@import "/olympics/2004/css/main.css"; Skip navigation ABC Home Radio Television ... News Athens Olympics 2004. ABC Sport. Features Program Results ... Galleries Search this site Farewell to Athens Every Olympic Games provides us with defining moments. Some are obvious - like Cathy Freeman's golden run in Sydney and Muhammad Ali's lighting of the cauldron in Atlanta. Others are a matter of personal preference. Athens was no different. In almost every sport there were memories to cherish. From the feats of Ian Thorpe Michael Phelps and Jodie Henry in the pool to unforgettable victories by Kelly Holmes and Hicham El Guerrouj on the track, every winner had a story to tell. And so did most of the losers. Losers like Jana Pittman , Wilson Kipketer and Alex Popov, who weren't losers at all, but were winners without gold medals. For the Greeks, these Games were a triumph. Not because they were the best ever, but because in the main, they went without a hitch. Because, despite the doubters, they opened on schedule, and because - perhaps against all odds in today's world - for a little more than two weeks they recaptured the spirit of the ancient Olympics. The centrepiece of these Games was the thoroughly modern stadium with its Santiago Calatrava-designed roof. | |
|