Athens 2004

The Athens 2004 Paralympic Games took place from 17 to 28 September 2004. They attracted 3,750 Para athletes from 135 countries.

A total of 1,149 women (31% of the total number of athletes) competed at the Paralympics.

COMPETING NATIONS & ATHLETES

Competition took place over 19 sports in 519 medal events: Para archery, Para athletics, blind football, boccia, Para cycling, Para equestrian, football 7-a-side, goalball, Para judo, Para powerlifting, Para sailing, shooting Para sport, Para swimming, Para table tennis, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

Para judo, women's sitting volleyball and blind football made their Paralympic debut at the Athens 2004 Games.

Thirteen National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) made their Paralympic debut: Bangladesh, Botswana, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Nicaragua, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Suriname, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

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OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

Para athletes broke 304 world and 448 Paralympic records over 11 days of competition.

Japan's Mayumi Narita won the most medals of any athlete at the Games, taking home seven golds and a bronze medal in Para swimming. Para swimmer Erin Popovich of the United States stood second with seven gold medals. Brazil's Clodoaldo Silva earned six golds and one bronze for a third-place spot for medals won by an individual athlete at the Games.

Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Peticlerc set three world records and took home five gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m T54 races.

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.

RESULTS

For the first time in history, China topped the medals table winning 141 medals, out of which 63 were gold medals. Great Britain finished second overall with 35 gold medals followed by Canada with 28 golds.

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

Brazil established itself as the team to beat in blind football, narrowly beating Argentina 3-2 in a penalty shootout in the sport's 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.

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

CHN

GBR

CAN

USA

AUS

TORCH RELAY

The Paralympic Torch Relay began in front of the Acropolis on 9 September. A total of 705 torchbearers carried the Paralympic flame 410 km through 45 municipalities of Greece.

On 17 September the flame was lit by Greek long jumper Georgios Toptsis as part of the Opening Ceremony.

OPENING CEREMONY

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

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

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CLOSING CEREMONY

Due to a tragic bus crash on the day before the Closing Ceremony which killed Greek schoolchildren who were on their way to the Games, the Closing Ceremony was shortened as a mark of respect. Only the athletes' parade, the closing speech by the President of the IPC, Sir Philip Craven, the handover of the flag to the Beijing 2008 organisers, and the extinguishing of the Paralympic flame took place.

The IPC unveiled its new logo during the flag handover from IPC President Sir Phillip Craven to the Vice Mayor of Beijing, Liu Jingmin, host city for the 2008 Paralympic Games.

The IPC's new logo followed a strategic review of the organisation's responsibilities and a "focus on sport development starting at a grassroots level - especially in less developed countries."

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ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE

A total of 850,000 spectators attended the Games, significantly surpassing the original expectations of 400,000 tickets of the Organising Committee. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as many sport events, including Para cycling, Para swimming and wheelchair basketball, were sold out.

Over 3,100 media representatives including more than 50 broadcasters covered the Games. A cumulative audience of almost two billion viewers worldwide saw 617 hours of coverage of the 2004 Paralympic Games.

German broadcasters 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 two million viewers for its first Sunday Paralympic Programme. A total of 634,000 people watched the summary broadcast in Spain on 19 September.

Italian television reported an average cumulated audience of 600,000 for their daily broadcasts of Paralympic highlights, confirming significant growth in media interest for the Paralympic Games since the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.

Despite this success no American television network broadcast the event.

LEGACY

More than 250 observers from 16 future Organising Committees and International Sport Federations took part in the Athens 2004 Observers Programme. The programme was an integral part of the knowledge transfer and included guided visits and 25 meetings with the Organising Committee and the IPC. It allowed observers to gain firsthand experience and insight into the operational aspects of organising the Paralympic Games.

The Athens 2004 Organising Committee also produced the 'Accessible Business Guide' containing 1,315 businesses in Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklio, Magnesia and Achaia that were made accessible to persons with a disability in association with the 'Ermis - Accessible Choice Programme'. The businesses, including shops, restaurants and other service providers, were inspected by accessibility committees on criteria such as entrances, the provision of ramps, access to the ground floor, bathroom facilities and wheelchair friendly areas.

The Athens Games marked a new chapter for the IPC with the officially unveiling of its new symbol, the three agitos (from the Latin meaning 'I move'). Until the Opening Ceremony on 6 September 2008, this flag was displayed in Beijing.

Medals

An engraving of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis decorated the front side of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games medals. Above the engraving, "12th Paralympic Games Athens 2004" was written in Greek. The reverse side has "Athens 2004" etched in braille, providing accessibility for athletes with vision impairments. The logo of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games was placed above the braille engraving, along with the words "Athens 2004 Paralympic Games" and the three Tae-Geuks, which was the symbol of the Paralympic Movement between 1994 and 2004.

Mascot

Meet Proteas – the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games Mascot. Proteas the seahorse represents the values of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Strength, Pursuit, Inspiration and Celebration. Its body is coloured in red, green and blue, representing the three Tae-Geuks, which was used as the International Paralympic Committee logo from 1994-2004. Proteas cheered on the athletes with Olympic mascots Athena and Phevos during Athens 2004.