Athens 2004 - AOB Broadcast Opening Sequence
Copyright (c) 2004 Athens Olympic Broadcasting
After been 108 years, the Olympic Games finally came back to its spiritual and modern birthplace - Athens, Greece, setting the stage to celebrate the XXVIII Summer Olympiad held from 13 to 29 August 2004.
Although, with the event being taken place in Greece, which is among one of the poorest countries in the European Union, critics had doubted that the Games would potentially be an economic disaster, but for the country itself, with all the sporting facilities and an improved transport system, they do manage to put up what the IOC heralds as Greece's 'dream games' as the Olympics come home for the first time since 1896 - the first one in the modern era.
As 3.9 billion people watched on TV across the globe, the Athens Olympics sought a record 201 nations participating, that number included Games newcomers Kiribati and Timor Leste, and the Games featured 301 medal events in 28 sports, which includes the debut for women's events on the wrestling programme.
There were notable moments at Athens 2004 where history of the Olympic Games itself was revisited; the shot put events were held in the ancient stadium at Olympia, while the archery competitions were staged in the Panathenaic Stadium, the main site of the 1896 Olympics. Additionally, both women's and men's marathons began in the town that gave the event its name and followed the 1896 route, ending in the Panathenaic Stadium.
Also, a new medal obverse was introduced at the Athens Olympiad, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since Amsterdam 1928. The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, which thus rectified the long-running mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue.
Team USA once again topped the medal standings in Athens with a haul of 101 medals; 36 of which were gold, but with Beijing on the horizon four years later, it was perhaps a portent of what was to come that China finished second, having racked out 32 golds, 17 silvers and 14 bronzes. Russia came at second place in the overall count with 90 medals of any color, but they finished third with 28 gold medals.
These Games were generally deemed to be a success, but however, there has been debates regarding the cost of the 2004 Olympics and their possible contribution to the Greek government-debt crisis between early 2009 to late 2018, although there is little or no evidence supporting such a correlation.
