Slovakia's first Olympic medal winner was Alojz Szokol from Hronec. At the first modern Olympic games held in Athens in 1896 he came third in the 100 metres sprint with a time of 12.6 seconds. He also gained the Hungarian team a fourth place in the triple jump. An all-round athlete, he was also successful in high jump, long jump, pole vaulting and hurdles. In the course of his sporting career he achieved numerous victories and was the pride of Budapest's Hungarian Athletics Club, in whose colours he is pictured on the FDC.

We were to wait a long forty years for the first Olympic medal to be won by a Slovak sportsman competing for Czechoslovakia.

On 5th April, 1896 ( 25^th March in the Julian calendar then in use in Greece ) Baron de Coubertin's dreams were fulfilled and the foundations of Olympic and sports philately were laid with the emission of the first series of Olympic stamps.