1873年1月12日生于希腊的斯皮里东-鲁易斯在24岁的时候，成为了1896年第一届现代奥运会的真正的英雄人物。当时雅典只有13万5千人，而观看这次马拉松赛竟达10万人之多，真可说是“万人空巷”。当身着浅蓝背心的希腊人斯皮里东·鲁易斯第一个冲入运动场时，全场雀跃，欢声雷动。

Born on 12 January 1873 in Maroussi near Athens, Spyridon Louis, a 24-year-old Greek shepherd, became the real hero of the 1896 Games. There was no event that the Greek hosts wanted more to win than the 40,000m marathon race, which was created to honor the legend of Pheidippides, who allegedly carried the news of the Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC by running from Marathon to Athens. On 10 April 1896, Louis, wearing shoes that had been donated by his fellow villagers, set off from Marathon with sixteen other runners. He took the lead four kilometres from the Panathenaic Stadium and, to the great joy of the 100,000 spectators in and around the stadium, won the race by more than seven minutes. Forty years later, Louis recalled the moments after his victory: "That hour was something unimaginable and it still appears to me in my memory like a dream…. Twigs and flowers were raining down on me. Everybody was calling out my name and throwing their hats in the air…."