Ireland At The 2004 Summer Olympics
Ireland competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Ireland's Olympic campaign for the 2004 Games was dogged with controversy from the start, with the disqualification of Cathal Lombard for failing a drug test for the drug EPO. However, 106 individual athletes and 12 teams attended the games, covering all fields, notably equestrian, athletics, and sailing.
Ireland's only medal at the Games, a gold one, was stripped from Cian O'Connor in the individual Show Jumping event, riding his horse Waterford Crystal. Going into the last round of the Individual Show Jumping, Ireland was in front, albeit with Jessica Kuerten and not Cian. However, a faultless last round pushed O'Connor ahead of the rest of the field. Later it was found that Cian's horse had tested positive for banned substances. Although Cian was cleared of any wrongdoing, he was ordered to hand the medal back.
Read more about Ireland At The 2004 Summer Olympics: Athletics, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Officials
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I carry from my mother’s womb
A fanatic’s heart.”
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—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)