Athens - Ten defining moments of the 2004 Olympic Games which came to an end here on Sunday:
Hicham El Guerrouj ends long wait
The popular Moroccan went into the Games as the undisputed king of the 1 500m, but cursed by the tag of being the best middle-distance runner never to have won an Olympic title.
He put that record straight with victory in the 1 500m and added the 5 000m for good measure five days later.
Tears on the streets for Paula Radcliffe
Just as El Guerrouj's double victory warmed the hearts, Radcliffe's double implosion on the streets of Athens in the marathon and on the track in the 10 000m, created some conflicting views in Britain.
One newspaper created a new phrase - Doing a Radcliffe - to describe the act of prematurely quitting.
Fallen stars Kenteris and Thanou
The Games were dogged by countless drug test failures and allegations of wrong-doing and the Greek pair were responsible for the most lurid and ludicrous saga.
They missed a scheduled drugs test, then claimed they were involved in a motorcycle accident before pulling out of the Games.
IOC spokesperson Giselle Davies displayed their surrendered accreditation to hundreds of eager cameramen.
Thorpe beats Phelps in Race of the Century
Ian Thorpe showed Michael Phelps what it meant to be a swimming icon, clawing out a victory over Pieter van den Hoogenband in the Olympic 200m freestyle, as Phelps settled for bronze in the Race of the Century.
Phelps still went on to win six golds medals and eight in all.
Shoe business for Rulon Gardner
Former Olympic super-heavyweight wrestling champion Rulon Gardner quit after losing to Russia's Khasan Baroev and marked his retirement by leaving his shoes on the mat and held an American flag high above his head as he blew kisses to the crowd.
Four years ago in Sydney, the American had caused a sensation by beating legendary Russian Alexander Karelin.
High life for Liu Xiang
The high hurdler became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic athletics title when he stormed to victory in the 110m hurdles in a time which equalled the world record set by Britain's Colin Jackson in 1993.
On the same evening, Xing Huina won the women's 10 000m gold.
Bad dream for USA basketball team
Puerto Rico inflicted one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history upon the United States basketball team with a 92-73 triumph that forever ended the Americans' aura of invincibility.
Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and LeBron James were among the National Basketball Association millionaires humbled.
The Americans went on to lose twice more before grabbing the bronze medal.
Strong stuff for Hossein Rezazadeh
The Iranian proved himself a modern-day Hercules by lifting a new world record of 263.5kg, roughly equivalent to two fridge freezers, on his way to winning his second straight Olympic weightlifting gold.
The "World's Strongest Man", who stands over six-foot tall and weighs just under 163kgs, won the super heavyweight title with a total of 472.5kg which equalled his own world record.
First for Israel's Gal Fridman
Windsurfer Fridman made history by winning the first Olympics gold for Israel. After his medal-winning heroics, Fridman paused in his celebrations to pay tribute to the memory of the 11 Israelis killed at the 1972 Munich Games.
"I think of them regularly," said the windsurfer.
"I hope they are happy 'up there'."
Sad times for Marion
American superstar Marion Jones made a tearful exit from the Olympics finishing an unhappy campaign empty-handed four years after being the golden girl of the Sydney Games.
The 28-year-old came fifth in the long jump and was then involved in a baton change blunder in the 4x100m relay which left the United States quartet out of the medals for the first time since 1980. - Sapa-AFP
