Iceland at the 2004 Summer Olympics Iceland at the 2004 Summer Olympics Iceland competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. Icelandic athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era since 1912, except for four occasions. The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland sent a total of 26 athletes, 21 men and 5 women, to compete in 5 sports, including men's handball, the nation's only team-based sport at these Olympic games. Seven Icelandic athletes had previously competed in Sydney, including swimmer Örn Arnarson, who finished fourth in the men's 200 m backstroke. Handball player
Bids for the 2020 Summer Olympics of the host city selection process was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board as follows: Six cities were put forward by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to apply to host the Games initially, but Rome withdrew its bid shortly before the applicant files were due. The bidding cities come from two continents, Europe and Asia (Istanbul is considered to be located on the border between Asia and Europe). In 2020 it will be twelve years since an Asian city hosted the Summer Olympics (Beijing 2008) and eight years since a European city hosted the Summer Olympics