Belarus competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era. The Belarus Olympic Committee sent a total of 151 athletes to the Games, 82 men and 69 women, to compete in 22 sports.
The Belarusian team featured two defending Olympic champions: discus thrower Ellina Zvereva and single sculls rower Ekaterina Karsten. Along with Zvereva and Karsten, shooters Sergei Martynov, Kanstantsin Lukashyk, and Igor Basinski, and married couple Iryna Yatchenko and Igor Astapkovich competed at their fourth Olympic Games, although they first appeared as part of either the Soviet Union (Martynov and Basinski in 1988) or the Unified Team (Astapkovich, Yatchenko, Lukashyk, and Karsten in 1992). Notable Belarusian athletes featured professional tennis player Max Mirnyi, table tennis star Vladimir Samsonov, gymnast Ivan Ivankov, Russian-born judoka Anatoly Laryukov, and Greco-Roman wrestler Siarhei Lishtvan. Three-time Olympic champion and wrestling coach Alexander Medved became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1]
Belarus left Athens with a total of 13 Olympic medals (2 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze), failing only one gold short of the total achieved in Sydney.[2] Three of these medals were awarded to the athletes in weightlifting, and two each in rowing and boxing for the first time. Five Belarusian athletes set the nation's historical record to win Olympic medals for the first time, including judoka Ihar Makarau in the men's half-heavyweight division, track cyclist Natallia Tsylinskaya in the women's time trial, and sprinter Yulia Nestsiarenka, who became the first non-American to claim the Olympic title in the women's 100 metres since 1980.[3]
Originally, Belarus had won a total of fifteen medals at these Games to match its record with Atlanta. On December 5, 2012, hammer thrower Ivan Tsikhan and discus thrower Iryna Yatchenko stripped off their silver and bronze medals respectively as being ordered by the International Olympic Committee, after drug re-testings of their samples were found positive.[4]
Belarusian 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).[5][6]
On December 5, 2012, hammer thrower Ivan Tsikhan and discus thrower Iryna Yatchenko stripped off their silver and bronze medals respectively as being ordered by the International Olympic Committee, after drug re-testings of their samples were found positive.[4][7]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
*Nadzeya Astapchuk originally took a fifth place. After a series of doping-related disqualifications she moved up to third place.[8] However as she had been banned for doping offenses since 2004, the IOC decided not to award the bronze medals.[9]
Belarus entered six boxers in 2004. They won a pair of silver medals, with a combined record of 9-6 in competition. Belarus ranked 6th in the medals chart for boxing.
Belarus sent five canoe teams to Athens. They competed in seven events, earning a bronze medal in the flatwater men's double kayak 500 metre race. This put Belarus in a three-way tie for 17th place in the canoeing medal count.
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage
Belarusian 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):
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Russian Empire (1900–1912)
Poland (1924–1936)
Soviet Union (1952–1988)
Unified Team (1992)
