Pada masa itu, konsep negara peserta belum wujud, dan peserta dikira secara individu. Walu bagaimanapun, rekod kewarganegaraan peserta individu juga disimpan, dan berikut ialah negara-negara yang mempunyai perserta dalam Sukan Olimpik 1896:
Australia - Peserta dari Australia direkodkan sebagai warga Australia walaupun Australia masih merupakan koloni United Kingdom.
↑This number, given by the International Olympic Committee, is open to interpretation and ranges from 10 to 15. National teams hardly existed at the time, and most athletes represented themselves or their clubs. In addition, countries were not always as well-defined as they are today. The number of countries here reflects the number used by most modern sources. See #Nations for more details on the formulation of this number.
↑This number of competitors is according to the International Olympic Committee. The identities of 179 competitors are known; a maximum of 252 took part. Mallon & Widlund (see #References) calculate 245 athletes, while De Wael finds 246.