Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic Stadium in Athens served as host for the European Athletics Championships in 1982. This venue also served as host for the Mediterranean Games in 1991. In 1995, Athens submitted a bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics which it was awarded in September 1997. A month earlier, Olympic Stadium hosted the World Championships in Athletics. At the time of the bid in 1997, the venues to be used for the 2004 Games were available for 75% of the competition and 92% of the training locations. Venue locations were settled between 1998 and 2003. Construction funding started in 1998 with laws
Olympic Games by 44 cities in 23 countries, but by cities outside Europe and North America on only eight occasions. Since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the Olympics have been held in Asia or Oceania four times, a sharp increase compared to the previous 92 years of modern Olympic history. The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro were the first Olympics for a South American country. No bids from countries in Africa have succeeded. The United States has hosted eight Olympic Games, four Summer and four Winter, more than any other nation. The British capital London holds the distinction