Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation, although it had previously appeared in the first four editions as a British colony, and as part of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

. The

Jamaica Olympic Association Jamaica Olympic Association (IOC code: JAM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Jamaica. It is also the body responsible for Jamaica's representation at the Olympic Games. History The Jamaica Olympic Association was founded in 1936 an ...

sent a total of 47 athletes to the Games, 22 men and 25 women, to compete only in track and field (the largest ever by sport), badminton, shooting, and swimming. For the second consecutive time in Olympic history, Jamaica was represented again by more female than male athletes. With

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

's sudden demise to compete for Slovenia at these Games, the Jamaican team featured several Olympic medalists from Sydney, including track hurdler

Danny McFarlane The Jamaica 4x400 team won originally the bronze medal, but the USA 4x400 team, which originally finished first in 4x400 m relay, was disqualified in 2008 due to Antonio Pettigrew confession of using human growth hormone and EPO bet ...

and sprinter

Sandie Richards Angella ("Sandie") Richards (born 6 November 1968 in Clarendon Park) is a Jamaican track and field athlete. She was a bronze medalist in the 4x400 m relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Career She was a world junior represent ...

, who followed Ottey's path as another Jamaican athlete to compete in five Olympic Games since her debut in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. Being the oldest and the most sophisticated athlete of the team, Richards was appointed by the committee to become the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Other notable Jamaican athletes also featured the Atkinson swimming clan Janelle, Jevon, and

Alia Alia or ALIA may refer to: People *Alia (name), a list of people with the surname or given name Places *Alia, Sicily, Italy, a comune * Alia (Phrygia), a town of ancient Phrygia which remains a Roman Catholic titular bishopric *Alía, Spain, a mu ...

, and top medal favorite

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell, CD (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consiste ...

in the men's 100 metres. Jamaica left Athens with a sterling record of five medals (two golds, one silver, and two bronze), being marked as an enormous improvement from Sydney, where the nation failed to claim a single gold. After picking up the first Olympic medal of her illustrious career, sprinter

Veronica Campbell Veronica Campbell-Brown CD ( Campbell; born 15 May 1982) is a retired Jamaican track and field sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and 200 meters.

sought her sights to break a historic milestone as she became the first Jamaican athlete in history to claim an individual Olympic title in the women's 200 metres. She was also named the most decorated Jamaican athlete of the Games, after helping out her relay team produce a brilliant finish with their second gold and collecting the bronze earlier in the 100 metres. Meanwhile,

added a second silver to his Olympic career hardware in the men's 400 metres hurdles, finishing behind Dominican Republic's Félix Sánchez by only a few hurdles left in the track.

Medalists

Athletics

Jamaican athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard). ;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

;Women ;Track & road events * Competed only in heats and received medals ;Field events

Badminton

Shooting

Jamaica has qualified a single shooter. ;Women

Swimming

Jamaican swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time): ;Men ;Women

References

External links

Official Report of the XXVIII OlympiadJamaica Olympic Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamaica At The 2004 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...