Vanuatu competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, which was held from 13 to 29 August 2004. The nation's appearance at the 2004 Athens Games marked its fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Marc Burns is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4 x 100 metres relay.
Stephanie Louise Rice, OAM is an Australian former competitive swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2009.
Daniel Bakka Everton Bailey is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the 100m.
Aaron Nigel Armstrong is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago. He is the 2008 Olympic champion in 4 × 100 metres relay.
Brendan Kyle Akeem Christian is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the 200 metres. Born in Antigua, he is the son of Donald Christian who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as a cyclist. His personal best 100 metres time is 10.09 seconds, achieved in June 2009 in Nivelles. He is also a holder of the Antiguan and Barbudan record in 4 x 100 metres relay with 39.90 seconds.
Louis Jacobus van Zyl, better known as L. J. van Zyl, is a South African athlete competing in the 400 metre hurdles. He is the South African record holder in the event with a personal best of 47.66 seconds, which he achieved twice, three months apart. His time ranks him in the all-time top 25. He is a three-time African Champion in the event and competed for his country at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chris Joey Lloyd is a sprinter from Dominica who specializes in the 400 metres. His personal best time is 45.40 seconds, achieved in April 2007 in Lawrence. The Dominican record currently belongs to Bruce Phillip with 45.31 seconds. Lloyd does hold the Dominican 200 metres record, however, with 20.62 seconds and 100m, achieved in April 2006 in Baton Rouge.
Martyn Joseph Rooney is an English sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the anchor leg of the Great Britain and England 4 x 400 metre relay teams, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal with the Great Britain relay team, and bronze in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.
Churandy Thomas Martina is a Dutch sprinter. He originally placed second in the 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but was later disqualified due to a lane violation. Martina secured four and two individual top-five finishes at the Summer Olympics and World Athletics Championships respectively. He was the 100 metres 2007 Pan American Games champion representing the Netherlands Antilles and claimed three individual titles at the Central American and Caribbean Games. He won gold medals in the 200 m and 100 m at the 2012 and 2016 European Athletics Championships respectively.
Kristof Beyens is a Belgian sprint athlete, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. His personal best time over 200 metres is 20.44 s, achieved in Osaka during the World Championships.
Vanuatu competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. A total of three Vanuatuan athletes competed in two sports. Moses Kamut and Elis Lapenmal competed in, respectively, the men's and women's 100m sprints, and Priscilla Tommy competed in women's singles table tennis after being selected by the IOC's Tripartite Commission. Tommy's appearance in particular was Vanuatu's debut into table tennis. Tommy was also the country's flagbearer during the opening ceremony. The Vanuatuan delegation to Beijing included the country's head of state and prime minister, but only included Elis Lapenmal; the other two athletes did not accompany the delegation and arrived in China at different times.
Suriname sent a delegation of four people to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China: two athletes (Jurgen Themen and Kirsten Nieuwendam and two swimmers who participated in four distinct events. The appearance of Suriname at Beijing marked its tenth Olympic appearance, which included every Olympic games since the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and excluded the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Its four athletes did not advance past the first round in each of their events. The Surinamese flag bearer in Beijing was not an athlete, but Anthony Nesty, the only medalist in Surinamese history and the nation's Olympic swimming coach.
Joseph Obinna Metu is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best time is 10.11 seconds, achieved in June 2012 in Calabar.
Cruz Rolando Palacios Castillo is a Honduran sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He was born in Sambo Creek, a traditional Garífuna village. His personal best time is 10.22 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Toluca.
Michael Mathieu is a retired Bahamian sprinter from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Nataliya Pyhyda is a Ukrainian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.
Daniel "Dan" Awde is a British 400 metres runner and former decathlete who has twice competed at the Summer Olympic Games.
Mowen Boino is a Papua New Guinean track and field athlete, who specialized in 400 metres and in 400 metres hurdles. He is a three-time Olympian and four-time national record holder for the 400 m hurdles. He also achieved his personal best time of 50.37 seconds at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Carline Muir is a Canadian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal for the 400 metres, and ultimately, led her national team to claim the sprint relay title at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a three-time junior national champion, a two-time silver medalist at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Vanuatu 
