2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, were held in Athens, Greece from August 13, 2004, until August 29, 2004. It was the first time since 1896 that the Olympics were held in Greece. 10,625 athletes took part.[2] There were 301 medal events.

Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Host cityAthens, Greece
MottoWelcome Home
(Greek: Καλώς ήλθατε σπίτι, Kalós ílthate spíti)
Nations201
Athletes10,625 (6,296 men, 4,329 women)
Events301 in 28 sports (40 disciplines)
Opening13 August
Closing29 August
Opened by
Cauldron
Nikolaos Kaklamanakis[1]
StadiumOlympic Stadium
Summer
Sydney 2000 Beijing 2008
Winter
Salt Lake 2002 Turin 2006
Part of the ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame.

Bids

The four other candidate cities were Rome, Cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires. Six other cities had applied, but were turned down by the IOC in 1996. These cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, and Saint Petersburg.[3]

Athens won every round of voting and easily beat Rome in round 5, the final vote. Round 2 was to settle a tie break between Cape Town and Buenos Aires from round 1.

2004 Host City Election — ballot results
City Country Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
Athens Greece32...385266
Rome Italy23...283541
Cape Town South Africa16622220
Stockholm Sweden20...19
Buenos Aires Argentina1644

Medal count

A map showing countries who took part in the 2004 summer Olympics

The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee.[4]

The total number of bronze medals is greater than the total of gold or silver because in boxing and judo, two bronze medals were awarded in each weight class.[5]

Countries are ranked firstly by the number of gold medals they have, then by the number of silver, and then by the number of bronze. Where countries have the same number of each type of medal, they are listed alphabetically and given the same ranking.

Medal numbers shown in bold are the highest in their section. Greece, the host nation is highlighted in lavender.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States (USA)363928103
2 China (CHN)32171463
3 Russia (RUS)27273892
4 Australia (AUS)17161649
5 Japan (JPN)1691237
6 Germany (GER)13162049
7 France (FRA)1191333
8 Italy (ITA)10111132
9 South Korea (KOR)912930
10 Great Britain (GBR)991230
11 Cuba (CUB)971127
12 Ukraine (UKR)95923
13 Hungary (HUN)86317
14 Romania (ROU)85619
15 Greece (GRE)66416
16 Brazil (BRA)52310
17 Norway (NOR)5016
18 Netherlands (NED)49922
19 Sweden (SWE)4217
20 Spain (ESP)311519
21 Canada (CAN)36312
22 Turkey (TUR)33410
23 Poland (POL)32510
24 New Zealand (NZL)3205
25 Thailand (THA)3148
26 Belarus (BLR)26715
27 Austria (AUT)2417
28 Ethiopia (ETH)2327
29 Iran (IRI)2226
29 Slovakia (SVK)2226
31 Chinese Taipei (TPE)2215
32 Georgia (GEO)2204
33 Bulgaria (BUL)21912
34 Jamaica (JAM)2125
34 Uzbekistan (JAM)2125
36 Morocco (MAR)2103
37 Denmark (DEN)2068
38 Argentina (ARG)2046
39 Chile (CHI)2013
40 Kazakhstan (KAZ)1438
41 Kenya (KEN)1427
42 Czech Republic (CZE)1348
43 South Africa (RSA)1326
44 Croatia (CRO)1225
45 Lithuania (LTU)1203
46 Egypt (EGY)1135
46 Switzerland (SUI)1135
48 Indonesia (INA)1124
49 Zimbabwe (ZIM)1113
50 Azerbaijan (AZE)1045
51 Belgium (BEL)1023
52 Bahamas (BAH)1012
52 Israel (ISR)1012
54 Cameroon (CMR)1001
54 Dominican Republic (DOM)1001
54 United Arab Emirates (UAE)1001
57 North Korea (PRK)0415
58 Latvia (LAT)0404
59 Mexico (MEX)0314
60 Portugal (POR)0213
61 Finland (FIN)0202
61 Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)0202
63 Slovenia (SLO)0134
64 Estonia (EST)0123
65 Hong Kong, China (HKG)0101
65 India (IND)0101
65 Paraguay (PAR)0101
68 Colombia (COL)0022
68 Nigeria (NGE)0022
68 Venezuela (VEN)0022
71 Eritrea (ERI)0011
71 Mongolia (MGL)0011
71 Syria (SYR)0011
71 Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)0011
Total301301327929

Highlights

  • Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou withdraw from the games after allegedly staging a motorcycle accident in order to avoid a drug test.
  • World record holder and strong favourite Paula Radcliffe crashes out of the women's marathon, leaving Mizuki Noguchi to win the gold.
  • While leading in the men's marathon with less than 10 kilometres to go, Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima is attacked by Irish priest Cornelius Horan and dragged into the crowd. De Lima recovered to take bronze. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
  • British athlete Kelly Holmes wins gold in the 800 m and 1500 m.
  • Liu Xiang wins gold in the 110 m hurdles, equalling Colin Jackson's 1993 world record time of 12.91 seconds. This was China's first ever gold in men's track and field.
  • The Olympics saw Afghanistan's first return to the Games since 1999.
  • Hicham El Guerrouj wins gold in the 1500 m and 5000 m. He is the first person to do this at the Olympics since Paavo Nurmi in 1924.
  • Greek athlete Fani Halkia comes out of retirement to win the 400 m hurdles.
  • The US women's 4 × 200 m swimming team of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer and Kaitlin Sandeno win gold. They beat the long-standing world record set by the German Democratic Republic in 1987.
  • The United States lost for the first time in Olympic men's basketball since NBA players were let to play in the Games. This defeat came at the hands of Puerto Rico 92–73.
  • Argentina wins a shocking victory over the United States in the semi-finals of men's basketball. They go on to beat Italy 84–69 in the final.
  • Windsurfer Gal Fridman wins Israel's first-ever gold medal.
  • Dominican athlete Félix Sánchez won the first ever gold medal for the Dominican Republic in the 400 m hurdles event.
  • German kayaker Birgit Fischer wins gold in the K-4 500 m and silver in the K-2 500 m. She became the first woman in any sport to win gold medals at 6 different Olympics, the first woman to win gold 24 years apart and the first person in Olympic history to win two or more medals in five different Games.
  • Swimmer Michael Phelps wins 8 medals (6 gold and 2 bronze). He became the first athlete to win 8 medals in non boycotted Olympics.
  • United States' gymnast Carly Patterson becomes only the second American woman to win the all-around gold medal.
  • Chilean Tennis players Nicolás Massu and Fernando Gonzalez won the gold medal in the Doubles Competition. Massu won the gold and Gonzalez the bronze on the Singles competition. These were Chile's first-ever gold medals.
  • South America had its best Olympics, with nine gold medals.

Venues

OAKA

The OAKA Plaza and Arch adjacent to the Olympic Stadium
  • Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre – diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo
  • Athens Olympic Tennis Centre – tennis
  • Athens Olympic Velodrome – cycling (track)
  • Olympic Indoor Hall – basketball (final), gymnastics (artistic, trampolining)
  • Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/ closing), athletics, football (final)

HOC

  • Fencing Hall – fencing
  • Helliniko Indoor Arena – basketball, handball (final)
  • Olympic Baseball Centre – baseball
  • Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre – canoeing (slalom)
  • Olympic Hockey Centre – field hockey
  • Olympic Softball Stadium – softball

Faliro

  • Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre – volleyball (beach)
  • Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena – handball, taekwondo
  • Peace and Friendship Stadium – volleyball (indoor)

GOC

  • Goudi Olympic Hall – badminton
  • Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre – modern pentathlon

Football venues

Other venues

  • Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre – sailing
  • Ano Liosia Olympic Hall – judo, wrestling
  • Galatsi Olympic Hall – gymnastics (rhythmic), table tennis
  • Kotzia Square – cycling (individual road race)
  • Marathon (city) – athletics (marathon start)
  • Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre – equestrian
  • Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre – shooting
  • Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall – weightlifting
  • Panathinaiko Stadium – archery, athletics (marathons finish)
  • Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall – boxing
  • Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre – canoeing (sprint), rowing
  • Stadium at Olympia – athletics (shot put)
  • Vouliagmeni Olympic Centre – cycling (individual time trial), triathlon

References

  1. "Factsheet - Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad" (PDF) (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 9 October 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  2. "Athens 2004". International Olympic Committee. olympic.org. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  3. International Olympic Committee - Athens 2004 - Election
  4. "Athens 2004–Medal Table". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  5. "Athens 2004–Games of the XXVIII Olympiad". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
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