• Emblem

  

  The 2004 Olympic Games emblem is a wreath made from an olive tree branch, or kotinos. The emblem is a reference to the ancient Olympic Games, where the kotinos was the official award of Olympic champions.

  In addition, the olive was the sacred tree of Athens. The colours of the emblem symbolise the shades of white and blue found in the Greek countryside.

  
  

  

• Turkmenistan team

  Athlete	Sport
  Nazar Begliyev	Athletics
  Svetlana Pessova	Athletics
  Aliasker Bashirov	Boxing
  Shohrat Kurbanov	Boxing
  Nasiba Salayeva	Judo
  Igor Pirekeev	Shooting
  Hojamamed Hojamamedov	Swimming
  Yelena Rojkova	Swimming
  Umurbek Bazarbayev	Weightlifting

  

• Torch

  Start date:
  25 March 2004, Olympia (Greece)
  
  End date:
  13 August 2004, Olympic Stadium, Athens (Greece)
  
  First torchbearer:
  Kostas Gatsioudis, Olympic participant in athletics (1996, 2000)
  
  Last torchbearer:
  Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, Olympic participant in sailing (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), gold medallist in Atlanta 1996 and silver medallist in Athens in 2004.
  
  Number of torchbearers:
  ~7,700 in Greece, ~3,600 for the international relay
  
  Recruitment of torchbearers:
  The selection criteria for the torchbearers was based on choosing people who played an important role in their communities through sport, education and culture, who inspired others and who embodied the values of the Olympic Games and the ideals of the Olympic Movement.
  
  Distance:
  6,600 km in Greece of which 2,500 km was on foot, 2,800 km by convoy and 1,300 km by helicopter. 78,000 km by land, sea and air for the international relay.
  
  Countries visited:
  Greece, Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, India, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus.

  

  

• Mascots

  

  PHEVOS AND ATHENA

  NAME
  Phevos and Athena. The names of the two mascots are a reference to two gods of Olympus: “Phoebos” is another name for Apollo, the god of light and music; “Athena” is the goddess of wisdom and protector of the city of Athens. The two mascots thus symbolise the link between Ancient Greece and the Olympic Games of the modern era.

  DESCRIPTION
  Phevos and Athena are brother and sister. They owe their strange shape to a typical terracotta doll in the shape of a bell from the 7th century BC, the “daidala”. They symbolise the pleasure of playing and the values of Olympism. The choice of a brother and sister was deliberate: they embody the unity of men and women, through equality and brotherhood. Phevos wears a blue tunic to recall the sea and the colour of the Games emblem, while Athena is in orange to evoke the sun and the Paralympic emblem.

  CREATOR
  Spiros Gogos, Paragraph Design

  DID YOU KNOW?

  • In Ancient Greece, as well as being children‟s toys, daidala had a symbolic function. Before they got married, girls would sacrifice their doll and their dress to the gods for purity and fertility. The example which inspired the mascots is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
  • A competition was held to design the mascot. In all, 196 proposals were submitted by design agencies and professionals from all over the world.

  

Best of Athens 2004

A record 201 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Olympic Games. The overall tally for events on the programme was 301 (one more than at the Sydney Games in 2000).
© Olympic.org

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