifters in Athens included Launceston Elliot and Lawrence Levy of Great Britain and Viggo Jensen of Denmark.

Levy withdrew after being informed that there would be no two-hand dumbbell event, though he served as a judge and assistant to Elliott.

[3][1] In the second weightlifting event, held soon after the first, only one hand was allowed in lifting the weights.