Czech Republic at the 2004 Summer Olympics
| Czech Republic at the 2004 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | CZE | ||||||||
| NOC | Czech Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website |
www |
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| in Athens | |||||||||
| Competitors | 142 in 19 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer | Květoslav Svoboda | ||||||||
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Medals Ranked 42nd |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
| Other related appearances | |||||||||
 Bohemia (1900–1912) Czechoslovakia (1920–1992) |
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| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
Czech Republic competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's third appearance at the Summer Olympics after gaining its independence from the former Czechoslovakia. The Czech Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest team to the Games since the post-Czechoslovak era. A total of 142 athletes, 80 men and 62 women, competed in 19 sports; the nation's team size was roughly denser from Sydney by one sixth of the athletes. Women's basketball was the only team-based sport in which the Czech Republic had its representation at these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in equestrian, artistic and trampoline gymnastics, judo, and weightlifting.
The Czech team featured two defending Olympic champions: slalom kayaker Štěpánka Hilgertová, who made her fourth Olympic appearance as the most experienced female athlete, and javelin throwing legend Jan Železný, who had won three consecutive Olympic titles throughout his illustrious sporting career, and competed at his fifth Olympics. Meanwhile, freestyle swimmer and top medal favorite Květoslav Svoboda was appointed by the committee to carry the Czech flag in the opening ceremony. Other notable Czech athletes featured decathletes and Olympic medalists Roman Šebrle and Tomáš Dvořák, double Olympic champion Martin Doktor in men's sprint canoeing, and rifle shooter Kateřina Kůrková, who eventually married to the American and Olympic rifle prone titleholder Matt Emmons.
Czech Republic left Athens with a total of nine Olympic medals (one gold, three silver, and four bronze), surpassing the record set in Sydney four years earlier by just a single medal.Roman Šebrle, who previously won silver in Sydney, ended a 20-year drought to set an Olympic record and to receive the nation's only gold medal in men's decathlon, while Libor Capalini set a historic milestone for Czech Republic to pick up its first Olympic medal in modern pentathlon. Meanwhile, Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová originally finished fourth in women's discus throw. On December 5, 2012, the International Olympic Committee stripped off Belarusian Iryna Yatchenko's silver medal after drug re-testings of her samples were found positive, lifting Cechlova's spot to the bronze medal position. For Jan Železný, he ended his sparkling career with a disappointing ninth-place finish in men's javelin throw at his fifth Olympic Games. On August 29, 2004, at the time of the closing ceremony, Zelezny was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission, along with three other athletes.
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