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,2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 110m Hurdles Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-07-18. defying traditional beliefs about the physical calibre of Chinese (and Asian) sprint athletes.Liu Xiang - 'China's Flying Man'. China.org. Retrieved on 2010-07-18. 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.Trial for Greek sprinters postponed. USA Today (2009-02-05). Retrieved on 2010-07-18. Both athletes missed the competition and were later banned for missing three doping tests.IAAF charges Kenteris, Thanou and Tzekos with doping violations. IAAF (2004-12-02). Retrieved on 2010-07-18.
Major events
World
Olympic Games Summer Paralympics World Indoor Championships World Athletics Final World Cross Country Championships World Half Marathon Championships World Race Walking Cup IAAF Golden League
Regional
African Championships Asian Indoor Championships Asian Cross Country Championships Pan Arab Games South Asian Games Balkan Games European Cross Country Championships European Cup European Mountain Running Championships Ibero-American Championships
World records
Men Event Athlete Nation Performance Meeting Place Date5,000 metresKenenisa Bekele12:37.35 Hengelo, Netherlands31 May10,000 metresKenenisa Bekele26:20.31 Ostrava, Czech Republic31 May25 km (road)Paul Malakwen Kosgei1:12:45 Berlin, Germany9 May110 m hurdlesLiu Xiang12.91 Athens, Greece27 August3000 m steeplechaseSaif Saaeed Shaheen7:53.63 Brussels, Belgium3 September
Women Event Athlete Nation Performance Meeting Place Date5,000 metresElvan Abeylegesse14:24.68 Bergen, Norway11 June3000 m steeplechaseGulnara Samitova-Galkina9:01.59 Heraklion, Greece10 AugustPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.83 m Donetsk, Ukraine15 FebruaryPole vaultSvetlana Feofanova4.85 m Athens, Greece22 FebruaryPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.86 m Budapest, Hungary6 MarchPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.87 m Gateshead, United Kingdom27 JunePole vaultSvetlana Feofanova4.88 m Heraklion, Greece4 JulyPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.89 m Birmingham, United Kingdom25 JulyPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.90 m London, United Kingdom30 JulyPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.91 m Athens, Greece24 AugustPole vaultYelena Isinbaeva4.92 m Brussels, Belgium3 SeptemberDecathlonMarie Collonvillé8150 pts Talence, France25-26 September
Season's bests 60 metres 6.46 7.06 100 metres 9.85 10.77 200 metres 19.79 22.05 400 metres 44.00 49.07 800 metres 1:43.06 1:56.23 1500 metres 3:27.40 3:57.90 3000 metres 7:27.72 8:31.32 5000 metres 12:37.35 WR 14:24.68 10,000 metres 26:20.31 WR 30:17.15 60 metres hurdles 7.36 7.75 100/110 metres hurdles 12.91 WR= 12.37 400 metres hurdles 47.63 52.77 3000 metres steeplechase 7:53.63 WR 9:01.59 WR10 kilometres 27:35 30:41 15 kilometres 41:38 47:02 20 kilometres 57:54 1:04:19 Half marathon 1:00:11 1:07:47 25 kilometres 1:12:45 1:22:32 30 kilometres 1:29:08 1:39:07 Marathon 2:06:14 2:19:41 20 kilometres race walk 1:17:23 1:26:46 50 kilometres race walk 3:35:29 —Pole vault 6.01 m 4.92 m WRHigh jump 2.37 m 2.06 m Long jump 8.60 m 7.33 m Triple jump 17.93 m (indoor) 15.36 m WR(indoor)Shot put 22.54 m 20.79 m Discus throw 70.97 m 69.14 m Javelin throw 87.73 m 71.53 m Hammer throw 84.46 m 75.18 m Pentathlon — 4759 pts Heptathlon 6438 pts AR 6952 pts Decathlon 8893 pts —4×100 metres relay Shawn CrawfordJustin GatlinCoby MillerMaurice Greene 37.92 Tanya LawrenceSherone SimpsonAleen BaileyVeronica Campbell-Brown 41.73 4×400 metres relay Otis HarrisDerrick BrewJeremy WarinerDarold Williamson 2:55.91 Olesya ForshevaNatalya NazarovaOlesya ZykinaNatalya Antyukh 3:20.16
Awards
Men
AwardWinnerIAAF World Athlete of the YearTrack & Field Athlete of the YearEuropean Athlete of the Year AwardBest Male Track Athlete ESPY Award
Women
AwardWinnerIAAF World Athlete of the YearTrack & Field Athlete of the YearEuropean Athlete of the Year AwardBest Female Track Athlete ESPY Award
Seasonal rankings by event
Men
400 m Hurdles RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.47.632.47.683.47.864.48.005.48.02
3000 m Steeplechase RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.7:53.632.7:59.653.8:02.664.8:02.985.8:05.52
Marathon RANK NAME ATHLETETIMEEVENT1.2:06:16Chicago Marathon2.2:06:18London Marathon3.2:06:22Amsterdam Marathon4.2:06:44Berlin Marathon5.2:06:48London Marathon6.2:06:49Berlin Marathon7.2:07:05Berlin Marathon8.2:07:06Seoul International Marathon9.2:07:12London Marathon10.2:07:42Otsu Marathon
Pole Vault RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSHEIGHT1.6.01 m2.6.00 m3.5.86 m4.5.85 m
Hammer throw
Decathlon
Women
100 metres RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.10.772.10.913.10.924.10.955.10.96
200 metres RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.22.052.22.183.22.304.22.335.22.34
Half Marathon RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.1:07:55
100 m Hurdles RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.12.372.12.453.12.464.12.505.12.51
400 m Hurdles RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.52.772.52.953.53.314.53.325.53.36
3000 m Steeplechase RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSTIME1.9:01.592.9:28.023.9:29.304.9:29.325.9:29.81
High Jump RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSHEIGHT1.2.06 m2.2.04 m3.2.03 m4.2.02 m5.2.01 m
Pole Vault RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSHEIGHT1.4.92 m2.4.88 m3.4.83 m4.4.78 m5.4.72 m
Hammer throw
Heptathlon RANK2004 WORLD BEST PERFORMERSPOINTS1.69522.65943.64354.64245.6387
Marathon RANK NAME ATHLETETIMEEVENT1.2:19:41Berlin Marathon2.2:22:35London Marathon3.2:23:10New York Marathon4.2:23:13New York Marathon5.2:23:26Berlin Marathon6.2:23:28Xiamen Marathon7.2:23:45Chicago Marathon8.2:23:57Nagoya Marathon9.2:24:11Beijing Marathon10.2:24:27Boston 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
Marathon times ARRS