The Athens Summer Olympics Opened
On this day · 13 August 2004
After 108 years, the modern Games came home to Greece, the country that hosted the first Olympics of the modern era.
On 13 August 2004, the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad opened in Athens, returning the modern Olympic movement to the nation that staged its first edition back in 1896. A capacity crowd packed the Olympic Stadium for an opening ceremony that traced Greek history from antiquity through to the present.
The Games ran until 29 August, drawing roughly 10,557 competitors from a then-record 201 national Olympic committees. Athletes contested 28 sports, and for many the symbolism mattered as much as the medals: the shot put events were staged at Olympia, the ancient sanctuary where the original Games were held.
The Olympics had finally come back to the place where they began.
Athens won the right to host after losing the centennial 1996 Games to Atlanta, a defeat that stung in Greece. The 2004 edition became a point of national pride, though its venues and security cost the country billions and fuelled debate over the long-term value of staging the world’s largest sporting event.
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