Ireland at the 2004 Summer Olympics Ireland at the 2004 Summer Olympics Ireland competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's eighteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Council of Ireland sent a total of 46 athletes to the Games, 32 men and 14 women, to compete in 9 sports. The International Olympic Committee allowed athletes from Northern Ireland the option to compete at the Olympic games for either Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or for Ireland. Ireland's Olympic campaign for the Games started with a controversy, as middle-distance runner Cathal Lombard failed a
Summer Olympic Games 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the 1906 Intercalated Games, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics. Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes, including 20 women, who were allowed to officially compete for the first time, in croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. The Games were integrated with the Paris World's Fair and lasted over 5 months. It is still disputed which events exactly were "Olympic", since few or maybe even none of the events were advertised as such at