Games of the XXVIII Olympiad

▪ 2005

by Melinda C. Shepherd On Aug. 13, 2004, the Olympic Games returned home to Greece, birthplace of the ancient Games and site of the inaugural modern Olympics. The first recorded Olympic champion was Coroebus of Elis, winner of a 192-m (210-yd) sprint race in 776 BC. Over the next century the quadrennial tournament added longer-distance races, wrestling, the five-event pentathlon, boxing, and chariot racing. The Games gradually disappeared until French educator Pierre, baron de Coubertin, revived the competition in 1896. Under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that he founded, the Games of the I Olympiad took place in Athens in April of that year—241 men, representing 14 countries, competed in 43 events in 9 sports (cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, track and field [athletics], weight lifting, and wrestling).

      In 2004 a record 202 national Olympic committees were represented, including a returning Afghanistan and first-time participants East Timor (Timor-Leste) and Kiribati. Nearly 11,100 accredited athletes competed in 37 disciplines in 28 sports; women participated in freestyle wrestling and sabre fencing for the first time. Competitors from 75 countries took home medals, with 57 countries winning at least one gold. The United States tallied 103 (including 36 gold) of the 929 medals awarded, followed by Russia with 92 (27 gold) and China with 63 (32 gold). Greece won 16 medals, three more than at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

      Serious construction delays and worries that Athens's hot, humid weather and high levels of air pollution would be detrimental to the athletes—combined with fears that terrorists might disrupt the proceedings—almost led the IOC to move the Games to another city. The heat did affect some competitors; spectator attendance was poor for many events; and more than 20 athletes were disqualified after failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs. Controversies over scoring in gymnastics and fencing even led some observers to question whether judged events should be dropped entirely from the Olympics. Nevertheless, most of the 17-day event went smoothly; the 35 competition venues were deemed excellent; and the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, declared the Athens Olympics “unforgettable, dream Games.”

      American swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps (see Biographies (Phelps, Michael )) topped the medals table with a record-tying eight (six gold and two bronze), while Ukrainian swimmer Yana Klochkova (see Biographies (Klochkova, Yana )) continued her dominance in the individual medley. On the track, Kelly Holmes of Great Britain and Ethiopia's Hicham El Guerrouj were double gold medalists, and hurdler Liu Xiang (see Biographies (Liu Xiang )) won China's first men's athletics gold. Other notable competitors included Japanese judo star Ryoko Tani (see Biographies (Tani, Ryoko )), American all-around gymnastics titlists Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, and rowers Matthew Pinsent of Great Britain and Elisabeta Lipa of Romania. The concluding event, the men's marathon, was won by Stefano Baldini of Italy after the leader, Brazil's Vanderlei Lima, was assaulted by a deranged spectator about four miles from the finish line. Lima, who recovered to take the bronze, was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for “his exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values.”

Melinda C. Shepherd is Senior Editor of Encyclopædia Britannica Yearbooks.

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