2004 ATHENS SUMMER OLYMPICS

The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, were held in Athens, Greece, over a period of 17 days from August 13 to August 29, 2004. Planners expected 10,500 athletes (in fact 11,099 competed) and 5,500 team officials from 202 countries. Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. There were a total of 301 medal events from 28 different sports.

MASCOTS OF ATHENS 2004 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France it has been the tradition to have a mascot for the games; for 2004, the official mascots were sister and brother, Athiná and Phévos (pronounced in Greek, Athina and Fivos), named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war, and Phoebos, the god of light and music, respectively.

They were inspired by the ancient daidala which were dolls that had religious links as well as being toys.

OPENING CEREMONY ATHENS 2004

The Opening Ceremony held on August 13, 2004 began with a twenty eight (the number of the Olympiads up to then) second countdown paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat. As the countdown was completed, fireworks rumbled and illuminated the skies overhead as fire erupted from a reflecting pool in the middle of the stadium creating a burning image of the Olympic rings. The Opening Ceremony was a pageant of traditional Greek culture and history hearkening back to its mythological beginnings.

The program began as a young Greek boy sailed into the stadium on a 'paper-ship' waving the host nation's flag to haunting music by Hadjidakis and then a centaur appeared, followed by a gigantic head of a cycladic figurine which eventually broke into many pieces symbolising the Greek islands. Underneath the cycladic head was a hellenistic representation of the human body, reflecting the concept and belief in perfection reflected in Greek art. A man was seen balancing on a hovering cube symbolising man's eternal 'split' between passion and reason followed by a couple of young lovers playfully chasing each other while the god Eros was hovering above them. There followed a very colourful float parade chronicling Greek history from the ancient Minoan civilization to modern times.

Although the National Broadcasting Company in the United States presented the entire opening ceremony from start to finish, a topless Minoan goddess was shown only briefly, the breasts having been pixelated digitally in order to avoid potential fines by the Federal Communications Commission. Also, lower frontal nudity of men dressed as ancient Greek statues was shown in such a way that the area below the waist was cut off by the bottom of the screen. In most other countries presenting the broadcast, there was no censorship of the ceremony.

Following the artistic performances, a parade of nations entered the stadium with over 10,500 athletes walking under the banners of 202 nations. The nations were arranged according to Greek alphabet making Finland, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, China among the last to enter the stadium. Based on audience reaction, the emotional high point of the parade was the entrance of the delegation from Afghanistan which had been absent from the Olympics and had female competitors for the first time. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions. Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea under the Korean Unification Flag. The country of Kiribati made a debut appearance at these games and East Timor made a debut appearance under its own flag.

Due to the perceived unpopularity of the American-led invasion of Iraq among Greeks, it had been expected that audience members would protest the war during the entrance of the American delegation into the stadium by booing; however, the roar of cheers and applause the Americans received was among the loudest of the evening. After the Parade of Nations, during which the Dutch DJ Tiësto provided the music, the Icelandic singer Björk performed. In this occasion, in observance of the tradition that the delegation of Greece opens the parade and the host nation closes it, the Greek flag bearer opened the parade and all the Greek delegation closed the parade.

The Opening Ceremony culminated in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by 1996 Gold Medalist Windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. The gigantic cauldron, which was styled after the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch, pivoted down to be lit by the 35 year-old, before slowly swinging up and lifting the flame high above the stadium. Following this, the stadium found itself at the centre of a rousing fireworks spectacular.

CLOSING CEREMONY ATHENS 2004

The Games were concluded on August 29, 2004. The closing ceremony was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium, where the Games had been opened 16 days earlier. Around 70,000 people gathered in the stadium to watch the ceremony.

A significant part of the closing ceremony was the exchange of the Olympic flag of the Antwerp games between the mayor of Athens and the mayor of Beijing, host city of the next Olympic games. After the flag exchange a presentation from the Beijing delegation presented a glimpse into Chinese culture for the world to see.

The ceremony ended with a variety of musical performances by Greek singers, including Anna Vissi, Sakis Rouvas, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Alkistis Protopsalti, Marinella, George Dalaras, Dimitra Galani, and Haris Alexiou, as thousands of athletes carried out humorous and symbolic displays on the stadium floor. Before that, the Twelve Girls Band from China sang Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) and the medal ceremony for the last event of the Olympiad, the Men's Marathon, was conducted, with Stefano Baldini from Italy as the winner.

A flag-bearer from each nation's delegation then entered along the stage, followed by the competitors en masse on the floor.

Short speeches were presented by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, chief Greek organizer of the Games, and by President Dr. Jacques Rogge of the IOC, in which he described the Athens Olympics as "unforgettable, dream Games".

It should be noted that Dr. Rogge had previously declared he would be breaking with tradition in his closing speech as President of the IOC and that he would never use the words of his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch, who used to always say 'these were the best ever games' (with the notable exception of Atlanta 1996). Dr. Rogge had described Salt Lake City 2002 as "suberb games" and in turn would continue after Athens 2004 and describe Turin 2006 as "truly magnificent games".

The national anthems of Greece and China were played in a handover ceremony as both nations' flags were raised. The Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, passed the Olympic Flag to the Mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan. After a short cultural performance by Chinese actors, dancers, and musicians directed by eminent Chinese director Zhang Yimou, Rogge declared the 2004 Olympic Games closed.

A young Greek girl, Fotini Papaleonidopoulou, lit a symbolic lantern with the Olympic Flame and passed it on to other children before "extinguishing" the flame in the cauldron by blowing a puff of air.

ONLINE COVERAGE ATHENS 2004

For the first time, major broadcasters were allowed to serve video coverage of the Olympics over the Internet, provided that they restricted this service geographically, to protect broadcasting contracts in other areas. For instance, the BBC made their complete live coverage available to UK high-speed Internet customers for free; customers in the U.S. were only able to receive delayed excerpts.

The International Olympic Committee forbade Olympic athletes, as well as coaches, support personnel and other officials, from setting up specialized weblogs and/or other websites for covering their personal perspective of the games. They were not allowed to post audio, video, or photos that they had taken. An exception was made if an athlete already has a personal website that was not set up specifically for the Games.

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