Slovenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenia competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since the post-Yugoslav era. The Olympic Committee of Slovenia (Slovene: Olimpijski Komite Slovenije) sent the nation's largest ever delegation to the Games in Olympic history. A total of 79 athletes, 56 men and 23 women, competed in 10 sports. For the second consecutive time, men's handball was the only team-based sport in which Slovenia had its representation at these Games.

Slovenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics
IOC code	SLO
NOC	Olympic Committee of Slovenia
Website	www.olympic.si (in Slovene and English)
in Athens
Competitors	79 in 10 sports
Flag bearer	Beno Lapajne[1]
Medals Ranked 63rd	Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze 3 Total 4
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Austria (1912)  Yugoslavia (1920–1988)

The Slovenian team featured three defending Olympic champions from Sydney: double sculls pair Iztok Čop and Luka Špik, and rifle shooter Rajmond Debevec, who became the first Slovenian to compete in six Olympic Games (including two appearances for Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Sprinter Merlene Ottey, who granted a dual citizenship in 2002, also set a historic milestone as the first female track and field athlete to participate in seventh Olympics, although she appeared for her native Jamaican team in previous editions.^[2] Handball team goalkeeper Beno Lapajne was appointed by the committee to carry the Slovenian flag in the opening ceremony.^[1]

Slovenia left Athens with a total of four medals, one silver and bronze, failing to achieve an Olympic gold for the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.^[3] Unable to defend their Olympic rowing title from the previous Games, Čop and Špik managed to settle only for the silver after losing out to France by two seconds in the men's double sculls.^[4] Meanwhile, the remaining medals were awarded to the athletes for the first time in women's judo and sailing.

Medalists

Further information: 2004 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 2004 Summer Olympics medal winners

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Silver	Iztok Čop Luka Špik	Rowing	Men's double sculls	August 21
Bronze	Urška Žolnir	Judo	Women's 63 kg	August 17
Bronze	Vasilij Žbogar	Sailing	Laser class	August 22
Bronze	Jolanda Čeplak	Athletics	Women's 800 m	August 23

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenian 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]

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
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Boštjan Buč	3000 m steeplechase	8:37.29	10	—				Did not advance
Roman Kejžar	Marathon	—						2:23:34	54
Matic Osovnikar	100 m	10.15 NR	3 Q	10.26	4	Did not advance
	200 m	20.57	4 Q	20.47 NR	4 q	20.89	8	Did not advance
Matija Šestak	400 m	45.88	4 q	—		46.54	7	Did not advance
Damjan Zlatnar	110 m hurdles	13.66 NR	7 q	DNS		Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Gregor Cankar	Long jump	7.32	39	Did not advance
Primož Kozmus	Hammer throw	78.81	5 Q	78.56	6
Rožle Prezelj	High jump	2.20	=20	Did not advance
Igor Primc	Discus throw	56.33	30	Did not advance
Jure Rovan	Pole vault	5.50	25	Did not advance
Boštjan Šimunič	Triple jump	16.07	37	Did not advance
Miroslav Vodovnik	Shot put	20.04	12 q	19.34	11
Peter Zupanc	Javelin throw	77.34	22	Did not advance

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Alenka Bikar	200 m	23.09	2 Q	23.38	7	Did not advance
Jolanda Čeplak	800 m	2:00.61	1 Q	—		1:58.80	2 Q	1:56.43
Helena Javornik	10000 m	—						31:06.63 NR	10
Merlene Ottey	100 m	11.14	2 Q	11.24	3 Q	11.21	5	Did not advance
	200 m	22.72 NR	3 Q	23.07	4 q	DNF		Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Tina Čarman	Long jump	5.72	36	Did not advance
Teja Melink	Pole vault	4.15	=24	Did not advance

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slalom

Athlete	Event	Preliminary						Semifinal		Final
		Run 1	Rank	Run 2	Rank	Total	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Total	Rank
Simon Hočevar	Men's C-1	104.17	9	105.18	11	209.35	9 Q	100.24	8 Q	99.54	6	199.78	6
Uroš Kodelja	Men's K-1	102.24	19	97.99	13	200.23	17 Q	96.68	8 Q	104.93	10	201.61	10
Nada Mali	Women's K-1	165.65	19	110.83	10	278.48	19	Did not advance

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Jernej Župančič Regent	K-1 1000 m	3:32.552	7 q	3:35.050	6	Did not advance

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify to final; q = Qualify to semifinal

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Road

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Andrej Hauptman	Men's road race	5:41:56	5
Uroš Murn		5:44:13	50
Gorazd Štangelj	Men's road race	5:43:20	43
	Men's time trial	1:03:45.84	35
Tadej Valjavec	Men's road race	5:41:56	26

Handball

Main article: Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Men's tournament

Main article: Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

Roster

The following is the Slovenia roster in the men's handball tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[7]

Head coaches: Tone Tiselj

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 1 GK Dušan Podpečan (1975-10-12)12 October 1975 (aged 28) 1.96 m RK Gorenje 2 LB Miladin Kozlina (1983-02-11)11 February 1983 (aged 21) 1.97 m RK Celje 4 RB Renato Vugrinec (1975-06-09)9 June 1975 (aged 29) 1.95 m RK Celje 5 LW Zoran Jovičič (1976-11-04)4 November 1976 (aged 27) 1.84 m RK Prevent 6 LW Andrej Kastelic (1971-04-06)6 April 1971 (aged 33) 1.85 m RD Prule 67 7 LW Vid Kavtičnik (1984-05-24)24 May 1984 (aged 20) 1.91 m RK Gorenje 8 P Marko Oštir (1977-06-07)7 June 1977 (aged 27) 1.94 m RK Gorenje 9 RB Jure Natek (1982-03-30)30 March 1982 (aged 22) 1.93 m RK Celje 13 P Tomaž Tomšič (1972-08-17)17 August 1972 (aged 31) 1.91 m US Ivry Handball 14 LB Siarhei Rutenka (1981-08-29)29 August 1981 (aged 22) 1.98 m RK Celje 15 LB Aleš Pajovič (1979-01-06)6 January 1979 (aged 25) 1.97 m BM Ciudad Real 16 GK Beno Lapajne (1973-06-10)10 June 1973 (aged 31) 2.00 m RK Gold Club 17 RW Matjaž Brumen (1982-12-23)23 December 1982 (aged 21) 1.90 m RK Celje 18 CB Uroš Zorman (1980-01-09)9 January 1980 (aged 24) 1.89 m RK Celje 20 RW Luka Žvižej (1980-12-09)9 December 1980 (aged 23) 1.84 m FC Barcelona

Group play

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	5	5	0	0	146	129	+17	10	Quarterfinals
2	Spain	5	4	0	1	154	137	+17	8
3	South Korea	5	2	0	3	148	148	0	4[a]
4	Russia	5	2	0	3	145	145	0	4[a]
5	Iceland	5	1	0	4	143	158	−15	2[b]
6	Slovenia	5	1	0	4	130	149	−19	2[b]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
Notes:

1. South Korea 35–32 Russia
2. Iceland 30–25 Slovenia

14 August 2004 14:30	Russia	28 - 25	Slovenia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Kokcharov 9	(16-13)	3 players with 4
	2× 8× 1×		3× 9×

16 August 2004 11:30	Slovenia	26 - 27	Croatia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Oie, Togstad (NOR)
	Brumen 10	(10-13)	Vori 8
	3× 7× 2×		3× 7× 1×

18 August 2004 11:30	Iceland	30 - 25	Slovenia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	G. Sigurdsson 7	(10-10)	Rutenka 10
	3× 3×		3× 3×

20 August 2004 11:30	Spain	41 - 28	Slovenia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Romero 7	(18-15)	Tomšič, Pajovič 7
	2× 3×		4× 3×

22 August 2004 09:30	Slovenia	26 - 23	South Korea	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Hassan, Aly (EGY)
	Rutenka 7	(12-11)	Lee J 6
	4× 8× 1×		3× 2×

Classification match (11th–12th place)

24 August 2004 09:30	Slovenia	30 - 24	Egypt	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Hansson, Olsson (SWE)
	Brumen, Zvizej 6	(11-13)	Yosry 6
	1× 7× 1×		1× 5×

Judo

Main article: Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Five Slovenian judoka (one men and four women) qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Sašo Jereb	−73 kg	Malekmohammadi (IRI) L 0010–1000	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Petra Nareks	−52 kg	Souakri (ALG) L 0001–0010	Did not advance
Urška Žolnir	−63 kg	Bye	González (CUB) W 0010–0001	Vandecaveye (BEL) W 1020–0000	Heill (AUT) L 0111–1000	Bye			Chisholm (CAN) W 0100–0010
Raša Sraka	−70 kg	Bye	Ueno (JPN) L 0001–0012	Did not advance		Schutz (USA) W 0010–0000	Jacques (BEL) L 0000–0200	Did not advance
Lucija Polavder	+78 kg	Köppen (GER) L 0000–1010	Did not advance

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenian rowers qualified the following boats:

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Davor Mizerit	Single sculls	7:24.60	3 R	7:01.31	1 SA/B/C	7:04.07	3 FB	6:55.64	9
Andrej Hrabar Matija Pavšič	Pair	7:05.36	5 R	6:30.89	3 SA/B	6:46.12	5 FB	6:27.11	9
Iztok Čop Luka Špik	Double sculls	6:45.26	1 SA/B	Bye		6:11.96	1 FA	6:31.72
Janez Klemenčič Miha Pirih Tomaž Pirih Gregor Sračnjek	Four	6:25.36	3 SA/B	Bye		5:55.53	4 FB	5:50.59	9

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

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenian sailors have qualified one boat for each of the following events.

Men

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Gašper Vinčec	Finn	4	24	14	19	DNF	19	8	17	18	5	23	151	20
Tomaž Čopi Davor Glavina	470	13	13	17	6	15	20	8	19	15	6	14	126	14

Women

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Vesna Dekleva Klara Maučec	470	3	5	14	18	2	15	1	2	18	3	2	65	4

Open

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Vasilij Žbogar	Laser	21	13	3	8	4	1	14	1	14	5	13	76

M = Medal race; OCS = On course side of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics

One Slovenian shooter qualified to compete in the following events:

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Rajmond Debevec	10 m air rifle	589	=29	Did not advance
	50 m rifle prone	594	=9	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1166	5 Q	1262.6	4

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenian 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):

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Peter Mankoč	50 m freestyle	DNS		Did not advance
	100 m freestyle	49.54	10 Q	49.71	13	Did not advance
	200 m freestyle	1:50.72	22	Did not advance
	100 m butterfly	54.14	29	Did not advance
	200 m individual medley	DNS		Did not advance
Blaž Medvešek	200 m backstroke	2:01.13	15 Q	1:59.37	7 Q	2:00.06 NR	8
Marko Milenkovič	400 m individual medley	4:30.99	31	—		Did not advance
Emil Tahirovič	100 m breaststroke	1:02.12	17	Did not advance
	200 m breaststroke	2:18.65	36	Did not advance
Bojan Zdešar	400 m freestyle	3:59.38	31	—		Did not advance
	1500 m freestyle	15:31.57	20	—		Did not advance
Jernej Godec Peter Mankoč Blaž Medvešek Emil Tahirovič	4 × 100 m medley relay	3:44.17	14	—		Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Anja Čarman	400 m freestyle	4:17.79	24	—		Did not advance
	800 m freestyle	DNS		—		Did not advance
	200 m backstroke	2:17.62	23	Did not advance
Sara Isaković	50 m freestyle	26.81	36	Did not advance
	100 m freestyle	56.67	=26	Did not advance
	200 m freestyle	2:01.71	18	Did not advance
Alenka Kejžar	200 m backstroke	DNS		Did not advance
	200 m breaststroke	2:32.64	18	Did not advance
	200 m individual medley	2:18.60	18	Did not advance
Anja Klinar	200 m butterfly	2:18.15	28	Did not advance
	400 m individual medley	4:46.66	13	—		Did not advance
Lavra Babič Anja Čarman Sara Isaković Anja Klinar	4 × 200 m freestyle relay	8:16.89	16	—		Did not advance

Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Slovenia nominated four female tennis players to compete in the tournament.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Maja Matevžič	Women's singles	Obata (JPN) W 7–6(7–3), 7–5	Williams (USA) L 0–6, 0–6	Did not advance
Tina Pisnik		Black (ZIM) L 3–7, 7–5, 4–6	Did not advance
Katarina Srebotnik		Sánchez (ESP) W 6–3, 0–6, 6–4	Molik (AUS) L 5–7, 4–6	Did not advance
Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik	Women's doubles	—	Dechy / Testud (FRA) L 5–7, 3–6	Did not advance
Maja Matevžič Tina Pisnik		—	Yan Z / Zheng J (CHN) L 1–6, 2–6	Did not advance

See also

• Slovenia at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
• Slovenia at the 2005 Mediterranean Games