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
Summer Olympic Games from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations in 1896, to 306 events with 11,238 competitors (6,179 men, 5,059 women) from 206 nations in 2016. The Summer Olympics has been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries. The United States has hosted the Games four times (in 1904, 1932, 1984 and 1996); this is more times than any other nation. The Games have been held three times in the United Kingdom (in 1908, 1948 and 2012); twice each in Greece (1896, 2004), France (1900, 1924), Germany (1936, 1972) and Australia (1956, 2000);