2004 in athletics Hurdler Liu Xiang became Olympic champion and world record holder in 2004.
Major world events Olympic Games World records set 7 IAAF Athletes of the Year Kenenisa Bekele Yelena Isinbayeva ← 2003
2005 →
Overview of the events of 2004 in the sport of athletics
Years in the sport of athletics 2004 in sports Air sports American football Aquatic sports Association football Athletics Australian rules football Badminton Baseball Basketball Canadian football Chess Climbing Combat sports Cricket Cycling Dance sports Darts Equestrianism Esports Field hockey Flying disc Golf Gymnastics Handball Ice hockey Ice sports Korfball Lumberjack sports Mind sports Modern pentathlon Motorsport Orienteering Paralympic sports Precision sports Racquetball Roller sports Sailing Skiing Speedway Rugby league Rugby union Snooker Strength sports Squash Table tennis Tennis Triathlon Volleyball
This article contains an overview of the sport of athletics, including track and field , cross country and road running , in the year 2004 .
The major competition of the year was the 2004 Summer Olympics . At the event, Yelena Isinbayeva cleared a world record 4.91 m in the pole vault . Liu Xiang won the men's 110 metres hurdles with a world record-equalling time of 12.91 seconds,[ 1] defying traditional beliefs about the physical calibre of Chinese (and Asian) sprint athletes.[ 2] Hicham El Guerrouj capped off his prominent international career with two gold medals in the 1500 m and 5000 m. The Olympic competition in Athens was marred by an incident involving Greek Olympic medallists Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou , who were alleged to have staged a motorcycle crash in order to avoid doping tests.[ 3] Both athletes missed the competition and were later banned for missing three doping tests.[ 4]
Major events
World
Regional
World records
Men
Women Event Athlete Nation Performance Meeting Place Date 5,000 metres Elvan Abeylegesse Turkey 14:24.68 Bergen , Norway 11 June 3000 m steeplechase Gulnara Samitova-Galkina Russia 9:01.59 Heraklion , Greece 10 August Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.83 m Donetsk , Ukraine 15 February Pole vault Svetlana Feofanova Russia 4.85 m Athens , Greece 22 February Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.86 m Budapest , Hungary 6 March Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.87 m Gateshead , United Kingdom 27 June Pole vault Svetlana Feofanova Russia 4.88 m Heraklion , Greece 4 July Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.89 m Birmingham , United Kingdom 25 July Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.90 m London , United Kingdom 30 July Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.91 m Athens , Greece 24 August Pole vault Yelena Isinbaeva Russia 4.92 m Brussels , Belgium 3 September Decathlon Marie Collonvillé France 8150 pts Talence , France 25-26 September
Season's bests
Awards
Men Kenenisa Bekele topped the global award polls.
Women Yelena Isinbayeva was both the IAAF and Track & Field News award winner.
Seasonal rankings by event
Men
3000 m Steeplechase
Marathon
Women
3000 m Steeplechase
Marathon
Deaths April 23 – Manuel Alcalde (47), Spanish race walker (b. 1956) December 4 – June Maston (76), Australian sprinter and athletics coach (b. 1928) December 25 – Ian Syster (28), South African long-distance runner (b. 1976)
References ^ 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 110m Hurdles Final. IAAF . Retrieved on 2010-07-18. ^ Liu Xiang - 'China's Flying Man'. China.org. Retrieved on 2010-07-18. ^ Trial for Greek sprinters postponed. USA Today (2009-02-05). Retrieved on 2010-07-18. ^ IAAF charges Kenteris, Thanou and Tzekos with doping violations. IAAF (2004-12-02). Retrieved on 2010-07-18. Marathon times
2004 in the sport of athletics
World Regional
Championships Other Age group
Seasonal
National
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