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
Winter Olympic Games three events in his sport. Alberto Tomba, an Italian skier, made his Olympic debut by winning both the giant slalom and slalom. East German Christa Rothenburger won the women's 1,000 metre speed skating event. Seven months later she would earn a silver in track cycling at the Summer Games in Seoul, to become the only athlete to win medals in both a Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year. The 1992 Winter Games were the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games. They were hosted in the French Savoie region, with 18 events held