Kiribati at the 2004 Summer Olympics Kiribati at the 2004 Summer Olympics Kiribati competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from August 13–29, 2004. The country sent three representatives to the Games: two in athletics and one in weightlifting. As of 2012, Meamea Thomas has the best finish of any I-Kiribati athlete in Olympic history. Kiribati did not win medals at these Games. The 2004 Olympics were Kiribati's first Games, along with East Timor. Kiribati had interest in Olympic participation in the 1980s, and the country later formed their National Olympic Committee (NOC) in 2002,
Olympic Games national anthems are played: the flag of the current host country; the flag of Greece, to honour the birthplace of the Olympic Games; and the flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Olympic Games. The president of the organising committee and the IOC president make their closing speeches, the Games are officially closed, and the Olympic flame is extinguished. In what is known as the Antwerp Ceremony, the mayor of the city that organised the Games transfers a special Olympic flag to the president of the IOC, who then passes it on to the mayor of the