The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and also known as Athens 2004, were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries, with 301 medal events in 28 different sports. The 2004 Games marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance, and also marked the first time Athens hosted the Games since their first modern incarnation in 1896 as well as the return of the Olympic games to its birthplace. Athens became one of only four cities at the time to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two occasions. A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since 1928. The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens rectifying the long-running mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue. The 2004 Games was the first of two consecutive Olympic games to be held in Southern Europe since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and was followed by the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Ellinikon International Airport, sometimes spelled Hellinikon, was the international airport of Athens, Greece, for 63 years. It was replaced on 28 March 2001 by the new Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during its last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Women's football was added to the official program at the Atlanta 1996 Games.
The Panathenaic Stadium or Kallimarmaro is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. One of the main historic attractions of Athens, it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.
The Olympiastadion is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000. Today the stadium is part of the Olympiapark Berlin.
The Hellinikon Olympic Complex is a closed, partially demolished sports complex, situated at Hellinikon in the south Athens, approximately 16 kilometres from the Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Hellinikon International Airport for the staging of the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics. It consists of five separate venues.
Japan competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. Japanese athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era since 1912 except for two editions; it was not invited to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London for its role in World War II, and was also part of the US-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The Japanese Olympic Committee sent a total of 306 athletes, 139 men and 167 women, to compete in 27 sports. For the first time in its Olympic history, Japan was represented by more female than male athletes.
The Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Sports Complex is a complex in the coastal zone of Athens, Greece. It consists of two indoor arenas and a beach volleyball stadium, and it hosted Handball, Taekwondo, and volleyball events at the 2004 Summer Olympics. The complex is located in Faliro, Attica.
The Olympic Stadium of Athens "Spyros Louis" is a sports stadium in Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex and is named after the first modern Olympic marathon gold medalist in 1896, Spyros Louis. The stadium used to host some of the biggest sport clubs in Greece like Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and AEK Athens. The stadium served as the main stadium during the 2004 Summer Olympics.
The Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expanded for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The larger of the outdoor pools, which seats 11,500 spectators, hosted swimming and water polo events. The smaller pool, which hosted synchronized swimming, sat 5,300 fans. The indoor pool, which hosted the diving events, sat 6,200 observers. It is used for swimming, too.
The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall, which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) «Spyros Louis», was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in Marousi, Athens. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.
The Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre is a stadium in the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex that hosted the beach volleyball competition for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The stadium holds a total of 9,600 individuals, though the public seating capacity was limited to 7,300 during the Olympics. The stadium was officially opened on August 2, 2004, a few weeks before the Olympics, though test events were held at the site a year earlier.
Bislett Stadium is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here. The original stadium was demolished in 2004 and construction of a new stadium was completed by the summer of 2005. The New Bislett Stadium was designed by C.F. Møller Architects.
The Marikina Sports Center, also known as Marikina Sports Park and formerly known as Rodriguez Sports Center, is a sports complex located in Marikina, at the corner of Shoe Avenue and Sumulong Highway in Metro Manila, Philippines.
The Hellinikon Olympic Indoor Arena was a multi-use sports indoor arena that was located in Elliniko, Athens, Greece. It was a part of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, and it was located adjacent to the Helliniko Fencing Hall. It was approximately 10 miles from the Athens Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Hellinikon International Airport for the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
Hellinikon Stadium is a stadium located at the Hellinikon Olympic Complex in Hellinikon, Athens, located approximately 8 kilometres south of the center of Athens, near Glyfada on the Aegean Sea coast. Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. currently plays its home matches there.
The Hellinikon Fencing Hall was a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena that was located adjacent to the Hellinikon Olympic Arena, in Hellinikon, Athens, Greece. The venue was part of the Hellinikon Events Hall of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex. It was demolished in 2022.
The Hellinikon Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre is located in the Hellinicon Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. The venue hosted the canoe slalom events for the 2004 Summer Olympics. It consists of a competition course, a secondary training course, and a warm-up lake of natural form that occupies a total area of 27,000 square metres. The total land surface area consists of 288,000 square metres. The facility seats 7,600 spectators, though only 6,700 seats were made publicly available for the Olympics. The Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre of Athens is unique because it used salt water, rather than fresh water, to inundate the course.
The Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre was the site of the field hockey events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Located in the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, the facility consists of two hockey fields. The larger stadium seats 7,200 fans – though only 5,200 seats were made publicly available during the Games, and the smaller stadium seats 2,100 spectators – though only 1,200 seats were made publicly available during the Games. The facility was completed on February 29, 2004, and officially opened on August 11, 2004, shortly before the beginning of the Games.
The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium, is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos. With a capacity of 32,115 it is the second largest only football stadium and the third largest football stadium overall in Greece. It is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a military commander of the Greek War of Independence, who is considered a national hero and was mortally wounded in the area.
