2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympics are officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (the 28th Summer Olympic Games). The Games were held in Athens over 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.

Bid and preparations

Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne in 05 September 1997, after surprisingly losing the bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before, on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. Athens, under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, pursued another bid, this time for the right to organize the 2004 games. The success of Athens in securing the 2004 Games were based largely on first, the Athens bids' appeal to Olympic history and the emphasis that it placed on the pivotal role that Greece and Athens played in the promotion of the Olympic Movement, and second, the apparent failure of Atlanta in successfully staging the symbolically significant Centennial Olympic Games in 1996.

Related Topics:
Athens - Lausanne - 1996 Summer Olympics - Atlanta - Tokyo - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki - Greece - 1996

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In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome, Italy, 66 votes to 41. Cape Town, South Africa; Stockholm, Sweden; and Buenos Aires, Argentina, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996. These cities were: Istanbul, Turkey; Lille, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; San Juan, Puerto Rico, Seville, Spain; and Saint Petersburg, Russia http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/athens/election_uk.asp.

Related Topics:
Rome, Italy - Cape Town - South Africa - Stockholm, Sweden - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Istanbul, Turkey - Lille, France - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Seville, Spain - Saint Petersburg, Russia

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NBC Universal paid the IOC $793 million for U.S. broadcast rights http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/30/news/fortune500/nbc_olympics/, the most paid by any country. It was the first Olympics since NBC had merged with Vivendi Universal Entertainment; the merger, along with the acquisitions of the Bravo and Telemundo networks, made it possible for the network to broadcast over 1200 hours of coverage during the games, triple what was broadcast in the U.S. four years earlier.

Related Topics:
NBC Universal - NBC - Vivendi Universal - Bravo - Telemundo - Four years earlier

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Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, concerns about terrorism were much higher. Greece increased the budget for security at the Olympics to €970 million (US$1.2 billion). Approximately 70,000 police officers patrolled Athens and the Olympic venues during the Olympics. NATO and the European Union also provided minor

Related Topics:
September 11, 2001 attacks - Terrorism - NATO - European Union

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support, after Athens asked for co-operation.

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When the International Olympic Committee expressed its concern over the progress of construction work of the new Olympic venues, a new Organizing Committee was formed under President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. Athens was transformed into a city that uses state-of-the-art technology in transportation and urban development. Some of the most modern sporting venues in the world were built to host the 2004 Olympic Games.

Related Topics:
International Olympic Committee - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki

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