Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"In 1894, he [Coubertin] set up an International Olympic Committee to establish the Games, choosing Athens as the initial venue. . . . Some 241 athletes from 14 nations took part--all the athletes were male, and all were amateurs, attending not as a national team but as private individuals at their own expense. The ancient Panathenaic Stadium, dating from the fourth century BCE, was restored . . ." [Furtado: 1001 Days]