The first final on the opening day was the triple jump (then known as the "hop, skip and jump"), one of the events in which Connolly competed. Connolly's style, taking two hops with the right foot, is no longer allowed in this event but was perfectly acceptable in 1896. With this style, he outjumped the field, finishing more than one meter ahead of his nearest opponent by jumping 13.71 m (44 ft 11 3/4 in), earning him the first silver medal (gold medals did not yet exist). With this performance, he became the first Olympic champion since AD 385, when the Athenian Zopyrus won the pankration (other sources name the Armenian Varasdates, who won at boxing in 369).