2004 Sukma Games, Development and preparation, Venues
The 2004 Sukma Games used a mix of new and existing venues. Most venues were existing public-sporting facilities, while others were newly constructed venues. Some retrofitting work were done in venues which are more than a decade old. They will be revert to public use after the games.


2004 Sukma Games, Development and preparation, Venues
At the centrepiece of the activities was the upgraded 45,000-seat Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium which hosts most of the events. A games village was not built, instead athletes and officials were housed in Universities, apartments and hotels throughout Negeri Sembilan. Besides being physically near to the sport venues, it was hoped that it will add vibe to the city and reduce post-games costs in converting a dedicated games village to other uses.


2004 Sukma Games, Development and preparation, Venues
The 10th Sukma Games had 31 venues for the games. 22 in Seremban, 4 in Port Dickson, 3 in Kuala Pilah and 2 in Rembau.


2004 Sukma Games, Marketing, Logo
The Logo of the 2004 Sukma Games is a geometrically shaped image. 3 geometrical objects resembles the 3 athletes standing together to hold the torch up represents the Unity of Malaysia through sports concurrent to the Sukma Games objective, which is to improve unity and integration of nationality among the various communities in Malaysia . The three athletes also represent the Champion, Runner-up and Second runner-up position, which is the goal of every athlete. The Torch signifies the strength and competitive spirit of the athlete to achieve victory in every event.


2004 Sukma Games, Marketing, Logo
The four colours used in the games logo are Red which represents the Strength and Spirit to achieve victory, Yellow which represents the Sovereign Rights and Harmony in Negeri Sembilan, Blue which represents the Unity and National Integration and Black which represents the Traditional rule of Negeri Sembilan State under the "adat perpatih" norm.


2004 Sukma Games, Marketing, Mascot
The Mascot of the 2004 Sukma Games is a nameless deer. It was a 'royalty hunt' in the Glory days of the Malay Sultanate of Malacca and now a symbol of Negeri Sembilan and one of the prevalent species in Malaysia. The mascot's adoption is meant to promote the state's eco-tourism.


2004 Sukma Games, The games, Medal table
A total of 1202 medals comprising 370 Gold medals, 368 Silver medals and 464 Bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The host Negeri Sembilan's performance was their best ever yet and was placed tenth overall among participating states.


2004 Sukma Games, Broadcasting
Radio Televisyen Malaysia was responsible for live streaming of several events, opening and closing ceremony of the games.


2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
The 2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 13th edition of field hockey tournament the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.


2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 120 goals scored in 24 matches, for an average of 5 goals per match.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup
The 2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup was the 32nd edition of the Sultan Qaboos Cup (Arabic: كأس السلطان قابوس), the premier knockout tournament for football teams in Oman.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup
The competition began on 15 September 2004 with the Round of 32 and concluded on 23 November 2004. Ruwi Club were the defending champions, having won their first title in 2003. On Tuesday 23 November 2004, Dhofar S.C.S.C. were crowned the champions of the 2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup when they defeated Muscat Club 1-0, hence winning the title for the sixth time.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup, Teams, Round of 32
32 teams played a knockout tie. 16 ties were played over one leg. The first match played was between Al-Nasr S.C.S.C. and Yanqul SC on 15 September 2004. 16 teams advanced to the Round of 16.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup, Round of 16
16 teams played a knockout tie. 8 ties were played over one leg. The first match was played between Al-Seeb Club and Al-Khaboora SC on 30 September 2004. 8 teams advanced to the Quarterfinals.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup, Quarterfinals
8 teams played a knockout tie. 4 ties were played over two legs. The first match was played between Sur SC and Al-Suwaiq Club on 17 October 2004. Sur SC, Dhofar S.C.S.C., Al-Nasr S.C.S.C. and Muscat Club qualified for the Semifinals.


2004 Sultan Qaboos Cup, Semifinals
4 teams played a knockout tie. 2 ties were played over two legs. The first match was played between Muscat Club and Sur SC on 1 November 2004. Dhofar S.C.S.C. and Muscat Club qualified for the Finals.


2004 Sultan of Selangor Cup
The 2004 Sultan of Selangor Cup was played on 16 May 2004, at Singapore National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.


2004 Sultan of Selangor Cup, Veterans
A match between veterans of two teams are also held in the same day before the real match starts as a curtain raiser.


2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (Greek: Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 2004), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (Greek: Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 28is Olympiádas) and also known as Athens 2004 (Greek: Αθήνα 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.


2004 Summer Olympics
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. Athens became one of only four cities at the time to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two occasions (together with Paris, London and Los Angeles). 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.


2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Olympic Games were hailed as "unforgettable dream games" by then-IOC President Jacques Rogge, and left Athens with a significantly improved infrastructure, including a new airport, ring road and subway system. However, there has been debate regarding the cost of the Games and their possible contribution to the 2010–18 Greek government-debt crisis, although there is little or no evidence supporting such a correlation. The 2004 Games were generally deemed to be a success, with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China and Russia with host nation Greece at 15th place. Several world and Olympic records were also broken during these Games.


2004 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997. Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo on 18 September 1990. Under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the city pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004.


2004 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
The success of Athens in securing the 2004 Games was based largely on the bid's appeal to Olympic history and the emphasis that it placed on the pivotal role that Greece and Athens could play in promoting Olympism and the Olympic Movement. The 2004 bid was lauded for its humility and earnestness, its focused message, and its detailed bid concept. It addressed concerns and criticisms raised in the unsuccessful 1996 bid – primarily the city's infrastructural readiness, its air pollution, its budget, and politicization of Games preparations.


2004 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
Athens' successful organization of the 1997 World Championships in Athletics the month before the Olympic host city election was crucial in allaying lingering fears and concerns among the sporting community and some IOC members about its ability to host international sporting events. Another factor that contributed to the Greek capital's selection was a growing sentiment among some IOC members to restore the values of the Olympics to the Games, a component which they felt was lost.


2004 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
After leading all voting rounds, Athens easily defeated Rome in the fifth and final vote. Cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996. These cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, and Saint Petersburg.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage. According to the cost-benefit evaluation of the impact of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games presented to the Greek Parliament in January 2013 by the Minister of Finance Mr. Giannis Stournaras, the overall net economic benefit for Greece was positive.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
The Athens 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC), responsible for the preparation and organisation of the Games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing the Games. As a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million. The State's contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an originally anticipated 14%.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
The overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc., totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of that income (38%) came from broadcasting rights. The overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
Often analysts refer to the "Cost of the Olympic Games" by taking into account not only the Organizing Committee's budget (i.e. the organizational cost) directly related to the Olympic Games, but also the cost incurred by the hosting country during preparation, i.e. the large projects required for the upgrade of the country's infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, roads, airports, hospitals, power grid etc. This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the actual organisation of the Games. Such infrastructure projects are considered by all fiscal standards as fixed asset investments that stay with the hosting country for decades after the Games. Also, in many cases these infrastructure upgrades would have taken place regardless of hosting the Olympic Games, although the latter may have acted as a "catalyst".


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
It was in this sense that the Greek Ministry of Finance reported in 2013 that the expenses of the Greek state for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, including both infrastructure and organizational costs, reached the amount of €8.5 billion. The same report further explains that €2 billion of this amount was covered by the revenue of the ATHOC (from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc.) and that another €2 billion was directly invested in upgrading hospitals and archaeological sites. Therefore, the net infrastructure costs related to the preparation of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games was €4.5 billion, substantially lower than the reported estimates, and mainly included long-standing fixed asset investments in numerous municipal and transport infrastructures.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
On the revenue side, the same report estimates that incremental tax revenues of approximately €3.5 billion arose from the increased activities caused by the Athens 2004 Olympic Games during the period 2000 to 2004. These tax revenues were paid directly to the Greek state specifically in the form of incremental social security contributions, income taxes and VAT tax paid by all the companies, professionals, and service providers that were directly involved with the Olympic Games. Moreover, it is reported that the Athens 2004 Olympic Games have had a great economic growth impact on the tourism sector, one of the pillars of the Greek economy, as well as in many other sectors.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
The final verdict on the cost of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, in the words of the Greek Minister of Finance, is that "as a result from the cost-benefit analysis, we reach the conclusion that there has been a net economic benefit from the Olympic Games"


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of Athens 2004 at US$2.9 billion in 2015-dollars.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
This figure includes only sports-related costs, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, of which the largest components are technology, transportation, workforce, and administration costs, while other operational costs include security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
Indirect capital costs are not included here, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. Athens 2004 cost of US$2.9 billion compares with costs of US$4.6 billion for Rio 2016, US$40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history. Average sports-related cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5.2 billion.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
Cost per sporting event for Athens 2004 was US$9.8 million. This compares with US$14.9 million for Rio 2016, US$49.5 million for London 2012, and US$22.5 million for Beijing 2008. Average cost per event for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$19.9 million.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
Cost per athlete for Athens 2004 was US$0.3 million. This compares with US$0.4 million for Rio 2016, US$1.4 million for London 2012, and US$0.6 million for Beijing 2008. Average cost per athlete for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$0.6 million.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Costs
Cost overrun for Athens 2004 was 49%, measured in real terms from the bid to host the Games. This compares with 51% for Rio 2016 and 76% for London 2012. Average cost overrun for the Summer Games since 1960 is 176%.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
By late March 2004, some Olympic projects were still behind schedule, and Greek authorities announced that a roof it had initially proposed as an optional, non-vital addition to the Aquatics Center would no longer be built. The main Olympic Stadium, the designated facility for the opening and closing ceremonies, was completed only two months before the Games opened. This stadium was completed with a retractable glass roof designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The same architect also designed the Velodrome and other facilities.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
Infrastructure, such as the tram line linking venues in southern Athens with the city centre, and numerous venues were considerably behind schedule just two months before the start of the Games. The subsequent pace of preparation, however, made the rush to finish the Athens venues one of the tightest in Olympics history. The Greeks, unperturbed, maintained that they would make it all along. By July/August 2004, all venues were delivered: in August, the Olympic Stadium was officially completed and opened, joined or preceded by the official completion and openings of other venues within the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA), and the sports complexes in Faliro and Helliniko.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
Late July and early August witnessed the Athens Tram become operational, and this system provided additional connections to those already existing between Athens city centre and its waterfront communities along the Saronic Gulf.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
These communities included the port city of Piraeus, Agios Kosmas (site of the sailing venue), Helliniko (the site of the old international airport which now contained the fencing venue, the canoe/kayak slalom course, the 15,000-seat Helliniko Olympic Basketball Arena, and the softball and baseball stadia), and the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex (site of the taekwondo, handball, indoor volleyball, and beach volleyball venues, as well as the newly reconstructed Karaiskaki Stadium for football).


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
The upgrades to the Athens Ring Road were also delivered just in time, as were the expressway upgrades connecting central Athens with peripheral areas such as Markopoulo (site of the shooting and equestrian venues), the newly constructed Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, Schinias (site of the rowing venue), Maroussi (site of the OAKA), Parnitha (site of the Olympic Village), Galatsi (site of the rhythmic gymnastics and table tennis venue), and Vouliagmeni (site of the triathlon venue). The upgrades to the Athens Metro were also completed, and the new lines became operational by mid-summer.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
EMI released Unity, the official pop album of the Athens Olympics, in the leadup to the Olympics. It features contributions from Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Destiny's Child, and Avril Lavigne. EMI has pledged to donate US$180,000 from the album to UNICEF's HIV/AIDS program in Sub-Saharan Africa.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
At least 14 people died during the work on the facilities. Most of these people were not from Greece.


2004 Summer Olympics, Development and preparation, Construction
Before the Games, Greek hotel staff staged a series of one-day strikes over wage disputes. They had been asking for a significant raise for the period covering the event being staged. Paramedics and ambulance drivers also protested. They claimed to have the right to the same Olympic bonuses promised to their security force counterparts.


2004 Summer Olympics, Torch relay
The lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame took place on 25 March 2004 in Ancient Olympia. For the first time ever, the flame travelled around the world in a relay to various Olympic cities (past and future) and other large cities, before returning to Greece.


2004 Summer Olympics, Mascots
Mascots have been a tradition at the Olympic Games since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. The 2004 Olympics had two official mascots: Athena and Phevos (Greek pronunciation: Athina and Fivos). The sister and brother were named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war, and Phoebus, the god of light and music, respectively. They were inspired by the ancient daidala, which were toy dolls that also had religious connotations.


2004 Summer Olympics, Online coverage
For the first time, major broadcasters were allowed to serve video coverage of the Olympics over the Internet, provided that they restricted this service geographically, to protect broadcasting contracts in other areas. The International Olympic Committee forbade Olympic athletes, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from setting up specialized weblogs and/or other websites for covering their personal perspective of the Games. They were not allowed to post audio, video, or photos that they had taken. An exception was made if an athlete already has a personal website that was not set up specifically for the Games.


2004 Summer Olympics, Online coverage
NBC launched its own Olympic website, NBCOlympics.com. Focusing on the television coverage of the Games, it did provide video clips, medal standings, live results. Its main purpose, however, was to provide a schedule of what sports were on the many stations of NBC Universal. The Games were shown on television 24 hours a day, on one network or another.


2004 Summer Olympics, Technology
As with any enterprise, the Organizing Committee and everyone involved with it relied heavily on technology in order to deliver a successful event. ATHOC maintained two separate data networks, one for the preparation of the Games (known as the Administrative network) and one for the Games themselves (Games Network). The technical infrastructure involved more than 11,000 computers, over 600 servers, 2,000 printers, 23,000 fixed-line telephone devices, 9,000 mobile phones, 12,000 TETRA devices, 16,000 TV and video devices and 17 Video Walls interconnected by more than 6,000 kilometers of cabling (both optical fiber and twisted pair).


2004 Summer Olympics, Technology
This infrastructure was created and maintained to serve directly more than 150,000 ATHOC Staff, Volunteers, Olympic family members (IOC, NOCs, Federations), Partners & Sponsors and Media. It also kept the information flowing for all spectators, TV viewers, Website visitors and news readers around the world, prior and during the Games. The Media Center was located inside the Zappeion which is a Greek national exhibition center.


2004 Summer Olympics, Technology
Between June and August 2004, the technology staff worked in the Technology Operations Center (TOC) from where it could centrally monitor and manage all the devices and flow of information, as well as handle any problems that occurred during the Games. The TOC was organized in teams (e.g. Systems, Telecommunications, Information Security, Data Network, Staffing, etc.) under a TOC Director and corresponding team leaders (Shift Managers). The TOC operated on a 24x7 basis with personnel organized into 12-hour shifts.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
The widely praised Opening Ceremony Directed by avant garde choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou and produced by Jack Morton Worldwide led by Project Director David Zolkwer was held on 13 August 2004. It began with a twenty eight (the number of the Olympiads up to then) second countdown paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat. As the countdown was completed, fireworks rumbled and illuminated the skies overhead. After a drum corps and bouzouki players joined in an opening march, the video screen showed images of flight, crossing southwest from Athens over the Greek countryside to ancient Olympia.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
Then, a single drummer in the ancient stadium joined in a drum duet with a single drummer in the main stadium in Athens, joining the original ancient Olympic Games with the modern ones in symbolism. At the end of the drum duet, a single flaming arrow was launched from the video screen (symbolically from ancient Olympia) and into the reflecting pool, which resulted in fire erupting in the middle of the stadium creating a burning image of the Olympic rings rising from the pool.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony was a pageant of traditional Greek culture and history hearkening back to its mythological beginnings. The program began as a young Greek boy sailed into the stadium on a 'paper-ship' waving the host nation's flag to aethereal music by Hadjidakis and then a centaur appeared, followed by a gigantic head of a cycladic figurine which eventually broke into many pieces symbolising the Greek islands. Underneath the cycladic head was a Hellenistic representation of the human body, reflecting the concept and belief in perfection reflected in Greek art.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
A man was seen balancing on a hovering cube symbolising man's eternal 'split' between passion and reason followed by a couple of young lovers playfully chasing each other while the god Eros was hovering above them. There followed a very colourful float parade chronicling Greek history from the ancient Minoan civilization to modern times.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
Although NBC in the United States presented the entire opening ceremony from start to finish, a topless Minoan priestess was shown only briefly, the breasts having been pixelated digitally in order to avoid controversy (as the "Nipplegate" incident was still fresh in viewer's minds at the time) and potential fines by the Federal Communications Commission. Also, lower frontal nudity of men dressed as ancient Greek statues was shown in such a way that the area below the waist was cut off by the bottom of the screen. Overall, NBC's coverage of the Olympics has been praised, and the company was awarded with 6 Emmy Awards for its coverage of the Games and technical production.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
Following the artistic performances, a parade of nations entered the stadium with over 10,500 athletes walking under the banners of 201 nations. The nations were arranged according to Greek alphabet making Finland, Fiji, Chile, and Hong Kong the last four to enter the stadium before the Greek delegation. On this occasion, in observance of the tradition that the delegation of Greece opens the parade and the host nation closes it, the Greek flag bearer opened the parade and all the Greek delegation closed it.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
Based on audience reaction, the emotional high point of the parade was the entrance of the delegation from Afghanistan which had been absent from the Olympics and had female competitors for the first time. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions. Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea under the Korean Unification Flag. The country of Kiribati made its debut appearance at these Games and East Timor made a debut under its own flag. After the Parade of Nations, during which the Dutch DJ Tiësto provided the music, the Icelandic singer Björk performed the song Oceania, written specially for the event by her and the poet Sjón.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony culminated in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by 1996 Gold Medalist Windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. Many key moments in the ceremony, including the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, featured music composed and arranged by John Psathas from New Zealand. The gigantic cauldron, which was styled after the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch, pivoted down to be lit by the 35-year-old, before slowly swinging up and lifting the flame high above the stadium. Following this, the stadium found itself at the centre of a rousing fireworks spectacular.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Participating National Olympic Committees
All National Olympic Committees (NOCs) except Djibouti participated in the Athens Games. Two new NOCs had been created since 2000 and made their debut at these Games (Kiribati and East Timor). Therefore, with the return of Afghanistan (who had been banned from the 2000 Summer Olympics), the number of participating nations increased from 199 to 201. Also since 2000, Yugoslavia had changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro and its code from YUG to SCG.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Participating National Olympic Committees
In the table below, the number in parentheses indicates the number of participants contributed by each NOC.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Sports
The sports featured at the 2004 Summer Olympics are listed below. Officially there were 301 events in 28 sports as swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and water polo are classified by the IOC as disciplines within the sport of aquatics, and wheelchair racing was a demonstration sport. For the first time, the wrestling category featured women's wrestling and in the fencing competition women competed in the sabre. American Kristin Heaston, who led off the qualifying round of women's shot put became the first woman to compete at the ancient site of Olympia.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Sports
The demonstration sport of wheelchair racing was a joint Olympic/Paralympic event, allowing a Paralympic event to occur within the Olympics, and for the future, opening up the wheelchair race to the able-bodied. The 2004 Summer Paralympics were also held in Athens, from 17 to 28 September.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Gallery
Russian Igor Turchin (left) and American Weston Kelsey (right) duel in second round of men's individual épée


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
The Games were concluded on 29 August 2004. The closing ceremony was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium, where the Games had been opened 16 days earlier. Around 70,000 people gathered in the stadium to watch the ceremony.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
The initial part of the ceremony interspersed the performances of various Greek singers, and featured traditional Greek dance performances from various regions of Greece (Crete, Pontos, Thessaly, etc.). The event was meant to highlight the pride of the Greeks in their culture and country for the world to see.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
A significant part of the closing ceremony was the exchange of the Olympic flag of the Athens Games between the mayor of Athens and the mayor of Beijing, host city of the next Olympics. After the flag exchange a presentation from the Beijing delegation presented a glimpse into Chinese culture for the world to see.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
Beijing University students (who were at first incorrectly cited as the Twelve Girls Band) sang Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) accompanied by a ribbon dancer, then some male dancers did a routine with tai-chi and acrobatics, followed by dancers from the Peking Opera and finally, a little Chinese girl singing a reprise of Mo Li Hua and concluded the presentation by saying "Welcome to Beijing!"


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
The medal ceremony for the last event of the Olympics, the men's marathon, was conducted, with Stefano Baldini from Italy as the winner. The bronze medal winner, Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima of Brazil, was simultaneously announced as a recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin medal for his bravery in finishing the race despite being attacked by a rogue spectator while leading with 7 km to go.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
A flag-bearer from each nation's delegation then entered along the stage, followed by the competitors en masse on the floor.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
Short speeches were presented by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President of the Organising Committee, and by President Dr. Jacques Rogge of the IOC, in which he described the Athens Olympics as "unforgettable, dream Games".


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
Dr. Rogge had previously declared he would be breaking with tradition in his closing speech as President of the IOC and that he would never use the words of his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch, who used to always say 'these were the best ever games'. Dr. Rogge had described Salt Lake City 2002 as "superb games" and in turn would continue after Athens 2004 and describe Turin 2006 as "truly magnificent games."


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
The national anthems of Greece and China were played in a handover ceremony as both nations' flags were raised. The Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, passed the Olympic Flag to the Mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan. After a short cultural performance by Chinese actors, dancers, and musicians directed by eminent Chinese director Zhang Yimou, Rogge declared the 2004 Olympic Games closed. The Olympic flag was next raised again on 10 February 2006 during the opening ceremony of the next Winter Olympics in Torino.


2004 Summer Olympics, The Games, Closing ceremony
A young Greek girl, 10-year-old Fotini Papaleonidopoulou, lit a symbolic lantern with the Olympic Flame and passed it on to other children before "extinguishing" the flame in the cauldron by blowing a puff of air. The ceremony ended with a variety of musical performances by Greek singers, including Dionysis Savvopoulos, George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Anna Vissi, Sakis Rouvas, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Alkistis Protopsalti, Antonis Remos, Michalis Hatzigiannis, Marinella, and Dimitra Galani, as thousands of athletes carried out symbolic displays on the stadium floor.


2004 Summer Olympics, Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2004 Games.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
To commemorate the 2004 Olympics, a series of Greek high value euro collectors' coins were minted by the Mint of Greece, in both silver and gold. The pieces depict landmarks in Greece as well as ancient and modern sports on the obverse of the coin. On the reverse, a common motif with the logo of the Games, circled by an olive branch representing the spirit of the Games.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
Preparations to stage the Olympics led to a number of positive developments for the city's infrastructure.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
These improvements included the establishment of Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, a modern new international airport serving as Greece's main aviation gateway; expansions to the Athens Metro system; the "Tram", a new metropolitan tram (light rail) system system; the "Proastiakos", a new suburban railway system linking the airport and suburban towns to the city of Athens; the "Attiki Odos", a new toll motorway encircling the city, and the conversion of streets into pedestrianized walkways in the historic center of Athens which link several of the city's main tourist sites, including the Parthenon and the Panathenaic Stadium (the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896). All of the above infrastructure is still in use to this day, and there have been continued expansions and proposals to expand Athens' metro, tram, suburban rail and motorway network, the airport, as well as further plans to pedestrianize more thoroughfares in the historic center of Athens.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The Greek Government has created a corporation, Olympic Properties SA, which is overseeing the post-Olympics management, development and conversion of these facilities, some of which will be sold off (or have already been sold off) to the private sector, while some other facilities are still in use, or have been converted for commercial use or modified for other sports.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
As of 2012 many conversion schemes have stalled owing to the Greek government-debt crisis, though many of these facilities are now under the control of domestic sporting clubs and organizations or the private sector.


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The table below delineates the current status of the Athens Olympic facilities:


2004 Summer Olympics, Legacy, Arguments about possible effects on Greece's debt crisis
There have been arguments (mostly in popular media) that the cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games was a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis that started in 2010, with a lot of focus on the use of the facilities after the Games. This argument, however, contradicts the fact that Greece's Debt to GDP ratio was essentially not affected until the 2008 world financial crisis, while the cost of the Games, spread over years of preparation, was insignificant compared to Greece's public debt and GDP. Furthermore, the aforementioned arguments do not even take into account the profits (direct and indirect) generated by the Games, which may well have surpassed the above costs. Finally, popular arguments about "rotting" of many of the facilities, appear to ignore the actual utilization of most of these structures.


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on 29 August 2004 21:15 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium, in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens.


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Victory Ceremony
The final victory ceremony was held to the three Men's marathon medallists :


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Victory Ceremony
Stefano Baldini - Gold Mebrahtom Keflezighi  - Silver Vanderlei de Lima* - Bronze


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Victory Ceremony
12 years later  in 2016, during the opening ceremony, in honour of his brave against Horan's assault, he was awarded as the final torchbearer to lit up the Olympics' cauldron in Rio de Janeiro.


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Parade of Nations
The flag bearers of 202 National Olympic Committees arrived into the stadium. The flag bearers from each participating country entered the stadium informally in a single file, ordered by order of the Greek alphabet, and behind them marched all the athletes.


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Handover of the Olympic flag
Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis handed over the Olympic flag as the representative of Athens 2004 to the IOC President Jacques Rogge and then passed to the Mayor of Beijing Wang Qishan. He represents the committee members of the next host city, Beijing 2008.


2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Ceremony, Lowering the Olympic flag
Lowering of the Olympic flag and singing of the Olympic Anthem which the Greek choirs sang in Greek. The flag was raised again two years later in Turin, Italy. After 16 days, it lowered again and finally raised at its final destination, Beijing National Stadium for the Beijing 2008 on 8 August 2008.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table
The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Athens, the capital city of Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. A total of 10,625 athletes from 201 countries represented by National Olympic Committees participated in these games, competing in 301 events in 28 sports. Kiribati and Timor Leste competed for the first time in these Olympic Games.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table
Athletes from 74 countries won at least one medal. The United States won the most gold medals (36), the most silver medals (40) and the most medals overall (101). China finished second on the International Olympic Committee medal table (though third in terms of total medals), the country's best performance until the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Russia finished third, (second in total medals), and also won the most bronze medals (38). Host nation Greece finished fifteenth, with six gold, six silver, and four bronze medals, in its best total medal haul since 1896.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table
Australia became the first nation to improve their gold medal total at the Games immediately after hosting a Summer Olympics. The United Arab Emirates, Paraguay and Eritrea won their first ever Olympic medals. Israel, Chile, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Chinese Taipei and United Arab Emirates won their first Olympic gold medals.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Medal table
In boxing and judo, two bronze medals were awarded in each weight class, so the total number of bronze medals is greater than the total number of gold and silver medals.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
During the Games the following changes in medal standings occurred:


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
Since the conclusion of the 2004 Games, doping scandals have resulted in the revocations of medals from numerous athletes, thus affecting the medal standings.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
In first two cases medals were not reallocated, as the athletes who were supposed to receive them, tested for doping themselves. On 5 March 2013, the International Olympic Committee sent a statement to the Spanish Olympic Committee, taking the decision to reallocate the medals in the men's shot put, due to exclusion of Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonoh, gold medalist at the time, by doping.


2004 Summer Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
Based on this decision, the new owner of the gold medal will be with the second-placed U.S. athlete Adam Nelson, the silver medal will be with the third-placed Danish Joachim Olsen, and bronze medals will be with fourth-placed Spanish Manuel Martínez. On 30 May 2013, during the meeting of the IOC Executive Board there were three new decisions of the reallocated medals. In athletics, Executive Board confirmed the reallocation of medals in men's shot put. In athletics, the athlete Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová (Czech Republic) will be the new bronze medalist proof of the Women's discus throw. In Weightlifting, the athlete Reyhan Arabacıoğlu (Turkey) be the new bronze medalist proof in the Men's 77 kg.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
The national team of Greece, as the host nation, entered the stadium last, breaking the tradition that the Greek national team enter first in every Olympic opening ceremony as a tribute for being the original host of both the Ancient and the Modern Olympic Games. However, in a nod to tradition, the Greek flag and flag bearer Pyrros Dimas entered at the beginning of the parade ahead of Saint Lucia. Dimas also led the Greek national team when they entered last. Following tradition, other countries entered the stadium in name order in the language of the host country (Greece), which in this case is Modern Greek.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
Kiribati and Timor-Leste competed for the first time at these Olympic Games, whereas Afghanistan returned from its eight-year absence after the national Olympic committee had been suspended under the Taliban regime since 1999.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in Greek, French, and English (the official languages of the Olympics) with the music, performed and played by Dutch musician Tiësto, accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, mostly due to political and naming disputes. The Republic of Macedonia entered as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" ("Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας") under Π because of the naming dispute with Greece.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
The Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" ("Κινεζικη Ταϊπεϊ") under Τ so that they did not enter together with conflicting People's Republic of China (commonly known as China), which entered as the "People's Republic of China" ("Λαϊκή Δημοκρατία της Κίνας") under Κ. The Republic of the Congo entered as just "Congo" (Κονγκό), while the Democratic Republic of the Congo entered with its full name, "Λαϊκή Δημοκρατία του Κονγκό" under Δ.


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
The British Virgin Islands ("Βρετανικές Παρθένοι Νήσοι") entered under Β while the United States Virgin Islands entered as simply the "Virgin Islands" ("Παρθένοι Νήσοι"), under Π. Additionally, Ivory Coast, the United States, Iran, Laos, Libya, Russia, Syria and Hong Kong all entered under their formal names, respectively "Côte d'Ivoire", the "United States of America", "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Lao People's Democratic Republic", "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya", "Russian Federation", "Syrian Arab Republic" and "Hong Kong, China".


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, Parade order
Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: Three-time Grand Slam champion and tennis player Roger Federer (Switzerland), NBA basketball player Yao Ming (People's Republic of China), six-time Olympians and Star sailors Colin Beashel (Australia) and Torben Grael (Brazil), triple Olympic weightlifting champion Pyrros Dimas (Greece), show jumper Ludger Beerbaum (Germany), two-time Olympic sprint freestyle champion Alexander Popov (Russia), four-time rowing champion Elisabeta Lipă (Romania), decathlon champion Erki Nool (Estonia), and rings gymnast Jury Chechi (Italy).


2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, List
The following is a list of each country's announced flag bearer. The list is sorted by the order in which each nation appears in the parade of nations. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3)  at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture and history. 72,000 spectators (with nearly 50 world leaders) attended the event, with approximately 15,000 athletes from 202 countries participating in the ceremony as well. It marked the first-ever international broadcast of high-definition television, undertaken by the U.S. broadcaster NBC and the Japanese broadcaster NHK. The Games were officially opened by President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos at 23:46 EEST (UTC+3).


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Countdown and Welcome
The opening ceremony began with a 28-second countdown—one second per Olympics held since Athens last hosted the first modern games, paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat. At the end of the countdown, fireworks are then set off.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Countdown and Welcome
400 percussionists perform the zeimbekiko before walking around the stadium ground. A 50-person strong bouzouki band also performs. It is led by two drummers, one inside the stadium, and one projected on the stadium screen from the ancient stadium of Olympia, the locale of the Olympic games of antiquity. A blazing comet, seemingly coming from the ancient stadium of Olympia on the screen, lands on the flooded stadium drawing with its fire the Olympic Rings. The comet symbolizes the fire of the ancients giving life to the modern Olympic movement, thus bridging the past and the present together. According to Dimitris Papaioannou, the event "was a pageant of traditional Greek culture and history harkening back to its mythological beginnings, and viewed through the progression of Greek art."


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Countdown and Welcome
Next, a young Greek boy Michalis Patsatzis sailed into the stadium on a giant paper boat waving the host nation's flag, symbolizing Greece's maritime tradition and its close connection to the sea. The Hellenic Naval Band then walks into the stadium. The President of the Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC), Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, and President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge walk onto the stadium floor. The Band then performs the Presidential fanfare, where President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos then also arrives on the stadium floor. The three presidents meet the young boy, before Hymn to Liberty, the Greek national anthem was performed a cappella with the raising of the Greek Flag.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section
The segments that followed were divided in two main parts. The first part of the main artistic segment of the opening ceremony was called "Allegory." "Allegory" introduced the main conceptual themes and ideals that are going to be omnipresent throughout the entire opening ceremony, such as the confluence of the past and present, love and passion as the progenitors of history, and humanity's attempt to understand itself. The second part, called the "Clepsydra," or "Hourglass," celebrates the themes introduced in the "Allegory" section through a portrayal of Greek history from the ancient to the modern times.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Allegory
The "Allegory" segment began with a recitation of a verse from Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet George Seferis' poem "Mythistorema 3." As the verse is being recited on the speakers, the spotlights are focused upon a woman clad in a black gown looking out to the water. Holding a marble sculpture head, the woman seems to be entering into a dream. As she looks into the dark water, a centaur appears whose human and animal parts supposedly symbolize the duality of spirit and body.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Allegory
The centaur then walks about and then throws a spear of light into the center of the stadium, from which a giant statue that exemplified Cycladic art (and thus one of the first depictions of the human form in Greek art) emerged. This Cycladic head also represents one of the first attempts of humanity to understand itself. With the use of lasers, geometrical shapes and other scientific images (such as a stylistic representation of the solar system) were displayed on the figure's face.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Allegory
The statue then broke into pieces that floated away, and from within it emerged a smaller kouros statue from the Archaic Period of Greek sculpture, which in turn broke apart to reveal the depiction of man in a sculpture of the classical period, symbolizing the dawn of individuality and extolling human scale, one of the principal themes of the 2004 Olympics.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Allegory
At the end of this sequence, a cube arises from the water, and a man starts slowly balancing himself on the rotating cube while representations of human kind's greatest achievements, contrasted to humanistic representations and images of men, women, and children of various ethnicities and ages, are projected onto the pieces of broken sculpture, which seem to be floating above the water. This last sequence is meant to symbolize the birth of logical thought, higher learning, and humanity finally making sense of the world in which it lives. After this sequence, the pieces of sculpture descend to the water, meant to symbolize the Greek isles.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
In the next sequence, Eros, the Greek god of love, was introduced flying over a pair of lovers frolicking in the pool of water located in the center of the stadium. The young couple along with Eros symbolize the fact that the humanity which create and shape history is born out of love and passion. This segment introduces the next part of the ceremony, the "Clepsydra," which highlights the themes of the opening ceremony through a celebration of Greek history. The lovers then lie down in the water, and both fall into a dream state. Throughout the rest of the scenes from history and mythology, Eros flew over the parade, occasionally touching or stepping on the floats moving beneath him, thus reinforcing the theme of love and passion as the source for all history.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
The pageantry following the statues and the introduction of Eros continued to portray scenes that showed the sequence of Greek civilisation through its art. The scenes started with the Minoan civilisation. The first float featured the iconic image of Minoan civilization: that of the fertility goddess clad in a bodice exposing her breasts and clutching serpents in both hands. The subsequent floats then featured scenes of bull-jumping, dolphins, and other elements that harkened back to the images in the frescoes of Phaestos.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
The scenes then proceeded to the more stark art of the Mycenean civilisation, followed by representations of the Classical period. A chariot carrying an actor portraying Alexander the Great introduced images from the Hellenistic period, which in turn were followed by representations of Byzantine art, the Greek War of Independence, and lastly of 20th century elements of Greek culture, such as the popular shadow-theatre figure Karagiozis, who is said to be a humorous and self-deprecating depiction (and parody) of Greek mentality.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
At the end of the parade, "Eros" lowered enough to help a pregnant woman remove her outer garment. This last part represents the ceremony coming into full circle: the "Clepsydra" segment began with the image of the Minoan fertility goddess and is now ending with a pregnant woman representing the future of all humanity and history. With belly glowing, the woman moved into the lake of water as the stadium's lights dimmed and lights underneath the pool of water were turned on, thus creating an image of stars in a galaxy.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
According to Greek myth, the stars of the galaxy were born out of the milk of Hera's fertile breasts. In fact, the name for the Milky Way Galaxy, the home to planet Earth, was born out of this myth. Slowly the stars rose around the woman, and moved to form a rapidly rotating DNA double helix, which is the basis for all life on the planet.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
Humanity's attempt to understand itself, a theme that has been omnipresent throughout the entire ceremony beginning with the Cycladic head, is further reinforced by the representation of the DNA double helix, which symbolizes humanity's latest and most recent attempt to understand itself: the late 20th and early 21st centuries witnessed great advances in the field of genetics with the mapping of the human genome.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Artistic Section, Clepsydra
Finally, all the characters of the parade began to walk inside the pool, around its center, mixing the past and the present in a single marching beat of the drums. The confluence of the past and the present is another main theme of the opening ceremony. The music began a crescendo with choruses, when all of a sudden an olive tree was lifted from the center of the pool—symbolizing goddess Athena's preferred gift by the Greeks—land and food—over Poseidon's gift, the horse—a tool of warfare. At the music's climax, all the characters stopped and raised their arms as if worshipping the Tree, which was high above, surrounded also by the fragments of the deconstructed statues who resembled a mount.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
In order to prepare for the entry of the athletes to the stadium, the giant pool of water that had been constructed on the floor of the stadium had to first be drained. 2,162,000 liters of water were drained from the stadium in a time period of three minutes, providing a dry, hard surface for the athletes to march and gather on.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
Typically, Greece leads the Parade of Nations in any Olympics, with the host nation entering the stadium last. However, since Greece was the host nation, they went last, sending only their flag with the weightlifter Pyrros Dimas as the flag bearer into the stadium at the beginning of the parade, and the athletes themselves at the end of it.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
The debut position was given to Saint Lucia (Αγία Λουκία in Greek), who led the Parade of Nations into the stadium. As the nations entered in Greek alphabetical order, Zimbabwe—which has usually been the penultimate nation, followed only by the host country—appeared in the middle of the parade. Countries such as the United States and Switzerland, which are usually at the rear of the pack, were granted earlier entries as well due to their position in the Greek alphabet.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
The entrances of Afghanistan and Iraq were emotional highpoints of the parade. The nation of Kiribati made its debut Olympic appearance at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and East Timor marched under its own flag for the first time. Serbia and Montenegro appeared at the Olympics under the nation's new name for the first and only time since the country was officially renamed in 2003, and prior to the union's dissolution in 2006 (just before the 2008 Summer Olympics); it had previously been known as Yugoslavia.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
Due to the unpopularity of the American-led invasion of Iraq among Greeks, it had been expected by the media that audience members would protest against the war during the entrance of the American delegation into the stadium by booing; however, the Americans did receive a warm welcome, much to the pleasant surprise of US news anchors covering the event as well as NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
Apart from Greece, the Greek crowd reserved some of their loudest cheers for their fellow Greeks from Cyprus, Australia, home to many Greeks and site of the previous Summer Olympics and Mediterranean countries such as France and Italy, as well as for Brazil and Canada. A loud cheer was also given for Djibouti, because it had only one person enter the stadium. The teams from Palestine and Serbia and Montenegro were also very warmly welcomed. Cheers greeted Portugal, the nation that hosted the UEFA Euro 2004, which Greece won beating Portugal in the final match by 1–0.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Parade of Nations
High-ranking politicians and royalty from all around the world applauded as the teams from their respective countries paraded by. Important guests like U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (who lit the Cauldron for the 1994 Winter Olympics), and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, (among others) each stood and applauded the teams from their countries. Past world leaders, including U.S. President George H. W. Bush, also attended and applauded their national teams during the parade, in which DJ Tiësto played trance music.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Oceania - A Song for the Athletes
Björk then sang her song Oceania. The song was written at the ocean's point of view, from which the singer believes all life emerged, and details the human's evolution, whilst accompanied by a choir. While she sang, her dress slowly covered the athletes with a white sheet. At the end of the song, a projection of the world was shown on the dress. However, technical complications with the sheet meant that the sheet didn't reach all the athletes. If succeeded by covering all athletes, it would be a call back to the flags covering all athletes in the Olympic opening ceremonies of 1992 and 2000.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Oceania - A Song for the Athletes
A video from the International Space Station with two astronauts one from Russia and the other from the United States, then played welcoming the athletes and stressing the importance for human collaboration between countries for peace.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, 108 Years of Olympic Games
After introducing the founders of the Modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas and the first games in 1896, runner George Sabanis carries a flag with an image of an olive branch symbolizing not only peace but Athens itself, lapped around the stadium, symbolically crossing tape dedicated to the previous 27 Olympiads. The runner symbolically stumbles at the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Games which were canceled due to world wars. The runner ended his run at the very center of the stadium, where the olive tree from the artistic section has appeared, symbolizing the Modern Olympic Games journey around the world, and coming back home to Athens.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, 108 Years of Olympic Games
While not officially part of the Olympic protocol, there has been a recognition of past host cities at some Opening Ceremonies. For the Summer Olympics, a recognition has appeared in the 1992 opening ceremony in Barcelona, 1996 opening ceremony in Atlanta and a reduced version at the 2012 opening ceremony in London. In the Winter Olympics, there has been a recognition in 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where banners of the previous 18 Winter Olympics entered Rice-Eccles Stadium at the beginning of the ceremony, and the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Opening Addresses
Two short speeches were delivered in front of the olive tree, a traditional Greek and Olympic symbol. The first speech came from Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the President of the Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC), and the first female chief organizer of an Olympic Games. She told the athletes: "Greece is here tonight. We're ready." and "Welcome home!" She also stated the people of Greece "have waited long for this moment," alluding to the long time period between the first modern Olympic Games in Greece and the 2004 Games.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Opening Addresses
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki was followed by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge, who delivered a speech encouraging participating athletes to resist the urge to use banned performance-enhancing substances and "show us that sport unites by overriding national, political, religious, and language barriers". Rogge then introduced the President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, who declared the games officially open in Greek by saying, "Κηρύσσω την έναρξη των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων της Αθήνας...και τον εορτασμό της 28ης Ολυμπιάδος της σύγχρονης εποχής." - I declare open the Olympic Games of Athens...and the celebration of the 28th Olympiad of the modern era. 5 bells are now ringing of the Olympic rings.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, The Olympic Flag and Olympic Anthem
Then the Olympic flag made its entrance. It was carried by eight Greek athletes Petros Galaktopoulos, Ilias Hatzipavlis, Niki Bakogianni, Angelos Basinas, Leonidas Kokkas,    Michail Mouroutsos, Valerios Leonidis, and Dimosthenis Tampakos. Then the Olympic flag was raised while the Olympic Hymn was conducted by John Psathas.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Olympic Oaths
Greek freestyle swimmer Zoi Dimoschaki gave the Athletes Oath on behalf of all athletes in Greek. Greek basketball referee Lazaros Voreadis delivered the officials oath in Greek.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Torch relay and the lighting of the cauldron
The Opening Ceremony culminated at the end of the torch relay, a tradition began when Berlin hosted the games in 1936. This segment preceding the torch's arrival honored the first global torch relay that was begun in Athens. Before the torch came into the stadium, three rings arose from the center of the stadium that simulated a globe. Projections of doves were shown on the globe and on the LED screens as symbol of peace. Then actors, suspended on cables, started rising out of the crowd and ran towards the globe, carrying glowing sticks meant to simulate the Olympic torch.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Torch relay and the lighting of the cauldron
On the globe, the names of the cities which the torch visited were projected, and this segment ended with all the torchbearers floating mid-air coming together at the globe. After this segment ended, the lights were dimmed, and the sound of the heartbeat accompanied by thunderous cheers and applause met the torch's final arrival to the Olympic Stadium.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Torch relay and the lighting of the cauldron
Torch bearer Nikos Galis, considered to be the greatest Greek basketball player of all time, entered the stadium first. The torch was passed on, in sequential order, to Greek football legend Mimis Domazos, 1992 Hurdles champion Voula Patoulidou, 1996 Olympic weightlifting champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili, and 1996 Olympic gymnastics champion Ioannis Melissanidis.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Proceedings, Torch relay and the lighting of the cauldron
The torch was finally passed to the 1996 Olympic sailing champion Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, who lit a giant tapered column resembling the Olympic torch — not, as usual, a cauldron — to burn during the duration of the 2004 Summer Olympics. As Kaklamanakis ascended the steps to light the cauldron, the cauldron seemed to bow down to him, symbolizing that despite advance of technology, technology is still a creation and tool of humanity and that it was meant to serve humanity's needs. The ceremony concluded with a breathtaking fireworks display.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
During the "Allegory" segment highlighting the conceptual and themes and ideals of the opening ceremony, the chosen music was Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D Minor: 6. Langsam. The music played during the "Clepsydra" segment highlighting Greek history and mythology was composed by Konstantinos Bita. The songs played were instrumental in nature and many used traditional Greek instruments. Famous Greek artists such as Stavros Xarhakos (whose song "Zeimbekiko" was played), Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis and Konstantinos Bita, were included in the Olympic soundtrack. The whole music project was arranged by composer George Koumendakis, who had worked in the past several times with Papaioannou and was assisted in this project by Maria Metaxaki. The music production team included Marcus Dillistone, Paul Stefanidis, Dick Lewsey and Julian Scott.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
New Zealand composer John Psathas (son of Greek immigrant parents) was chosen to compose and arrange music to accompany parts of the opening ceremonies. The most prestigious engagement of his career to date, he joins the ranks of well-known composers, such as John Williams, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Leonard Bernstein and Mikis Theodorakis who have also written music for the Olympics.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
Mr Psathas was engaged in 2003 to compose and arrange music for the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies. He has since commuted several times between Wellington and Athens to work on the music and supervise the rehearsal process.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
His music includes a number of specially composed fanfares and processionals to accompany the arrival of the IOC President, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron and to precede the Olympic oaths, and he is responsible for the soundtrack to the entire ‘flame sequence’ of the ceremony. John Psathas has also arranged the National Anthem of Greece, the Olympic Hymn, and music by Shostakovich, Debussy and the foremost living Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis to accompany other parts of the ceremony. The fireworks at the Games’ closing ceremony on 29 August will also feature music by the composer.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
During the Parade of Nations, Dutchman DJ Tiësto provided the music, becoming the first DJ ever to spin live at the Olympics. During the course of his performance the Dutch athletes started dancing in front of the DJ booth and had to be moved on by officials. Tiësto later released a condensed version of the performance on CD titled Parade of the Athletes. In the liner notes, he noted the IOC requested to him that the music not contain any lyrics as they could be inadvertently misinterpreted.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
Björk performed "Oceania", later included on her album Medúlla, immediately after the Parade of Nations ended. While the song was being played, a large piece of fabric (which belonged to Björk's dress) was pulled over the heads of the athletes, who had gathered on the ground in the center of the stadium following their march around the stadium. At the conclusion of Björk's performance, a map of the world was projected on the fabric.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Music Performances
The entrance of the torch on the stadium was surrounded by the "Le Roi Lear Fanfarre", by Claude Debussy; and the cauldron was lighted by the final part of "Pirogov Suite", an epic suite by Dmitri Shostakovich. Both songs were adapted by John Psathas.


2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Reviews
The ceremony was a source of major acclaim amongst international press and featured never before seen technologies used in a stadium, including a giant pool with slip-proof iridescent fiberglass flooring that drained its water in three minutes, beautiful and innovative lighting, and an ingenious staging system utilizing a complex network of automated cables that lifted, maneuvered, and choreographed the floating pieces of sculpture to follow the music and narrative of the opening ceremony. The costumes, which also drew great international praise, were designed by well-known London-based Greek fashion designer Sophia Kokosalaki. Eleftheria Deco was awarded for her lighting design of the opening ceremony with an Emmy award. NBC, an international television broadcaster of the 2004 Athens Olympics, has also been awarded with 6 Emmy Awards for its coverage of the Games and technical production.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay
The 2004 Summer Olympics Torch Relay took the Olympic Flame across every habitable continent, returning to Athens, Greece. Every city which had hosted, will host, or coincidentally elected to host the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics and the Youth Olympics was revisited by the torch, as well as several other cities chosen for their international importance. The main reason why the torch relay went around the world was to highlight the fact that the Olympic Games were started in Greece (in ancient times) and in modern times have been held around the world and then took place in Greece in 2004.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay
The relay was the first time the Olympic flame had travelled to Africa and South America. The flame was transported from country to country aboard a specially-equipped Boeing 747 leased from Atlanta Icelandic (Registration TF-ARO) called Zeus. On board the flame was carried and burned continuously in specially modified miners lamps.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay officially began on 4 June 2004, when the flame touched down in Sydney, Australia, host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route, Route in Oceania
4 June: Sydney, Australia (host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics)5 June: Melbourne (host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics)


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route, Route in Asia
6 June: Tokyo, Japan (host city of the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics)7 June: Seoul, South Korea (host city of the 1988 Summer Olympics)8 June: Beijing, China (host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics and the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics)10 June: Delhi, India


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route, Route in America
13 June: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics)15 June: Mexico City, Mexico (host city of the 1968 Summer Olympics)16 June: Los Angeles, United States (host city of the 1932, 1984 and upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics)17 June: St. Louis (host city of the 1904 Summer Olympics)18 June: Atlanta (host city of the 1996 Summer Olympics)19 June: New York20 June: Montreal, Canada (host city of the 1976 Summer Olympics)


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route, Route in Europe (Excluding Greece)
21 June: Antwerp, Belgium (host city of the 1920 Summer Olympics)22 June: Brussels23 June: Amsterdam, Netherlands (host city of the 1928 Summer Olympics)24 June: Geneva, SwitzerlandLausanne (headquarters of the International Olympic Committee and host city of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics)25 June: Paris, France (host city of the 1900, 1924 Summer Olympics and the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics)26 June: London, United Kingdom (host city of the 1908, 1948 and the 2012 Summer Olympics)27 June: Madrid, SpainBarcelona (host city of the 1992 Summer Olympics)28 June: Rome, Italy (host city of the 1960 Summer Olympics)29 June: Munich, Germany (host city of the 1972 Summer Olympics)30 June: Berlin (host city of the 1936 Summer Olympics)1 July: Stockholm, Sweden (host city of the 1912 Summer Olympics and theequestrian events of the 1956 Summer Olympics)2 July: Helsinki, Finland (host city of the 1952 Summer Olympics)3 July: Moscow, Russia (host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics)5 July: Kyiv, Ukraine6 July: Istanbul, Turkey7 July: Sofia, Bulgaria8 July: Nicosia, Cyprus


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, International Route, Route in Europe (Excluding Greece)
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay officially concluded on July 8, 2004, just over a month after it began its global journey and just over a month before the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony on 13 August 2004.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, Route in Greece (second phase)
After visiting Cyprus, the Greek Leg of the Torch Relay resumed on 9 July 2004, with the flame touching down in Crete in the city of Heraklion. During the Greek Leg of the relay, the torch also made a cursory stopover in Albania when the torch was carried through a lake on the Greek-Albanian border.


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, Aftermath
The International Olympic Committee has indicated that, due to the success of the 2004 run, they might sanction a global circumnavigation of the flame before every succeeding Olympics. However, those plans were abandoned in March 2009 due to the protests in the international leg of the torch relay of the 2008 Summer Olympics (with an exception made for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games).


2004 Summer Olympics torch relay, Aftermath
The torch relay proved instrumental in the recognition of the importance of trending on Twitter by Abdur Chowdhury during a train journey, a usage which eventually expanded to other Internet platforms.


2004 Summer Paralympics
The 2004 Summer Paralympics (Greek: Θερινοί Παραολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece from 17 to 28 September 2004. 3,806 athletes from 136 National Paralympic Committees competed. 519 medal events were held in 19 sports.


2004 Summer Paralympics
Four new events were introduced to the Paralympics in Athens; 5-a-side football for the blind, quads wheelchair tennis, and women's competitions in judo and sitting volleyball. Following a scandal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, in which the Spanish intellectually-disabled basketball team was stripped of their gold medal after it was found that multiple players had not met the eligibility requirements, ID-class events were suspended.


2004 Summer Paralympics
It was also the last time that the old Paralympic symbol was used, before the new one featured four years later in 2008.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Medal count
A total of 1567 medals were awarded during the Athens games: 519 gold, 516 silver, and 532 bronze. China topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by a nation (in this context a nation is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee).


2004 Summer Paralympics, Medal count
Among the top individual medal winners was Mayumi Narita of Japan, who took seven golds and one bronze medal in swimming, setting six world records in the process and bringing her overall Paralympic gold medal total to fifteen. Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won five golds and set three world records in wheelchair racing, while Swedish shooter Jonas Jacobsson took four gold medals. France's Béatrice Hess won her nineteenth and twentieth Paralympic gold medals in swimming. Swimmer Trischa Zorn of the United States won just one medal, a bronze, but it was her 55th ever Paralympic medal. She retained her position as the most successful Paralympian of all times.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on 17 September 2004. The show started with children passing on knowledge and raising their lights to the sky. This was a reference to Hippocrates, who transferred knowledge to the children. A 26 meters tall olive tree (with more than 195,000 leaves) symbolising life stood in the middle of the arena. The opening ceremony also featured a performance with human drama, with light and with music, in an allegory about obstacles and limits. The Parade of Delegations was accompanied by the music of French composers Yves Stepping and Jean Christophe.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Opening ceremony
The music told the legend of Hephaestos, god of fire and son of Zeus and Hera. An athlete from Turkmenistan propelled himself around the stadium by doing somersaults. Greece, the home team, received a strong cheer. After that, fireworks erupted at the stadium. There were 150 local support staff involved and 400 volunteers. The children were from ages 8 to 17, coming from Australia, France, Spain, Greece and Germany. The Games were officially declared opened by Greek president Costis Stephanopoulos and Philip Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Opening ceremony
They were accompanied by the head of the organizing committee Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who told the athletes and the audience: "The Olympic flame illuminates athletes. Many of you will leave Athens with medals, but all of you will leave as champions." Phil Craven quoted Democritus in his speech: "Two thousand years ago, Democritus said 'To win oneself is the first and best of all victories.' This holds true for all athletes, but especially for Paralympians. Recognising and cultivating your unique abilities and mastering challenges – you set standards and give expression for many people, young and old, around the world." The paralympic flame was lit by Georgios Toptsis a pioneer athlete in Greece. Toptsis was won three medals (one silver and two bronze) between the 1988 and 1996 Games.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on 28 September 2004. The traditional cultural display was removed from the ceremony as a mark of respect for the deaths of seven teenagers from Farkadona, travelling to Athens, whose bus collided with a truck near the town of Kamena Vourla.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Closing ceremony
Flags were flown at half mast and a minute's silence was observed. In contrast with the formal nature of the opening ceremony, the athletes entered the stadium for the final time as a collective. This was followed by official matters, including the handover to Beijing, hosts of the 2008 Summer Paralympics, and a cultural presentation by the delegation (which included a presentation of the new Paralympic "agitos" emblem). A procession of young people then made their way to join the athletes in the centre of the stadium carrying paper lanterns, before the Paralympic flame was extinguished.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Media coverage controversy
Although the Paralympic Games were broadcast to around 1.6 billion viewers throughout 49 countries, some controversy was caused when no American television network stayed to broadcast the event. This resulted in some US viewers having to wait almost 2 months until the coverage was broadcast, compared with live feeds in several other countries.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Sports and impairment groups
Following a scandal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, in which the Spanish intellectually-disabled basketball team was stripped of their gold medal after it was found that multiple players had not met the eligibility requirements, ID-class events were suspended, in 2001, the IPC decided to remove events for the intellectually disabled and make several changes to other classifications of different events.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Sports and impairment groups
In addition, the IPC also expanded the number of events for women in various sports, replacing the standing volleyball tournament with the female sitting volleyball another move was  realization of women's events in judo.Two new events was also added in the program: 5-a-side football for the blind and the quads events on wheelchair tennis. As a result, 32 fewer finals were held than Sydney, totaling 519 finals.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Sports and impairment groups
Results for individual events can be found on the relevant page.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Venues
In total 15 venues were used at the 2004 Summer Olympics.


2004 Summer Paralympics, Participating nations
Athletes from 135 nations competed in the Athens Paralympics. Bangladesh, Botswana, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Suriname, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan all competed for the first time. Mali participated in the ceremonies as the country sent only nine officials.


2004 Summer Paralympics medal table
The 2004 Summer Paralympics medal table is a list of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2004 Summer Paralympics, held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to 28, 2004. Athletes from 75 countries has won at least one medal, leaving 61 countries without a medal.


2004 Summer Paralympics medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code.


2004 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2004 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 6–9 at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


2004 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Top-seed Louisiana–Lafayette defeated #3 seed New Orleans in the championship game, 67–58, to win their fourth Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.


2004 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Ragin' Cajuns received an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Tournament as the #14 seed in the Phoenix region. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.


2004 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
Eight of eleven participating Sun Belt members were seeded based on regular season conference records.


2004 Sun Belt Conference football season
The 2004 Sun Belt Conference football season was an NCAA football season that was played from August 28, 2004, to January 6, 2005.


2004 Sun Bowl
The 2004 Sun Bowl featured the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the Purdue Boilermakers. Sponsored by the Vitalis brand of hair tonic made by Bristol-Myers, the game was officially known as the Vitalis Sun Bowl. It was the 71st Sun Bowl.


2004 Sun Bowl
Arizona State's place kicker, Jessie Ainsworth kicked a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead. Arizona State's running back, Preston Jones was tackled in the end zone by Purdue's Brandon Villareal, for a safety, putting Purdue on the board 3-2. The defenses held, and that score held up in the locker room.


2004 Sun Bowl
In the third quarter, Purdue's Kyle Orton connected with wide receiver Brian Hare for a long 80-yard touchdown pass to give Purdue a 9-3 lead. Arizona State quarterback, Sam Keller found Derek Hagan in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown to put Arizona State back on top 10-9. He finished the game with 370 yards passing.


2004 Sun Bowl
Early in the fourth quarter, Orton found all-American Taylor Stubblefield for a 5-yard touchdown pass, reclaiming the lead for Purdue, 16-10. Arizona State moved the ball on their ensuing drive, but it stalled, and they had to settle for a field goal. Ainsworth connected on a 34-yard field goal, trimming the margin to 16-13. Keller later threw to Rudy Burgess for a 41-yard touchdown, giving ASU a 20-16 lead.


2004 Sun Bowl
Purdue reclaimed the lead with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Orton to Charles Davis giving them a 23-20 lead. Sam Keller's final touchdown to Rudy Burgess proved to be the game winner, as ASU held off Purdue by a 27-23 margin.


2004 Sundance Film Festival
The 2004 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 15, 2004 to January 25, 2004. It was the 20th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute.


2004 Sundance Film Festival, Awards
The award show took place on January 24 and was presented by actors Zooey Deschanel and Jake Gyllenhaal.


2004 Sunderland City Council election
The 2004 Sunderland City Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Sunderland City Council Council in Tyne and Wear, England. The whole council was up for election following boundary changes since the last election in 2003. The Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2004 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
Every seat was contested in the election for the first time since 1982. Labour held a big majority before the election with 63 seats, but almost a quarter of Labour's councillors stood down at the election. Labour was the only party to field a full 75 candidates, while the next largest number of candidates was from the Conservative party who fielded 54 candidates. Candidates in the election also included 25 from the British National Party after the party failed to win any seats in the 2003 election but came second in 6 wards.


2004 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
Labour described their record in control of the council as being positive and that they were making progress, but the Conservatives described Labour as being "arrogant and remote". The Conservatives targeted wards in the town of Washington as well as Millfield, St Chad's and St Peters, while Barnes ward was seen as being a three-way battle between Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.


2004 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
At the election count anti-Nazi demonstrators had a scuffle with British National Party supporters when the candidates entered the building, with one British National Party candidate being arrested on suspicion of assault.


2004 Sunderland City Council election, Election result
The results saw Labour hold control of the council with a large majority, but the Conservatives made some gains in Barnes, Fulwell and St Michael's. This meant Labour ended with 61 seats, while the Conservatives were up three on 12 seats. The Liberal Democrats took two seats, while the British National Party failed to win any seats. Overall turnout was 40.26%, down on the 47.47% in 2003 but up on the 22% at the 2002 election before all postal voting was used.


2004 Super 12 season
The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals, with the first placed team playing the fourth and the second placed team playing the third. The winner of each semi final qualified for the final, which was contested by the Brumbies and the Crusaders at Canberra Stadium. The Brumbies won 47 – 38 to win their second Super 12 title.


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 1
Con: Tony Brown (3), Nick Evans Pen: Tony Brown (2)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 1
Con: Joe Roff (4), Matt Giteau Pen: Joe Roff (2), Matt Giteau


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 2
Con: Elton Flatley (3), Todd Feather Pen: Elton Flatley (2)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 2
Con: Derick Hougaard (4) Pen: Derick Hougaard (3) Drop: Derick Hougaard


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 5
Con: Tim Donnelly (2), Mat Rogers Pen: Tim Donnelly. Mat Rogers


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 6
Con: David Hill (2) Pen: David Hill (5) Drop: Loki Crichton


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 6
Con: Gaffie du Toit (2) Pen: Gaffie du Toit (2)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 7
Con: Dan Carter (4), Cameron McIntyre Pen: Dan Carter (4)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 9
Con: Andre Pretorius (3), Coenraad Johannes Fourie Pen: Coenraad Johannes Fourie (2) Drop: Andre Pretorius


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 11
Con: Matt Burke (2) Pen: Matt Burke, Shaun Berne (2)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 11
Con: Andre Pretorius, Coenraad Johannes Fourie Pen: Andre Pretorius (3)


2004 Super 12 season, Results, Round 12
Con: Carlos Spencer (4), Ben Atiga (2) Pen: Carlos Spencer


2004 Super Fours
The 2004 Super Fours was the 3rd cricket Super Fours season. It took place in May and June and saw 4 teams compete in a 50 over league and, for the first time, a knockout Twenty20 tournament. V Team were the winners of both tournaments.


2004 Super Fours, Competition format
In the one day tournament, teams played each other twice in a round-robin format, with the winners of the group winning the tournament. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.


2004 Super Fours, Competition format
The group worked on a points system with positions within the divisions being based on the total points. Points were awarded as follows:


2004 Super Fours, Competition format
A Twenty20 competition was added for the 2004 edition of the Super Fours, which consisted of two semi-finals, with the winners proceeding to the Final and the losers playing in a third place play-off.


2004 Super League Grand Final
The 2004 Super League Grand Final was the 7th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League IX. It was held on Saturday 16 October 2004, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was played between Leeds Rhinos, who finished top of the league after the 28 weekly rounds, and Bradford Bulls, who finished second after the weekly rounds.


2004 Super League Grand Final, Background, Route to the Final, Leeds Rhinos
Leeds finished top of the table to qualify for a home match in the semi-finals. The play-off structure matched them against the team finishing second - Bradford. Bradford won the semi-final meaning Leeds had to win the elimination final against Wigan to qualify for the grand final. In the elimination final they raced past Wigan 40–12 to set up a rematch against Bradford.


2004 Super League Grand Final, Background, Route to the Final, Bradford Bulls
By finishing second in the table Bradford qualified for the semi-finals but had to play the league leaders, Leeds, away with the winners going straight through to the grand final. In the game at Headingley Bradford won 26–12.


2004 Super League Grand Final, Match details
Bradford's Leon Pryce was unable to play due to a shoulder injury, he was replaced by Paul Johnson.


2004 Super League Grand Final, Match details
Andrew Dunemann was left out of the Leeds side. Danny McGuire was partnered by Kevin Sinfield in the halves. The pre-match entertainment was performed by singer Heather Small


2004 Superbike World Championship
The 2004 Superbike World Championship was the seventeenth FIM Superbike World Championship season. The season started on 29 February at Valencia and finished on 3 October at Magny-Cours after 11 rounds. The traditional Japanese round at Sugo was replaced with a new Canadian round which was scheduled for 4 July at the Mont-Tremblant, near Quebec. Though no explanation was given for the change, it was seen as some form of revenge after the refusal of the Japanese manufacturers to back the 2004 rules. The Canadian round was eventually canceled after a circuit inspection determined that the amount of work necessary to bring the venue up to WSBK standard could not be carried out in time for the proposed date.


2004 Superbike World Championship
2004 was the first season all bikes had to use control tyres, provided by Pirelli. Partly because of the control tyre rule, no factory bikes were entered by Japanese manufacturers.


2004 Superbike World Championship
James Toseland won the riders' championship and Ducati won the manufacturers' championship.


2004 Supercopa de España
The 2004 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Spanish football tie played on 21 and 24 August 2004. It was contested by 2003–04 Copa del Rey winners Zaragoza and 2003–04 La Liga winners Valencia. Zaragoza won the title 3–2 on aggregate.


2004 Supercopa de España de Baloncesto
The Supercopa de Baloncesto 2004 was disputed in Málaga, Andalusia and began with the following semifinals.


2004 Supercopa de España de Baloncesto, Final
Real Madrid 75 - 76 (OT) FC Barcelona : ()


2004 Supercoppa Italiana
The 2004 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by the 2003–04 winners Milan and the 2003–04 Coppa Italia winners Lazio.


2004 Supercoppa Italiana
The match result was a 3–0 victory for Milan after a hat-trick by Andriy Shevchenko.


2004 Superettan, Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and BK Häcken won the championship.


2004 Supersport World Championship
The 2004 Supersport World Championship was the sixth FIM Supersport World Championship season—the eight taking into account the two held under the name of Supersport World Series. The season started on 29 February at Valencia and finished on 3 October at Magny-Cours after 10 races.


2004 Supersport World Championship
The riders' championship was won by Karl Muggeridge and the manufacturers' championship was won by Honda. Karl Muggeridge won a total of 7 races, a new record for the class.


2004 Superstars Series
The 2005 Superstars Series was the first season of the Campionato Italiano Superstars (Italian Superstars Championship). The championship was won by Francesco Ascani driving for BMW.


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The 2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira was the 26th edition of the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the annual Portuguese football season-opening match contested by the winners of the previous season's top league and cup competitions (or cup runner-up in case the league- and cup-winning club is the same). The match was contested between the 2003–04 Primeira Liga winners, Porto and the 2003–04 Taça de Portugal winners, Benfica.


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The match took place at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra in Coimbra on 20 August 2004. Porto were making their 21st Supertaça appearance, of which it had previously won 13 and lost 7. Benfica were making their 13th Supertaça appearance, having previously won 3 and lost 9 times.


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
In Portugal, the final was televised live on RTP1. Porto defeated Benfica 1–0 with a goal in the 55th minute from the newly acquired Ricardo Quaresma. Porto collected a second consecutive Supertaça, raising the club's tally to a record 14 trophies in the competition (53.8% of wins).


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Background
Benfica were appearing in their 13th Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Benfica went into the match as three-time winners of the trophy (1980, 1985, 1989). Of their 12 Supertaça appearances, Benfica had lost on 9 occasions (1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996). Porto were appearing in their 21st Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Porto went into the match as 13-time winners (1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003). Of their 20 appearances, Porto had lost on 7 occasions (1979, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000).


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Background
In Benfica's and Porto's entire history, both sides had met on 202 occasions prior to this encounter. They had met in the Supertaça on nine occasions, with Porto winning eight SuperCup encounters and Benfica winning once. The last meeting between these two sides in this competition was the 1996 edition of the Supertaça, where Porto defeated Benfica 6–0 on aggregate. The last meeting between these sides in domestic league action saw a draw between both sides at the Estádio da Luz. The last meeting between these two sides in the domestic cup competition saw Benfica defeat Porto 2–1 in the final of the Taça de Portugal thanks to an extra time goal from Simão.


2004 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Pre-match, Entry
Porto qualified for their second consecutive Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira by winning the 2003–04 Primeira Liga. Along the season, Porto remained in top spot and managed important victories against its rivals to clinch the Primeira Liga title. Porto dominated the whole season managing twenty-three victories from their first twenty-eight league games. Some notable wins during the season saw Porto defeat rivals Sporting CP, 4–1 on matchweek 3, as well as Benfica on matchday 5, 2–0.