2004 Athens

Athens 2004

Archery

Artistic Gymnastics

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United States

With Johnson out, attention turned to three other athletes: the defending champion Anier García from Cuba, another American, Terrence Trammell, and China's Liu Xiang\.
Liu had been the form athlete in the run\-up to the Games, but he carried a huge burden of responsibility\. China had long since established itself

Liu Xiang blazes golden trail for China

Great Britain’s Kelly Holmes reflects on her golden double in the 800m and 1,500m at Athens 2004.

Kelly HOLMES

Athens 2004 | Olympic Games

Highlights

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Holmes hits the jackpot in Athens

An individual gold medal, a team silver medal and bronze, after falling and getting back up during the race. Bradley Wiggins went through it all during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
 
With his Athens 2004 results, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games.

Bradley WIGGINS

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Bradley Wiggins makes British Olympic history

First ever Olympic gold medal for the young Sanchez

Felix SANCHEZ

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Felix Sanchez winning gold in the 400m men hurdles | Athens 2004

A closer look at German veteran kayaker Birgit Fischer, who competed at six Olympic Games and won an incredible eight gold medals.

Birgit FISCHER

Originals

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Unrivalled Fischer's Remarkable Gold Medal Run

Robert Korzeniowski appreciates that it can be a hard sell convincing the uninitiated that race walking is a rich, dynamic discipline well worth a look\. But listen to him speak and within a few minutes you may well find yourself heading out for a brisk 20km\.

Robert KORZENIOWSKI

Polish legend Korzeniowski hails “noble” discipline of race walking 

We want to go back to one of the biggest moments in your life: the Athens Olympics\. What do you remember 15 years later?

Nicolas Massu: Chile con magic

Khorkina is the subject of the Olympic Channel&rsquo;s fifth episode in the new season of Legends Live On, which will also feature athlete Hicham El Guerrouj, who won the 1,500/5,000m double at the Olympic Games in 2004, six\-time fencing champion Valentina Vezzali and Uschi Disl, winner of nine biathlon medals

All the world’s a stage for ‘diva’ Khorkina

The Golden Generation spotlights the Argentine Men&rsquo;s National Team&rsquo;s historic run to claim gold at the Athens 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament and reunites the country&rsquo;s homegrown heroes to revisit the moment that captured the nation\. Through this victory, this special group of players created one of most memorable moments in

Olympic Channel presents "The Golden Generation", the story behind Argentina’s iconic victory in Men’s Basketball at Athens 2004

When the world\-famous Bjork arrived in Athens to perform at the 2004 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, her discography was already stacked with hits, most notably her breakout album, Debut, and the platinum\-selling follow\-up, Post\. She also had a well\-deserved reputation for spectacular shows primed with creative ambition\. In true style,

Bjork, that dress and the extraordinary Athens 2004 Opening Ceremony

The great thing about track and field is that it comes in the second week of the Games so that means we have the opportunity to go to the Opening Ceremony because we have plenty of time to recover\. But the strange thing about being an athlete at the opening

Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie: “It felt like an out-of-body experience”

What do Greece&rsquo;s Ioannis Georgiadis and Hungary&rsquo;s &Aacute;ron Szil&aacute;gyi have in common? Both of them are sabre fencers, albeit with 120 years between them\. And both of them were Olympic champions in this discipline; one in Athens in 1896, and one in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016\. Szil&aacute;gyi

The sabre – the only weapon to have been at every Games since 1896

My first Olympic Games were in 1992 when I was only 19 years old and they were just amazing\. The Barcelona Games had something really special around them\- the feeling throughout the city was incredible\. The opening ceremony is a really special moment for every one of the athletes and

Fernando Platas: “A really special moment and a feeling I’ll remember forever”

Barcelona 1992 was my first Olympic Games and my memories from the Opening Ceremony are some of the best of my entire Olympic experience\. I was only 18 and it was just incredible\. I still remember it really well even though it was 25 years ago and it stands out

Nicolas Gill: “When you go to the opening ceremony it really hits you that you’re at the Olympic Games”

Athens in 2004 was my first Olympic Games and I was desperate to go to the Opening Ceremony\. There was just one sticking point though, I was competing very soon after the Opening Ceremony and so the British Olympic Association officials weren&rsquo;t happy about me being a part of the

BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 23:  British Olympic badminton player Gail Emms poses for a picture during a press day at the NIA on July 23 2008 in Birmingham England  (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Gail Emms: “That’s what the Opening Ceremony does to you!”

The first break away was led by South African runner Hendrick Ramaala, but he fell back into the pack, clearing the way for Brazil&rsquo;s Vanderlei de Lima to take up the front running at the halfway point\. De Lima gradually increased his lead, opening up a 25\-second gap with 15km

Marathon man de Lima captures Olympic spirit

It wasn't until he was 16, though, that Hoy he began to focus on track cycling in earnest\. Within a few years, he had reached international standard and, in 1999, he won a silver medal riding as the third man for Great Britain in the team sprint at the World

Chris HOY

Hoy leaves the best until last

Frank Ward had died in 2002, two years before the Games, but his son competed with a photograph of his late father stuck to his boot\.
In the quarter\-final, he faced Russia’s Yevgeny Makarenko, who himself had not been beaten for five years\. Something had to give\.

Ward honours father with boxing gold

Fischer may have been 42 now, but her reputation remained undiminished\. In 11 previous Olympic events, spread over five separate Games, she had won seven gold medals and three silvers\. Only once had she failed to finish in the top two, and that was back at Atlanta 1996\. She was

Forty-something Fischer makes history again

However, the American team that was selected for Athens was not as strong as it had been at previous Games\. Despite the presence of star names such as LeBron James, the team overall was younger and less experienced than expected\. Nevertheless, the USA had won 109 of its previous 111

Argentina end the American dream on the basketball court

Janić’s father, Milan, had himself been a world champion who won an Olympic silver medal at Los Angeles 1984\. Canoe sport was in her family, with brothers Mićo and Stjepan also competing at the very top level\.

Natasa JANIC

Janić paddles her way to double gold

Wariner had been something of a reluctant convert to the track\. His first love was American Football, and he had earned a place at university by virtue of his prowess as a running back\. His sprinting ability was central to his success as a footballer, but, as he became older,

Wariner leads Americans to 400m clean sweep

Grael was taught to sail by his Danish grandfather as a young boy and he was clearly a natural\. When he was 18, he won a junior world title, and added his first senior world title five years later in 1983\. At his first Olympic Games the following year he

Torben GRAEL

Five-star Grael’s golden swansong

The Briton had endured a poor Games in Athens, having dropped out of the marathon with injury, and despite taking an early lead in the 10,000m she was still clearly not in her best form\. In the end, she fell off the pace and dropped outrace with more than five

Xing emerges from Ethiopian shadows

First up was the triple jump in which Lebedeva was the favourite\. However, she had to settle for bronze, after being surprisingly beaten by Fran&ccedil;oise Mbango of Cameroon, who took gold, and by Greek jumper Pigi Devetzi, who was clearly inspired to her silver by the home crowd\. Two days

Lebedeva leads Russian long jump sweep

Most observers considered him the favourite, with the only question marks being caused by his age; could a man in the latter part of his fourth decade really win an Olympic title over 50km?
Korzeniowski had developed a passion for sport while recovering from a childhood illness\. He first discovered

Korzeniowski walks tall

Sánchez opted to compete for the Dominican Republic and came into these Games fuelled by a combination of disappointment and success\. The disappointment came from his performance in the 2000 Games in Sydney, where he failed to make the final and left promising to never such a setback again\. However,

Sánchez scores a first for Dominican Republic

Four years earlier she had been denied by Russia’s Yelena Yelesina\. The latter was not competing in Athens, but her compatriot and namesake Yelena Slesarenko was\. The latter had emerged as a world\-class athlete only a matter of months earlier after winning the high jump title at the 2004 World

Slesarenko leaps into the record books

Phillips timed his run\-up to the Athens Games with perfection\. The year before he had won both the indoor and outdoor world titles and in the months before the Olympics, he recorded the six best jumps of the year\.

Phillips completes leap of faith

However, she didn't turn to full\-time sport until later in life\. Instead Allen graduated from university and worked as a nurse\. She was a passionate traveller and it was during one of her trips that she met an Austrian triathlete called Marcel Diechtler, who was to change her life\.

Kate ALLEN

Latecomer Allen makes up for lost time in triathlon

Rezazadeh continued to dominate his weight category in the years following the 2000 Games\. He won the world championship title in both 2002 and 2003, the Asian Games in 2002 and the Asian Championships in 2003\.

Rezazadeh raises the bar yet again

Indeed, Muenzer was the oldest female cyclist competing in Athens, and Canada had never previously won a cycling gold at the Olympics\.

Golden oldie Muenzer thrives on borrowed wheels

With just a couple of points separating the trio after the semi\-final, few expected that any of them would manage to carve out a significant advantage\. However, that was to change as Peng went on to produce one of the greatest diving displays ever seen\.

Bo PENG

Perfect Peng springs to top of podium

Merleni was just 1\.50 metres tall, but she was a hugely skilful and experienced athlete\. A world champion three times over, and she arrived in Athens as the overwhelming favourite But would she now be able to cope with the weight of history on her shoulders?

Irini MERLENI

Mighty Merleni grabs a place in the history books

Now 25, Khorkina was considered a veteran in gymnastics terms, but there was no doubt she still had the skill, style and fitness to achieve a third consecutive title\. So it came as a huge shock when she made a major error midway through her routine, losing her grip and

Le Pennec emerges from the shadows

The day of the race was extremely hot and the course, which, fittingly, started in the ancient town of Marathon and finished in the Panathinaikos Stadium used in the first modern Games in 1896, looked tough\. Radcliffe certainly started in confident style, holding the lead over the first half of

Diminutive Noguchi takes giant steps in the marathon

However, Federer’s hopes of Olympic gold were short\-lived, as he was surprisingly knocked out by the Czech Republic’s Tomáš Berdych in the second round\. He was certainly not the only big name star to lose to a less feted opponent\. Great Britain’s Tim Henman also went out in the first

Red hot Chilean Massú storms to tennis gold

In the first round, they made what had appeared to be a tricky match\-up against British pair Sarah Winkless and Elise Laverick look relatively easy, and cruised their way into the final with four seconds to spare\.

Evers-Swindell sisters reach twin peaks in double sculls

She had announced her arrival on the world stage by winning the European title in 2002, before going on to add the world title a year later\. Although only 21, Klüft was clearly the favourite in Athens, particularly as her closest rival, the French heptathlete Eunice Barber, had been ruled

Klüft conquers all in women’s heptathlon

He quickly proved to be an absolute natural\. A matter of months later, he was competing as part of the Norwegian four in the junior world championships and two years later he won a place in the Olympic team for Atlanta 1996, where his crew finished eighth\.

Tufte toughs it out to win single sculls gold

Isinbayeva had been a gymnast as a child, but switched to pole vault after deciding she was growing too tall to reach the top in gymnastics\. She was the world record holder &ndash; but she was not the world champion\. That title had gone to the woman who had emerged

Yelena ISINBAEVA

Isinbayeva raises the bar

The new members were hardly rookies\. Williams had a world title to his name while Coode had two, though he had only been added to the British boat after the unfortunate Alex Partridge suffered a cracked rib just a month before the start of the Games\.

Matthew PINSENT

Pinsent wins fourth gold in a row 

It seemed far from certain\. For one thing, Gebrselassie was carrying the effects of an injury that had hampered his preparations for these Games\. For another, he had been beaten in the world championships the previous year, by his less feted compatriot Kenenisa Bekele\. Having spent so many years being

Kenenisa BEKELE

Bekele emerges from Gebrselassie’s shadow

The American had to endure a series of misfortunes\. For one thing, his rifle was mysteriously sabotaged in the run\-up to the Games\. When he took it out of a locker at the US training centre, he realised that it felt wrong, and sure enough a brief inspection showed that

Emmons wins gold and finds love in adversity

By the halfway point of the 24km course it was already clear that she was going to retain her title\. Zijlaard\-van Moorsel's split time was 23 seconds ahead of anyone else and she showed no signs of letting up\. By the time she crossed the line for a time of

Zijlaard-van Moorsel takes road to recovery

However, at Athens 2004 the USA boasted a relay team that looked capable not just of winning gold, but breaking that longstanding record\.

US women make history in the pool

Trillini had competed at the last three Games, taking part in the individual and team foil events and racking up four gold medals and two bronzes\. Vezzali meanwhile had amassed three golds and a silver from her two appearances on the Olympic stage, including the individual women’s foil title at

Vezzali wins very local battle for foil gold

The South Koreans were always expected to do well given their overall dominance in women's archery\. They had won the team competition at each edition of the Games since 1988, not to mention every individual gold since 1984\. Even by those standards, though, Park was about to produce something truly

Park fires Koreans to new heights in the archery

US swimmer&nbsp;Michael Phelps&nbsp;was entered into no less than eight events&nbsp;in Athens, and was widely regarded as a genuine prospect of a medal in each\. It was a feat that had only been achieved once before &ndash; by Soviet gymnast&nbsp;Aleksandr Dityatin&nbsp;at the&nbsp;1980 Games in Moscow\.

Michael PHELPS

Phelps launches his Olympic medal rush

Ponor had joined the Romanian national training centre two years earlier and her prodigious talent had been immediately apparent\. She made her debut at the Worlds in 2003, winning silver medals in the floor exercise, the beam and the team all\-around competition\.

Gymnast Ponor lives up to the hype

Athens 2004 - Stories Mosaic

Even before the official announcement, the boxer was celebrating her victory. It was a triumphant moment of success not only for her but more than 120 million people who have been forcibly displaced.
Cindy Ngamba’s bronze medal, the first-ever for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, served as a huge inspiration

Cindy Ngamba’s bronze medal, was the first-ever for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

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Welcome to This Week in Olympic Sports History, where Olympics.com remembers the most significant sports events of the past. This week, we'll cover 26 August – 1 September.
On this day – 28 August 2004: Argentina win two team golds in one day
Going into Athens 2004, Argentina had not

Argentina's gold medallists in football (left) and basketball at the Olympic Games Paris 2004. 

This week in Olympic history: Argentina’s golden day in Athens

Team People’s Republic of China performs on the uneven bars and balance beam during the women’s team final at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Lin Li and Zhang Nan earned the highest scores for the squad, which finished in seventh, on the uneven bars and balance beam, respectively.

Olympic Games Athens 2004

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This week in Olympic history: Argentina’s golden day in Athens

The People's Republic of China competes on the uneven bars and balance beam during the 2004 women's team final

Greece's Ioannis Melissanidis wins men's floor final at Atlanta 1996

France compete on uneven bars during qualifying at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens