1896 Olympics
Flack reached Athens after an uncomfortable six day rail and sea trip, during which he was plagued with sea sickness. On the opening day of the Games he won his first race, the first heat of the 800 metres run, finishing in a time of 2 min 10.0 sec. On the second day he lined up against the American favourite, Arthur Blake, in the 1500 metres run. Running shoulder to shoulder with Blake in the final straight, Flack powered ahead near the end to win by more than five metres. On the fourth day of the Games Flack earned his second first-place medal, winning the 800 metres in 2 min 11.0 sec.
Just a day later Flack tried for a treble, in the marathon, even though he had never run a race more than 10 miles, less than half the marathon distance. He was in second place behind Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux, bronze medallist in the 1500 m run, for much of the race. After 32 kilometres, the Frenchman dropped out and Flack was left in the lead. But with just three kilometres to go, Flack suddenly collapsed. He was so delirious that, when a Greek spectator tried to help him, Flack punched him to the ground. Flack was removed from the course and tended to by Prince Nicholas.
Although largely unknown, Flack also competed in the tennis singles and doubles at the Athens Olympics. He lost in the first round of the singles to Aristidis Akratopoulos of Greece. In the doubles he was paired with an English friend, George S. Robertson. They reached the semi-finals after a walk-over in the first round, but lost their only match to Dionysios Kasdaglis of Egypt and Demetrios Petrokokkinos of Greece. They placed third due to their semi-final appearance, but medals for third places were not yet awarded in 1896.
Flack was a popular competitor at the 1896 games, and was commonly referred to as the "Lion of Athens".
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