2004 Summer Olympics facts for kids

Part of the ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame.

The 2004 Summer Olympics, also called the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, took place in Athens, Greece. They ran from August 13 to August 29, 2004. This was a special event because it was the first time the Olympics returned to Greece since 1896. More than 10,000 athletes from many countries competed. They took part in 301 different medal events.

Choosing the Host City: How Athens Won

The city of Athens was chosen to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. Other cities that wanted to host the games were Rome, Cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires. Six other cities also applied but were not chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1996. These cities included Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.

Athens won every round of voting. In the final vote, Athens easily beat Rome to become the host city.

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: Which Countries Won the Most?

A map showing countries who took part in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The table below shows how many medals each country won. The International Olympic Committee provided this information. Countries are ranked by the number of gold medals first. Then, they are ranked by silver medals, and finally by bronze medals.

Sometimes, two bronze medals were given in sports like boxing and judo. This is why the total number of bronze medals is higher than gold or silver. If countries had the same number of each medal, they are listed in alphabetical order. Greece, the host nation, is highlighted in lavender.

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
Total		301	301	327	929

Exciting Moments and Top Athletes

The 2004 Summer Olympics had many memorable moments and amazing performances. Here are some of the highlights:

• Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou withdrew from the games.
• World record holder Paula Radcliffe had to leave the women's marathon. Mizuki Noguchi then won the gold medal.
• In the men's marathon, Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima was attacked by a spectator. He was leading the race at the time. De Lima still managed to win a bronze medal. He later received the Pierre de Coubertin medal for his great sportsmanship.
• British athlete Kelly Holmes won two gold medals. She won in both the 800 m and 1500 m races.
• Liu Xiang from China won gold in the 110 m hurdles. He tied a world record with a time of 12.91 seconds. This was China's first gold medal in men's track and field.
• Afghanistan returned to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1999.
• Hicham El Guerrouj won gold in both the 1500 m and 5000 m races. He was the first person to do this at the Olympics since 1924.
• Greek athlete Fani Halkia came out of retirement to win the 400 m hurdles.
• The US women's 4 × 200 m swimming team won gold. They broke a long-standing world record from 1987. The team included Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer, and Kaitlin Sandeno.
• The United States men's basketball team lost an Olympic game for the first time since NBA players were allowed to join. They lost to Puerto Rico 92–73.
• Argentina surprisingly beat the United States in the men's basketball semi-finals. They then went on to win the gold medal by beating Italy 84–69 in the final.
• Windsurfer Gal Fridman won Israel's first-ever gold medal.
• Dominican athlete Félix Sánchez won the first gold medal ever for the Dominican Republic. This was in the 400 m hurdles event.
• German kayaker Birgit Fischer won a gold medal and a silver medal. She became the first woman to win gold medals at 6 different Olympics. She also won gold medals 24 years apart.
• Swimmer Michael Phelps won 8 medals in total (6 gold and 2 bronze). He was the first athlete to win 8 medals in Olympics that were not boycotted.
• United States' gymnast Carly Patterson became only the second American woman to win the all-around gold medal in gymnastics.
• Chilean Tennis players Nicolás Massu and Fernando Gonzalez won the gold medal in the Doubles Competition. Massu also won gold in Singles, and Gonzalez won bronze. These were Chile's first-ever gold medals.
• South America had its best Olympics ever, winning nine gold medals.

Where the Games Happened: Olympic Venues

The 2004 Olympics used many different places for the events. These places are called venues. Many of them were grouped together in different areas of Athens.

OAKA: Olympic Athletic Center of Athens

The OAKA Plaza and Arch next to the Olympic Stadium.

This main complex hosted many important events:

• Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre – for diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo.
• Athens Olympic Tennis Centre – for tennis matches.
• Athens Olympic Velodrome – for track cycling.
• Olympic Indoor Hall – for basketball finals and gymnastics.
• Olympic Stadium – for the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football finals.

HOC: Helliniko Olympic Complex

This complex hosted several sports:

• Fencing Hall – for fencing.
• Helliniko Indoor Arena – for basketball and handball finals.
• Olympic Baseball Centre – for baseball games.
• Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre – for canoe and kayak slalom races.
• Olympic Hockey Centre – for field hockey.
• Olympic Softball Stadium – for softball games.

Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex

This area near the coast hosted:

• Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre – for beach volleyball.
• Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena – for handball and taekwondo.
• Peace and Friendship Stadium – for indoor volleyball.

GOC: Goudi Olympic Complex

• Goudi Olympic Hall – for badminton.
• Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre – for modern pentathlon events.

Football Stadiums Across Greece

Football matches were held in several cities, not just Athens:

• Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki.
• Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens.
• Pampeloponnisiako Stadium in Patras.
• Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion.
• Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos.

Other Important Venues

Many other locations around Athens were used for specific sports:

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

Olympic Games
Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — Sochi 2014 — Rio 2016 — Pyeongchang 2018 — Tokyo 2020 Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games
Summer Games: 2010, 2014, 2018
Winter Games: 2012, 2016, 2020
Singapore 2010 — Innsbruck 2012 — Nanjing 2014

Images for kids

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  The Olympic Flame toured the world for the first time.

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  View of the ATHOC Technology Operations Center during the Games.

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  The Olympic Flame at the opening ceremony

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  Team numbers

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  Balloons falling at the Athens 2004 Olympics Closing ceremony

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  Army Maj. Zhanbo Jia from China (center) took the Gold medal in the Men's 50m Three-Position Rifle, Michael Anti from the United States (left) took the Silver and Christian Planer (right) from Austria took the Bronze

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  Athens Olympic Tennis Centre

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  Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre hosting beach volleyball

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  Galatsi Olympic Hall hosted gymnastics (rhythmic) and table tennis

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  Latvian postage stamp to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens

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  USA men's lightweight coxless four at Athens Olympics

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  Archery rounds in the Panathenaic Stadium

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  Roger Federer representing Switzerland in tennis

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  Russian Igor Turchin (left) and American Weston Kelsey (right) duel in second round of men's individual épée

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Atenas 2004 para niños