Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics had 18 events in three disciplines:
- Road cycling, held at the Athens historic centre (start and finish at Kotzia Square, for the road race events) and in Vouliagmeni Olympic Centre (for the time trial events).
- Track cycling, held at the Olympic Velodrome.
- Mountain biking, held at the Parnitha Olympic Mountain Bike Venue.
In total, 464 cyclists participated, of which 334 men and 130 women, from 61 countries. The youngest participant was Ignatas Konovalovas, at 18 years, while the oldest was Jeannie Longo, at 45 years. The most successful contestant became Bradley Wiggins, who won three medals, one gold, one silver and one bronze.
After the Men's Road Time Trial, it was announced that Tyler Hamilton, the winner of the men's time trial, had had a positive doping test, but because the backup sample was frozen, further tests could not be done, and the results stayed as they were. On August 10, 2012 Hamilton was stripped of his gold medal which will now go to Russian rider Viatcheslav Ekimov. American Bobby Julich will be moved up from bronze to silver, and Michael Rogers of Australia from fourth to bronze.
Read more about Cycling At The 2004 Summer Olympics: Medal Table
Famous quotes containing the words cycling and/or summer:
“If all feeling for grace and beauty were not extinguished in the mass of mankind at the actual moment, such a method of locomotion as cycling could never have found acceptance; no man or woman with the slightest aesthetic sense could assume the ludicrous position necessary for it.”
—Ouida [Marie Louise De La Ramée] (1839–1908)
“With fairest flowers
Whilst summer lasts and I live here, Fidele,
I’ll sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack
The flower that’s like thy face, pale primrose, nor
The azured harebell, like thy veins; no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Outsweetened not thy breath.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)