2004 Summer Olympics

Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Host city	Athens, Greece
Motto	Welcome Home; (Greek: Καλώς ήλθατε σπίτι, Kalós ílthate spíti)
Nations	201
Athletes	10,625 (6,296 men, 4,329 women)
Events	301 in 28 sports (40 disciplines)
Opening	13 August
Closing	29 August
Opened by	President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Cauldron	Nikolaos Kaklamanakis
Stadium	Olympic Stadium
Summer
Winter

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 1906 that the Olympics were held in Greece. 10,625 athletes took part. There were 301 medal events.

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.

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	Greece	32	...	38	52	66
Rome	Italy	23	...	28	35	41
Cape Town	South Africa	16	62	22	20
Stockholm	Sweden	20	...	19
Buenos Aires	Argentina	16	44

Medal count

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

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.

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.

Total		301	301	327	929
Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	36	39	28	103
2	China (CHN)	32	17	14	63
3	Russia (RUS)	27	27	38	92
4	Australia (AUS)	17	16	16	49
5	Japan (JPN)	16	9	12	37
6	Germany (GER)	13	16	20	49
7	France (FRA)	11	9	13	33
8	Italy (ITA)	10	11	11	32
9	South Korea (KOR)	9	12	9	30
10	Great Britain (GBR)	9	9	12	30
11	Cuba (CUB)	9	7	11	27
12	Ukraine (UKR)	9	5	9	23
13	Hungary (HUN)	8	6	3	17
14	Romania (ROU)	8	5	6	19
15	Greece (GRE)	6	6	4	16
16	Brazil (BRA)	5	2	3	10
17	Norway (NOR)	5	0	1	6
18	Netherlands (NED)	4	9	9	22
19	Sweden (SWE)	4	2	1	7
20	Spain (ESP)	3	11	5	19
21	Canada (CAN)	3	6	3	12
22	Turkey (TUR)	3	3	4	10
23	Poland (POL)	3	2	5	10
24	New Zealand (NZL)	3	2	0	5
25	Thailand (THA)	3	1	4	8
26	Belarus (BLR)	2	6	7	15
27	Austria (AUT)	2	4	1	7
28	Ethiopia (ETH)	2	3	2	7
29	Iran (IRI)	2	2	2	6
29	Slovakia (SVK)	2	2	2	6
31	Chinese Taipei (TPE)	2	2	1	5
32	Georgia (GEO)	2	2	0	4
33	Bulgaria (BUL)	2	1	9	12
34	Jamaica (JAM)	2	1	2	5
34	Uzbekistan (JAM)	2	1	2	5
36	Morocco (MAR)	2	1	0	3
37	Denmark (DEN)	2	0	6	8
38	Argentina (ARG)	2	0	4	6
39	Chile (CHI)	2	0	1	3
40	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	1	4	3	8
41	Kenya (KEN)	1	4	2	7
42	Czech Republic (CZE)	1	3	4	8
43	South Africa (RSA)	1	3	2	6
44	Croatia (CRO)	1	2	2	5
45	Lithuania (LTU)	1	2	0	3
46	Egypt (EGY)	1	1	3	5
46	Switzerland (SUI)	1	1	3	5
48	Indonesia (INA)	1	1	2	4
49	Zimbabwe (ZIM)	1	1	1	3
50	Azerbaijan (AZE)	1	0	4	5
51	Belgium (BEL)	1	0	2	3
52	Bahamas (BAH)	1	0	1	2
52	Israel (ISR)	1	0	1	2
54	Cameroon (CMR)	1	0	0	1
54	Dominican Republic (DOM)	1	0	0	1
54	United Arab Emirates (UAE)	1	0	0	1
57	North Korea (PRK)	0	4	1	5
58	Latvia (LAT)	0	4	0	4
59	Mexico (MEX)	0	3	1	4
60	Portugal (POR)	0	2	1	3
61	Finland (FIN)	0	2	0	2
61	Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)	0	2	0	2
63	Slovenia (SLO)	0	1	3	4
64	Estonia (EST)	0	1	2	3
65	Hong Kong, China (HKG)	0	1	0	1
65	India (IND)	0	1	0	1
65	Paraguay (PAR)	0	1	0	1
68	Colombia (COL)	0	0	2	2
68	Nigeria (NGE)	0	0	2	2
68	Venezuela (VEN)	0	0	2	2
71	Eritrea (ERI)	0	0	1	1
71	Mongolia (MGL)	0	0	1	1
71	Syria (SYR)	0	0	1	1
71	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	0	0	1	1

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

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)

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 2 "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.
↑ "Athens 2004". International Olympic Committee. olympic.org. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
↑ International Olympic Committee - Athens 2004 - Election
↑ "Athens 2004–Medal Table". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
↑ "Athens 2004–Games of the XXVIII Olympiad". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-05-04.

[Opening_and_Cauldron-1] 1 2 "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.

[olympics-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.

v t e Olympic Games
Participating nations IOC NOCs Country codes Pierre de Coubertin medal
Summer Games	1896 Athens 1900 Paris 1904 St. Louis 1908 London 1912 Stockholm 1916^† 1920 Antwerp 1924 Paris 1928 Amsterdam 1932 Los Angeles 1936 Berlin 1940^‡ 1944^‡ 1948 London 1952 Helsinki 1956 Melbourne 1960 Rome 1964 Tokyo 1968 Mexico City 1972 Munich 1976 Montreal 1980 Moscow 1984 Los Angeles 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo^§ 2024 Paris 2028 Los Angeles 2032 Brisbane
Winter Games	1924 Chamonix 1928 St. Moritz 1932 Lake Placid 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1940^‡ 1944^‡ 1948 St. Moritz 1952 Oslo 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 1960 Squaw Valley 1964 Innsbruck 1968 Grenoble 1972 Sapporo 1976 Innsbruck 1980 Lake Placid 1984 Sarajevo 1988 Calgary 1992 Albertville 1994 Lillehammer 1998 Nagano 2002 Salt Lake City 2006 Turin 2010 Vancouver 2014 Sochi 2018 Pyeongchang 2022 Beijing 2026 Milan Cortina 2030 French Alps 2034 Salt Lake City-Utah
^†Cancelled due to World War I ^‡Cancelled due to World War II ^§Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Ancient Olympic Games 1906 Intercalated Games Paralympic Games Youth Olympic Games