{{Infobox Olympic games|2004|Summer| |Name = The Athens 2004 logo |Logo = Athens 2004 logo.svg |Size = 152 |Motto = Welcome Home |Nations participating = 201 |Athletes participating = 10,625 the bid for the 2004 Games was lauded for its humility and earnestness, its focused message, and its detailed bid concept. The 2004 bid addressed concerns and criticisms raised in its unsuccessful 1996 bid - primarily Athens' infrastructural readiness, its air pollution, its budget, and politicization of Games preparations. Athens' successful organization of the 1997 World Championships in Athletics the month before the host city election was also crucial in allaying lingering fears and concerns among the sporting community and some IOC members about its ability to host international sporting events. Another factor which also contributed to Athens' selection was a growing sentiment among some IOC members to restore the values of the Olympics to the Games, a component which they felt was lost during the heavily criticized over-commercialization of Atlanta 1996 Games. Subsequently, the selection of Athens was also motivated by a lingering sense of disappointment among IOC members regarding the numerous organizational and logistical setbacks experienced during the 1996 Games.

{| class=wikitable |- !colspan=7| 2004 Host City Election — ballot results |- ! City ! Country (NOC) | style="background:silver;"| Round 1 | style="background:silver;"| Run-off | style="background:silver;"| Round 2 | style="background:silver;"| Round 3 | style="background:silver;"| Round 4 |- | Athens || || align="center"| 32 || || align="center"| 38 || align="center"| 52 || align="center"| 66 |- | Rome || || align="center"| 23 || || align="center"| 28 || align="center"| 35 || align="center"| 41 |- | Cape Town || || align="center"| 16 || align="center"| 62 || align="center"| 22 || align="center"| 20 || |- | Stockholm || || align="center"| 20 || || align="center"| 19 || || |- | Buenos Aires || || align="center"| 16 || align="center"| 44 || || || |}

Development and preparation

On November 13, 2004, the Greek embassy estimated the costs of hosting the Olympics at €8.954 billion (about $11.2 billion in 2004) not including construction made regardless of the Games, but including 1.08 billion Euros ($1.35 billion) in security costs. NBC Universal paid the IOC $793 million for U.S. broadcast rights, the most paid by any country. NBC broadcast over 1200 hours of coverage during the games, triple what was broadcast in the U.S. four years earlier. Between all the NBC Universal networks (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, USA Network & Telemundo) the games were on television 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Concerns about terrorism elevated following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Greece increased the budget for security at the Olympics to €970 million (US$1.2 billion). Approximately 70,000 police officers patrolled Athens and the Olympic venues during the Olympics. NATO and the European Union also provided minor support, after Athens asked for co-operation.

When the International Olympic Committee expressed its concern over the progress of construction work of the new Olympic venues, a new Organizing Committee was formed in 2000 under President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. In the years leading up to the Games, Athens was transformed into a city that used state-of-the-art technology in transportation and urban development. Some of the most modern sporting venues in the world at the time were built to host the 2004 Olympic Games.

The general cost of the games was estimated to be 7.2 billion euros.

At least 14 people died during the work on the facilities. Most of these people were not from Greece.

Before the games, Greek hotel staff staged a series of one-day strikes over wage disputes. They had been asking for a significant raise for the period covering the event being staged. Paramedics and ambulance drivers also protested. They claimed to have the right to the same Olympic bonuses promised to their security force counterparts.

Torch relay

toured the world]]

The lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame took place on March 25 in Ancient Olympia. For the first time ever, the flame travelled around the world in a relay to former Olympic cities and other large cities, before returning to Greece.

Mascots

Mascots have been a tradition at the Olympic Games since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. The Athens games had two official mascots: Athiná and Phévos (pronounced in Greek, Athina and Fivos). The sister and brother were named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war, and Phoebus, the god of light and music, respectively. They were inspired by the ancient daidala, which were dolls that had religious connotations as well as being toys.

Online coverage

For the first time, major broadcasters were allowed to serve video coverage of the Olympics over the Internet, provided that they restricted this service geographically, to protect broadcasting contracts in other areas. For instance, the BBC made their complete live coverage available to UK high-speed Internet customers for free; customers in the U.S. were only able to receive delayed excerpts. The International Olympic Committee forbade Olympic athletes, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from setting up specialized weblogs and/or other websites for covering their personal perspective of the games. They were not allowed to post audio, video, or photos that they had taken. An exception was made if an athlete already has a personal website that was not set up specifically for the Games. NBC launched its own Olympic website, NBCOlympics.com. Focusing on the television coverage of the games, it did provide video clips, medal standings, live results. Its main purpose, however, was to provide a schedule of what sports were on the many stations of NBC Universal. The games were on TV 24 hours a day on one network or another.

Technology

As with any enterprise, the Organizing Committee and everyone involved with it relied heavily on technology in order to deliver a successful event. ATHOC maintained two separate data networks, one for the preparation of the Games (known as the Administrative network) and one for the Games themselves (Games Network). The technical infrastructure involved more than 11,000 computers, over 600 servers, 2,000 printers, 23,000 fixed-line telephone devices, 9,000 mobile phones, 12,000 TETRA devices, 16,000 TV and video devices and 17 Video Walls interconnected by more than 6,000 kilometers of cabling (both optical fiber and twisted pair).

This infrastructure was created and maintained to serve directly more than 150,000 ATHOC Staff, Volunteers, Olympic family members (IOC, NOCs, Federations), Partners & Sponsors and Media. It also kept the information flowing for all spectators, TV viewers, Website visitors and news readers around the world, prior and during the Games. The Media Center was located inside the Zappeion which is a Greek national exhibition center.

Between June and August 2004, the technology staff worked in the Technology Operations Center (TOC) from where it could centrally monitor and manage all the devices and flow of information, as well as handle any problems that occurred during the Games. The TOC was organized in teams (e.g. Systems, Telecommunications, Information Security, Data Network, Staffing, etc.) under a TOC Director and corresponding team leaders (Shift Managers). The TOC operated on a 24x7 basis with personnel organized into 12-hour shifts.

Plastic Explosives Discovery

An operation which was carried out by the Greek National Intelligence Services, in collaboration with a foreign Intelligence Service, discovered a large amount of plastic explosives a few days prior to the beginning of the Olympics Games.

Uncorfirmed sources, claim that the operation was initiated after a report about a specific group of people, which was filed by Panagiotis A. Xenos-Kokoletsis, the nephew of the former Rear Admiral and General Administrator of Security for the Greek Navy, Andreas-Vasilios Xenos-Kokoletsis and cousin of the former Police Major General-Deputy Commissioner, Anastasios Alexopoulos.

The Games

Opening Ceremony

at the Opening Ceremony]] The widely praised Opening Ceremony by avant garde choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou held on August 13, 2004 began with a twenty eight (the number of the Olympiads up to then) second countdown paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat. As the countdown was completed, fireworks rumbled and illuminated the skies overhead. After a drum corps and bouzouki players joined in an opening march, the video screen showed images of flight, crossing southwest from Athens over the Greek countryside to ancient Olympia. Then, a single drummer in the ancient stadium joined in a drum duet with a single drummer in the main stadium in Athens, joining the original ancient Olympic games with the modern ones in symbolism. At the end of the drum duet, a single flaming arrow was launched from the video screen (symbolically from ancient Olympia) and into the reflecting pool, which resulted in fire erupting in the middle of the stadium creating a burning image of the Olympic rings rising from the pool. The Opening Ceremony was a pageant of traditional Greek culture and history hearkening back to its mythological beginnings. The program began as a young Greek boy sailed into the stadium on a 'paper-ship' waving the host nation's flag to aethereal music by Hadjidakis and then a centaur appeared, followed by a gigantic head of a cycladic figurine which eventually broke into many pieces symbolising the Greek islands. Underneath the cycladic head was a Hellenistic representation of the human body, reflecting the concept and belief in perfection reflected in Greek art. A man was seen balancing on a hovering cube symbolising man's eternal 'split' between passion and reason followed by a couple of young lovers playfully chasing each other while the god Eros was hovering above them. There followed a very colourful float parade chronicling Greek history from the ancient Minoan civilization to modern times.

Although NBC in the United States presented the entire opening ceremony from start to finish, a topless Minoan priestess was shown only briefly, the breasts having been pixelated digitally in order to avoid controversy (as the "Nipplegate" incident was still fresh in viewer's minds at the time) and potential fines by the Federal Communications Commission. Also, lower frontal nudity of men dressed as ancient Greek statues was shown in such a way that the area below the waist was cut off by the bottom of the screen. In most other countries presenting the broadcast, there was no censorship of the ceremony.

Following the artistic performances, a parade of nations (staged by 5 time Olympic Choreographer Doug Jack) entered the stadium with over 10,500 athletes walking under the banners of 201 nations. The nations were arranged according to Greek alphabet making Finland, Fiji, Chile, and Hong Kong the last four to enter the stadium before the Greek delegation. On this occasion, in observance of the tradition that the delegation of Greece opens the parade and the host nation closes it, the Greek flag bearer opened the parade and all the Greek delegation closed it. Based on audience reaction, the emotional high point of the parade was the entrance of the delegation from Afghanistan which had been absent from the Olympics and had female competitors for the first time. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions. Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea under the Korean Unification Flag. The country of Kiribati made a debut at these games and East Timor made a debut under its own flag. After the Parade of Nations, during which the Dutch DJ Tiësto provided the music, the Icelandic singer Björk performed the song Oceania, written specially for the event by her and the poet Sjón.

The Opening Ceremony culminated in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by 1996 Gold Medalist Windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. Many key moments in the ceremony, including the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, featured music composed and arranged by John Psathas from New Zealand. The gigantic cauldron, which was styled after the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch, pivoted down to be lit by the 35 year-old, before slowly swinging up and lifting the flame high above the stadium. Kaklamanakis would later win his silver medal in the men's mistral behind Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman. Following this, the stadium found itself at the centre of a rousing fireworks spectacular.

Participating NOCs

All National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Athens Games, as was the case in 1996. Two new NOCs had been created since 1996, and made their debut at these Games (Kiribati, and Timor-Leste), therefore along with the re-appearance of Afghanistan (missing the 2000 Summer Olympics) the total number of participating nations increased from 199 to 202. Also since 2000, Yugoslavia had changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro and its code from YUG to SCG. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that NOC contributed. (host)

Sports

The sports featured at the 2004 Summer Olympics are listed below. Officially there were 28 sports as swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and water polo are classified by the IOC as disciplines within the sport of aquatics, and wheelchair racing was a demonstration sport. For the first time, the wrestling category featured women's wrestling and in the fencing competition women competed in the sabre. American Kristin Heaston, who led off the qualifying round of women's shotput became the first woman to compete at the ancient site of Olympia but Cuban Yumileidi Cumba became the first woman to win a gold medal there.

The demonstration sport of wheelchair racing was a joint Olympic/Paralympic event, allowing a Paralympic event to occur within the Olympics, and for the future, opening up the wheelchair race to the able-bodied. The 2004 Summer Paralympics were also held in Athens, from September 20 to 28.

Archery (4) Athletics (46) Badminton (5) Baseball (1) Basketball (2) Boxing (11) Canoeing (16) Cycling (18) Diving (8) Equestrian (6) Fencing (10) Field Hockey (2) Football (2) Gymnastics (18) Handball (2) Judo (14) Modern pentathlon (2) Rowing (14) Sailing (11) Shooting (17) Softball (1) Swimming (32) Synchronized swimming (2) Table tennis (4) Taekwondo (8) Tennis (4) Triathlon (2) Volleyball (4) Water polo (2) Weightlifting (15) Wrestling (18)

Calendar

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 marathon in spectacular fashion, leaving Mizuki Noguchi to win the gold.

While leading in the 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, and 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 (it was banned due to the Taliban's extremist attitudes towards women, but was reinstated in 2002).

Hicham El Guerrouj wins gold in the 1500 m and 5000 m. He is the first person to accomplish this feat 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 4x200m swimming team of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer and Kaitlin Sandeno win gold, smashing 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 permitted 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. In so doing, 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), becoming 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, while Massu won the gold and Gonzalez the bronze on the Singles competition. This were Chile's first-ever gold medals.

Anchored by Brazil, South America had its best Olympics, with nine Gold Medals.

Closing Ceremony

The Games were concluded on August 29, 2004. The closing ceremony was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium, where the Games had been opened 16 days earlier. Around 70,000 people gathered in the stadium to watch the ceremony.

The initial part of the ceremony interspersed the performances of various Greek singers, and featured traditional Greek dance performances from various regions of Greece (Crete, Pontos, Thessaly, etc.). The event was meant to highlight the pride of the Greeks in their culture and country for the world to see.

A significant part of the closing ceremony was the exchange of the Olympic flag of the Antwerp games between the mayor of Athens and the mayor of Beijing, host city of the next Olympic games. After the flag exchange a presentation from the Beijing delegation presented a glimpse into Chinese culture for the world to see. Beijing University students (who were at first incorrectly cited as the Twelve Girls Band) sang Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) and the medal ceremony for the last event of the Olympiad, the men's marathon, was conducted, with Stefano Baldini from Italy as the winner.

A flag-bearer from each nation's delegation then entered along the stage, followed by the competitors en masse on the floor.

Short speeches were presented by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President of the Organising Committee, and by President Dr. Jacques Rogge of the IOC, in which he described the Athens Olympics as "unforgettable, dream Games".

Dr. Rogge had previously declared he would be breaking with tradition in his closing speech as President of the IOC and that he would never use the words of his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch, who used to always say 'these were the best ever games'. Dr. Rogge had described Salt Lake City 2002 as "superb games" and in turn would continue after Athens 2004 and describe Turin 2006 as "truly magnificent games."

The national anthems of Greece and China were played in a handover ceremony as both nations' flags were raised. The Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, passed the Olympic Flag to the Mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan. After a short cultural performance by Chinese actors, dancers, and musicians directed by eminent Chinese director Zhang Yimou, Rogge declared the 2004 Olympic Games closed. The Olympic flag was next raised again on February 10, 2006 during the opening ceremony of next Winter Olympic games in Torino.

A young Greek girl, Fotini Papaleonidopoulou, lit a symbolic lantern with the Olympic Flame and passed it on to other children before "extinguishing" the flame in the cauldron by blowing a puff of air. The ceremony ended with a variety of musical performances by Greek singers, including George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Anna Vissi, Sakis Rouvas, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Alkistis Protopsalti, Antonis Remos, Mixalis Xatzigiannis, Marinella and Dimitra Galani, as thousands of athletes carried out symbolic displays on the stadium floor.

Medal count

{| |- | 1 ||align=left| || 35 || 39 || 29 || 103 |- | 2 ||align=left| || 32 || 17 || 14 || 63 |- | 3 ||align=left| || 28 || 26 || 38 || 92 |- | 4 ||align=left| || 17 || 16 || 16 || 49 |- | 5 ||align=left| || 16 || 9 || 12 || 37 |- | 6 ||align=left| || 13 || 16 || 20 || 49 |- | 7 ||align=left| || 11 || 9 || 13 || 33 |- | 8 ||align=left| || 10 || 11 || 11 || 32 |- | 9 ||align=left| || 9 || 12 || 9 || 30 |- | 10 ||align=left| || 9 || 9 || 13 || 31 |- bgcolor=ccccff | 15 ||align=left| || 6 || 6 || 4 || 16 |}

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)

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

Kaftanzoglio Stadium (Thessaloniki)

Karaiskakis Stadium (Athens)

Pampeloponnisiako Stadium (Patras)

Pankritio Stadium (Heraklion)

Panthessaliko Stadium (Volos)

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

Broadcast rights

: Sports : NBC : SporTV : Seven Network, SBS : CBC Sports : BBC Two : Indovision (ESPN Southeast Asia) : CCTV Olympics : France 3 : National Sports : KBS Sports 4 : XHDF-TV : Teledeporte : Sports12 : Astro Olympics : ATV Olympics and TVB Olympics : TDM Olympics : TTV Olympics : NHK Olympics : Astro Olympics : DD Sports : RTÉ Two : Rai 3 : Nederland 2 : 3sat : PTV 4 : BRTN : VGTRK Olympiade : TVN : TVP : SRG SSR idee suisse

Legacy

part of the series Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.]]

To commemorate the games, a series of Greek high value euro collectors' coins were minted by the Mint of Greece, in both silver and gold. The pieces depict landmarks in Greece as well as ancient and modern sports on the obverse of the coin. On the reverse, a common motif with the logo of the games, circled by an olive branch representing the spirit of the games.

Preparations to stage the Olympics led to a number of positive developments for the city's infrastructure. These improvements included the establishment of Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, a modern new international airport serving as Greece's main aviation gateway; expansions to the Athens Metro system; the "Tram", a new metropolitan tram (light rail) system system; the "Proastiakos", a new suburban railway system linking the airport and suburban towns to the city of Athens; the "Attiki Odos", a new toll motorway encircling the city, and the conversion of streets into pedestrianized walkways in the historic center of Athens which link several of the city's main tourist sites, including the Parthenon and the Panathinaiko Stadium (the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896). All of the above infrastructure is still in use to this day, and there have been continued expansions and proposals to expand Athens' metro, tram, suburban rail and motorway network, the airport, as well as further plans to pedestrianize more thoroughfares in the historic center of Athens.

In 2008 it was reported that almost all of the Olympic venues have fallen into varying states of disrepair: according to those reports, 21 of the 22 facilities built for the games have either been left abandoned or are in a state of dereliction, with several squatter camps having sprung up around certain facilities, and a number of venues afflicted by vandalism, graffiti or strewn with rubbish. The Greek Government has created a corporation, Olympic Properties SA, which is overseeing the post-Olympics management, development and conversion of these facilities, some of which will be sold off (or have already been sold off) to the private sector, while other facilities are still in use just as they were during the Olympics, or have been converted for commercial use or modified for other sports.

The annual cost to maintain the sites has been estimated at £500 million, a sum which has been politically controversial in Greece, AEK FC (football; Greek Super League, UEFA Champions League), Greek national football team (some matches), International football competitions; Track & Field events (e.g. IAAF Athens Grand Prix), Concerts |- | Athens Olympic Indoor Hall | Basketball, Gymnastics | Home court for Panathinaikos BC and AEK BC (Greek basketball league); Greek National Basketball Team, International basketball competitions, Concerts |- | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre | Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo | Domestic and international swimming meets, Public pool |- | Athens Olympic Tennis Centre | Tennis | Domestic and international tennis matches |- | Athens Olympic Velodrome | Cycling | Domestic and international cycling meets |- | Peace and Friendship Stadium | Volleyball | Home court for Olympiacos BC (basketball), Concerts, Conventions and trade shows |- | Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena | Basketball, Handball | Home court for Panionios BC (basketball), Conventions and trade shows |- | Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre | Field Hockey | Mini-football, will be part of new Hellinikon metropolitan park complex |- | Hellinikon Baseball Stadium | Baseball | Converted to football pitch, home field of Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. (Football; Greek second division) |- | Hellinikon Softball Stadium | Softball | Concerts and will be part of Athens' revitalized waterfront |- | Ano Liosia Olympic Hall | Judo, Wrestling | TV filming facility, |- | Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre | Beach Volleyball | Concert and theater venue, plans to turn it into an ultra-modern outdoor theater |- | Galatsi Olympic Hall | Table Tennis, Rhythmic Gymnastics | After 2004, was the home court of AEK BC (basketball) before the team moved to the Athens Olympic Indoor Hall. Turned over to the private sector (Acropol Haragionis AE and Sonae Sierra SGPS S.A), being converted to a shopping mall and retail/entertainment complex. |- | Goudi Olympic Complex | Badminton, Modern Pentathlon | Now the site of the ultra-modern Badminton Theater, hosting major theatrical productions |- | Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre | Equestrian | Horse racing, Domestic and International Equestrian meets, Auto racing (rallye) |- | Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre | Shooting | Converted to the official shooting range and training center of the Hellenic Police. |- | Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall | Weightlifting | Has hosted fencing competitions in the years following the Olympics, |- | Parnitha Olympic Mountain Bike Venue | Mountain Biking | Part of the Parnitha National Park. In public use for biking and hiking. |- | Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall | Boxing | Partially converted to a football pitch, also in use for gymnastics competitions. Part of the Schinias National Park, completely reconstructed by the German company Hochtief. and temporary home pitch for Apollon Kalamarias FC (football; Greek second division). Also in use for track and field meets. Hosted the 2007 Greek football All-Star Game. |- | Karaiskaki Stadium | Football | Home pitch for Olympiacos FC (football; Greek Super League) and for the Greek National Football team. Also used as a concert venue. |- | Pampeloponnisiako Stadium | Football | Home pitch for Panahaiki FC (football; Greek third division). Also used for various track-and-field events, concerts, conventions, and friendly matches of the Greek National Football Team. and Ergotelis FC (football; Greek Super League). Hosted the 2005 Greek football All-Star game. Also home to various track-and-field meets. |- | The Ancient Stadium at Olympia | Track and Field | One of Greece's historic sites and largest tourist attractions, open to the public to this day. |- | International Broadcast Centre (IBC) | International Broadcast Centre | Has been turned over to the private company Lambda Development SA and has been converted to a shopping, retail, office and entertainment complex known as the "Golden Hall." Will also become home to the Hellenic Olympic Museum and the International Museum of Classical Athletics. |- | Olympic Village | Housing | 2,292 apartments were sold to low-income individuals and today the village is home to over 8,000 residents. |}

See also

Olympic records at the 2004 Summer Olympics

World records at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Notes

References

External links

Pictures from the opening ceremony

Project to fly the 2004 Olympic Flame around the world on a B747 aircraft

Pictures backstage from the opening ceremony

BBC coverage

Category:Olympic Games in Greece Category:Sport in Athens O

}} Total Total

Pyrros Dimas (), born on October 13, 1971) is a retired Greek weightlifter, considered as one of the greatest of all time, having been three times Olympic champion and three times World Champion.

Background

Dimas was born in Himarë (Gr.), Albania, to ethnic Greek parents.

Victories with Albania

Dimas started the sport at 11 and competed at a juniores level at 14. At 18, in 1989, he became triple Champion of Albania for the 82.5 kg category and in 1990 he repeated himself. While in Albania, he was coached by Ferid Berberi.

In 1990 he was also accorded the title "Master of Sports" by the Albanian government and the title "European Master" by the European Weightlifting Federation. and in October 2008 president of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation.

Personal life

Pyrros Dimas is married to Anastasia Sdougkou, a former Greek National Television (ERT) sports reporter. Together they have four children, Eleni (b. 1995), Victor (b. 1998), Maria (b. 2000), and Nickolas (b.2009).

Career bests

Snatch: 180.5 kg 1999 in Athens in the class to 85 kg.

Clean and jerk: 215.0 kg 2000 Summer Olympics in the class to 85 kg.

Total: 392.5 kg 1996 Summer Olympics in the class to 83 kg.

Notes and references

External links

Official Homepage of Pyrros Dimas

Pyrros Dimas at Lift Up

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Himarë Category:Greek weightlifters Category:Olympic weightlifters of Greece Category:Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists for Greece Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Greece Category:Northern Epirotes

}}

Pascal Gentil (born May 15, 1973 in Paris, France) is a French taekwondo practitioner. A three-time winner of the European Championships, four-time World Cup Champion and Olympic bronze medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and at the 2004 Summer Olympicsin Athens, Pascal Gentil is the most decorated taekwondo practitioner in French taekwondo history. The S Class International Olympic Referee Dr. Mohamed Riad Ibrahim was the Referee in the Final Match of Pascal Gentil in the 2004 Summer Olympic in Athens, and in this Match Pascal Gentil Won the bronze medal.

Captain of the French taekwondo team, Pascal Gentil won his third European title in October 2005 in Riga giving the French team a second position among the European countries behind Turkey with 6 medals including 3 titles. The ranking is the same as for the Athens Games with 2 medals (1 silver, 1 bronze) as France finished as 2nd best European country behind Greece (host country).

To prepare for the Olympics, the French Taekwondo Federation set up training centres by grouping together in different locations the best French athletes according to weight categories. Pascal Gentil is a member of INSEP France Training Centre where he trains an average of 20 hours per week together with the best French taekwondo practitioners.

He was selected for the Beijing Games to snatch the gold medal. His opponent for the selection is Mickaël Borot who obtained the French quota in the category by winning the Olympic qualification tournament in Manchester in 2007.

However, during a training session on the 25 July 2008, Pascal sustained an injury (a rupture of the plantar aponeurosis). Mickaël Borot is officially appointed the representative on 6 August by the FFTDA （French Taekwondo Federation. The event leads to a crisis week for French taekwondo as Mickaël Borot violently criticises the French Taekwondo Federation and Pascal Gentil.

February 5, 2009, he announces to the press that he will give an end to his sport career in taekwondo after the French Championships in Lyon, February 7. In Lyon, he obtains his 14th French Champion title after defeating Mickaël Borot in final.

Gentil graduated from ESSEC Business School.

References

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:French people of Black African descent Category:French people of Guadeloupean descent Category:French martial artists Category:French taekwondo practitioners Category:Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic bronze medalists for France

}} |Single sculls}} Olaf Karl Tufte (born 27 April 1976 in Tønsberg) is a Norwegian competition rower.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics he won the gold medal in the men's single sculls. He won silver in the men's double sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics together with Fredrik Bekken. He has also won two World Championships in the single sculls, in 2001 and 2003.

In heat 6 of the 2000m in the 2008 Olympics single sculls, Tufte came in first with a time of 7:20.18. In the finals, he was down nearly 2 seconds with 500m to go, but came back to win with a time of 6 minutes, 59.83 seconds, repeating his victory in Athens.

Tufte was listed as the number one male rower of 2009 in the 2010 FOCUS issue of FISA's World Rowing Magazine.

When not rowing, Tufte earns a living growing cereals at the family farm in the Nykirke part of Horten and, he also works as a fire-fighter. Olaf is a member of Horten Roklubb, one of the most successful Norwegian rowing clubs of all time.

Footnotes

External links

Website of Olaf Tufte

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Norwegian rowers Category:Olympic rowers of Norway Category:Olympic gold medalists for Norway Category:Olympic silver medalists for Norway Category:Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:People from Tønsberg

Name	Mohamed Ali Riad
Birthdate	May 13, 1927
Deathdate	August 14, 1958
Deathplace	KLM Flight 607-E - Hugo de Groot plane crash
Sport	Fencing
Show-medals	yes

Mohamed Ali Riad (13 May 1927 – 14 August 1958) was an Egyptian Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team foil events 1952 Summer Olympics. He was one of six members of the Egyptian fencing team who perished on board KLM Flight 607-E on 14 August 1958.

References

Category:1927 births Category:1958 deaths Category:Egyptian fencers Category:Olympic fencers of Egypt Category:Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters

Name	Kosuke Kitajima
Fullname	Kosuke Kitajima
Nationality
Strokes	Breaststroke
Birth date	September 22, 1982
Birth place	Tokyo
Height
Weight

| 100 m breaststroke}} |100 m breaststroke}} |100 m breaststroke}} |100 m breaststroke}} | 100 m breaststroke}} }} is a Japanese multiple Olympic gold medalist breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals for the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke at both the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Major achievements

Kitajima is a decorated swimmer in the world championships and was the world record holder in the 100 m breaststroke that he set in the 2008 Beijing Olympics - this mark has since been bettered by Brenton Rickard. He is also bronze medal winner in the same Olympics in the 4×100 m medley relay. He edged out his main rival Brendan Hansen who finished fourth while Kitajima won the gold medal and set the new world record.

He received four gold medals and two bronze medals in 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

His most significant rival on the breaststroke is the American swimmer Brendan Hansen. They dueled at events such as the 2005 World Championships, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2003 World Championships. Kitajima set both world records for 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in the latter occasion. Later his best in 200 m was overcome by Dimitri Komornikov and then by Hansen, who also broke Kitajima's record in the 100 m. Kitajima regained the world record (58.91) in the 100 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kitajima regained the 200 m breaststroke world record in June 2008 at the Japan Open. His time of 2:07.51 shaved nearly a second off the previous record of 2:08.50 set by Hansen in 2006.

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Kitajima generated buzz for his primal screams of exuberance after edging out Hansen in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke for the gold. At a pool side interview (3'24") following his victory in the 100 m, Kosuke Kitajima also popularised the phrase 'cho-kimochi-ii,' meaning "I feel really good." The word went on to win the 2004 U-Can Neoligisms and Vogue Words contest.

Medals

Gold Medal

* 100 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.

* 200 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.

* 100 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

* 200 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

* 200 m breaststroke – 2007 World Championships (long course) in Melbourne, Australia.

* 100 m breaststroke – world record - 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

* 200 m breaststroke – 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Silver Medal

* 100 m breaststroke – 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships (short course) in Moscow, Russia.

* 100 m breaststroke – 2007 World Championships (long course) in Melbourne, Australia.

Bronze Medal

* 100 m breaststroke – 2001 World Championships (long course) in Fukuoka, Japan.

* 4×100 m Medley – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.

* 4×100 m Medley – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

* 4×100 m Medley – 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Personal bests

In long course swim pools Kitajima's bests are:

100 m breaststroke: 58.91 (11 August 2008)

200 m breaststroke: 2:07.51 (8 June 2008)

See also

World record progression 100 metres breaststroke

World record progression 200 metres breaststroke

References

KITAJIMA, Kosuke International Who's Who. accessed September 4, 2006.

External links

http://www.frogtown.jp/ Kitajima Kosuke Official Website

Mike Barrowman|title=Men's 200 metre breaststrokeworld record holder (long course)|years=October 2, 2002 – June 15, 2003|after= Dimitri Komornikov|rec}} Dimitri Komornikov|title=Men's 200 metre breaststrokeworld record holder (long course)|years=July 24, 2003 – July 11, 2004|after= Brendan Hansen|rec}} Brendan Hansen|title=Men's 200 metre breaststrokeworld record holder (long course)|years=June 8, 2008 – July 30, 2009|after= Christian Sprenger|rec}} Brendan Hansen|title=Men's 100 metre breaststrokeworld record holder (long course)|years=August 11, 2008 – July 27, 2009|after= Brenton Rickard|rec}} Ian Thorpe|after= Ian Thorpe|years=2003}} Park Tae-Hwan|after= Zhang Lin|years=2007-2008}} Zhang Lin|after=Incumbent|years= 2010}}

Category:1982 births Category:Breaststroke swimmers Category:Living people Category:Olympic swimmers of Japan Category:Olympic gold medalists for Japan Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Category:Japanese swimmers Category:Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Former world record holders in swimming Category:Nippon Sport Science University alumni