Skip to main content
17722
Go to International Paralympic Committee homepage Official website of the Paralympic Movement
Contrast:
High Contrast
Normal Contrast
Enlargement:
Larger Font Size
Default Font Size
Smaller Font Size
    • Home
    • Paralympic Games
    • Events & Competitions
    • The IPC
    • Results, Rankings & Records
    • Media centre
    • Sports
    • Classification
    • Videos
    • Athletes
    • Fan Zone
    • NPCs
    • Agitos Foundation
    • Partnerships
    • Newsletter
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Instagram

    Athens 2004

    Logo Paralympic Games
    Greece flag Greece 17 - 28 September 2004
    • New sports: 2 - Judo and Women’s Sitting Volleyball
    • NPC debuts: 17
    • Countries: 135
    • Athletes: 3,808
      • Men 2,643
      • Women 1,165
    • World Records: 304
    • Paralympic Games Records: 448
    • Medal events: 518
    • Sports: 19
    • Spectators: 850,000
    • Cumulated TV audience: 1.852 billion
    • Volunteers: 8,863
    Top 5 Medals Table
    Top 5 Medals Table
    Pos. Countries Gold medals amount Silver medals amount Bronze medals amount
    1 People's Republic of China CHN 63 46 32
    2 Great Britain GBR 35 30 29
    3 Canada CAN 28 19 25
    4 USA USA 27 22 39
    5 Australia AUS 26 39 36
    Read more...about Results following the link
    © •
    Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker
    Mascot Paralympic Games Athens 2004 Mascot Paralympic Games Athens 2004 ATHENS - SEPTEMBER 28:  The lights at Olympic Stadium turn red symbolizing the handover of the Paralympic games to Beijing during the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympic Games September 28, 2004  in Athens, Greece. ( ATHENS - SEPTEMBER 28: The lights at Olympic Stadium turn red symbolizing the handover of the Paralympic games to Beijing during the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympic Games September 28, 2004 in Athens, Greece. © Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images

    The Athens 2004 Paralympic Games began with a colorful and spectacular Opening Ceremony and concluded with the revealing of the new IPC logo, which features the three “agitos.”

    SPORTS

    With the addition of judo and sitting volleyball for women and football 5-a-side for men, a total of 19 sporting events made up the 2004 Games.

    Archery Para athletics Boccia Cycling Equestrian Football 5-a-side Football 7-a-side Goalball Judo Para powerlifting Sailing Shooting Para sport Para swimming Table tennis Sitting volleyball Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair tennis

    TORCH RELAY

    A total of 705 torchbearers carried the Paralympic flame 410 km through 45 municipalities of Greece.

    OPENING CEREMONY

    The Athens 2004 Paralympics Opening Ceremony honored Paralympic athletes by calling upon the energy of universal elements and drawing upon the strength for life.

    Although the live broadcast of the Ceremony coincided with the middle of the night in some parts of the world, around 10 million Chinese and eight million Japanese citizens enjoyed the event.

    MEDALS

    The 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens were a precursor to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, as China dominated both the gold-medal and overall medal standings. Great Britain finished with the second highest number of gold medals, while Australia had the second highest medal tally overall.

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

    Japanese swimmer Mayumi Narita took home seven gold medals and a bronze medal.

    Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Peticlerc took home five gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m races, setting three world records in the process.

    Jonas Jacobsson of Sweden brought his country to the top of the shooting medal table, claiming four of his nation’s six gold medals in the sport.

    China won the first-ever gold medal in women’s sitting volleyball, defeating the Netherlands, 3-1, in a thrilling final match.

    Brazil established itself as the team to beat in football 5-a-side, narrowly beating Argentina, 3-2, in a penalty shootout in the sports first final match at the Paralympic Games. Brazil was the only squad that went undefeated in the tournament, as it notched 14 goals in just six matches.

    ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE

    A total of 3,103 media representatives were present in Athens to cover the Games, as a total of 617 hours were broadcasted in 25 countries.

    German broadcaster ARD/ZDF reported that the highlights aired on 19 September were viewed by nearly 1.5 million people. In Great Britain, the BBC attracted almost 2 million viewers for its first Sunday Paralympic Programme, while 634,000 people watched the summary broadcast in Spain on 19 September.

    In addition to the large amount of television viewers and attendance at the Games, more than 250 observers from 16 future Organising Committees and International Sport Federations took part in the Athens 2004 Observers Programme. It included guided visits and 25 meetings with the Organising Committee and the IPC.

    CLOSING CEREMONY

    At the Closing Ceremony of the Games, the IPC’s new logo was unveiled to the world and was raised in the stadium. IPC President Sir Phillip Craven then handed over the Paralympic flag with the new IPC symbol to the Vice Mayor of Beijing, Liu Jingmin.

    Athens 2004 in pictures Photogallery

    Relive the action from Athens 2004 ParalympicSport.TV

    News from Athens 2004 News

    Medallists from Athens 2004 View all...

    Athens 2004 Mascots Mascots

    Athens 2004 Medals View all...

    Worldwide Paralympic Partners
    Go to Atos partner page
    Go to Bridgestone partner page
    Go to OttoBock partner page
    Go to Panasonic partner page
    Go to Samsung partner page
    Go to Toyota partner page
    Go to Visa partner page
    International Partners
    Go to Allianz partner page
    Go to BP partner page
    Go to Citi partner page
    • FAQ
    • Privacy
    • Imprint
    • Jobs
    Powered by Go to Atos. Worldwide IPC partner page
    The Paralympic Games
    Summer Games
    Winter Games
    Sochi 2014
    Rio 2016
    All the results & medallist since 1960
    Games video archive
    About the IPC
    Who we are
    Anti-Doping
    Medical
    Partners
    IPC Strategic Plan 2015-2018
    IPC Handbook
    Publications and Documents
    Media Centre
    News
    Features & Interviews
    The Paralympian
    Videos
    Athlete of the Month
    Media Office
    Sports
    Summer Sports
    Winter Sports
    Biographies
    NPCS
    Africa
    America
    Asia
    Europe
    Oceania
    Go to International Paralympic Committee homepage
    Official Website of the Paralympic Movement • IPC
    Homepage
    Paralympic Games
    The IPC
    Results, Ranking & Records
    Media Centre
    Videos
    Sports
    International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
    Adenauerallee 212-214, 53113 Bonn, Germany
    Telephone: +49-228-2097-200 • Fax: +49-228-2097-209 • E-mail: info@paralympic.org
    00:07:01