After years of preparation by the athletes and months of anticipation by the fans, the 2004 Athens Summer Games came and went in the blink of an eye. The Ivy League representatives made the most of their time in Greece, however, collecting a total of eight medals including two gold in their two weeks in Athens.

Kristin Luckenbill (Dartmouth) and the U.S. women’s soccer team captured gold in an exciting 2-1 overtime win over Brazil in the championship contest. Prior to Luckenbill, an Ivy League women’s soccer player had never earned a medal in the Olympics. In fact, until this summer, an Ivy League woman had never even competed in Olympic soccer.

The League has a long history in men’s rowing with 66 total medals dating back to the 1924 Paris Summer Games. Chris Ahrens (Princeton) raised the total to 67 as a member of the U.S. men’s eight crew that captured the United States’ first gold medal in the event in 40 years. The American squad (pictured below) posted a 5:42.8 in the final to defeat the Netherlands (5:43.75) and Australia (5:45.38).

Just about 20 minutes prior to Ahrem’s golden victory, the U.S. women’s eight with Caryn Davies (Harvard) and Lianne Nelson (Princeton) narrowly missed out on gold themselves.

Midway through their race, the U.S. crew held a lead on the Romanian and Australian squads. But the Romanians were able to overtake the U.S. before the 1,500-meter mark and would claim the victory in 6:17.70 with the U.S. squad finishing a close second in 6:19.56 for the silver.

It was the best finish ever in the women’s eight for Ivy Leaguers. The only Ivy League women to earn a medal in the eight before were Anne Warner (Yale) and Marion Greig (Cornell), who claimed bronze together in Montreal in 1976.

Princeton graduate Thomas Herschmiller earned a silver medal as a member of the Canadian men’s four. Herschmiller’s crew led heading into the last 500 meters of the final but the vessel from Great Britain crossed the line with a time of 6:06.98, less than a tenth-of-a-second ahead of Canada at 6:07.06.

Perhaps no event in Athens captured the spirit of the Olympic Games more than the shot put held at the Ancient Stadium in Olympia. The historic venue has witnessed some epic competitions and this year was no exception as one centimeter, yes, one centimeter, separated the first-and second-place finishers.

Adam Nelson (Dartmouth) entered the men’s shot put as the U.S team’s best chance at a gold medal after capturing a silver medal in 2000. Nelson, a former football player and Heps champion, hung onto a slim lead all day, but Yuriy Bilonog of the Ukraine matched Nelson's best throw of 69-5 1/4 on his last attempt to claim the gold medal.

Nelson's final throw looked to be well over 70 feet, but a foul was called. The reason Bilonog took first was because his second-best throw (69-4 3/4) was better than Nelson's, whose other five throws resulted in fouls.

Sada Jacobson (Yale) became the first American female to ever win a fencing medal with a bronze medal performance in the individual sabre. Jacobson, the event's top seed, defeated Catalina Gheorghitoaia of Romania, 15-7, to make history. Prior to Jacobson, the Ivy League had not had an Olympic fencing medalist since the Los Angeles Games of 1932 when Columbia's Hugh Alessandroni and Yale's Dernell Every and Frank Righeimer each earned a bronze in the team foil.

Jimmy Pedro (Brown) became the League’s first medalist in Athens with his bronze medal-winning victory over Daniel Fernandes of France in the 73kg/161 pound judo competition. Pedro, a four-time Olympian and bronze medalist in 1996, competed in six matches on the same day and defeated Fernandes 11101-00012 in the bronze medal contest B. His 2004 medal makes him the first U.S. judo athlete to win two Olympic medals.

For a full recap of the 2004 Summer Games along with bios of all the Ivy Leaguers that participated, please click here.

For all you ever wanted to know about the Ivy League's history with the Olympic Games, please click here.

Ivy League Medalists at the 2004 Athens Summer Games

Gold Medal
Chris Ahren (Princeton), Rowing, Men's Eight
Kristin Luckenbill (Dartmouth), Women's Soccer

Silver Medals
Lianne Bennion-Nelson (Princeton), Rowing, Women's Eight
Caryn Davies (Harvard), Rowing, Women's Eight
Thomas Herschmiller (Princeton), Rowing, Men's Four, Canada
Adam Nelson (Dartmouth), Athletics, Men's Shot Put

Bronze Medals
Sada Jacobson (Yale), Fencing, Women's Sabre
Jimmy Pedro (Brown), Judo, Men's 73kg/161 pounds


Ivy Leaguers on 2004 Olympic Teams

Canoe & Kayak
Benjie Lewis, (Dartmouth '05) canoe/kayak flatwater racing - K-1
Matt Taylor (Yale '92) canoe/kayak slalom racing - C-2

Fencing
Sada Jacobson (Yale '05) women's sabre
Emily Jacobson (Columbia '08) women's sabre
Dan Kellner (Columbia '98) men's foil
Jed Dupree (Columbia '01) men's foil
Soren Thompson (Princeton '04) men's epee
Kamara James (Princeton '06) women's epee
Erinn Smart (Barnard '01) women's foil
Greg Chang (Harvard '97) replacement in men's foil

Judo
Jimmy Pedro (Brown '94) lightweight division
Alex Ottiano (Brown '98) half lightweight
Celita Schutz (Yale '90) middleweight

Rowing
Henry Nuzum (Harvard '99) men's double sculls
Greg Ruckman (Harvard '96) men's lightweight double sculls
Stacey Borgman (Barnard '98) women's lightweight double sculls
J. Sloan DuRoss (Brown '99) men's quadruple sculls
Ben Holbrook (Brown '97) men's quadruple sculls
Danika Holbrook (Princeton '95) women's quadruple sculls
Michelle Guerette (Harvard '02) women's quadruple sculls
Artour Samsonov (Harvard '02) men's pair
Wolf Moser (Harvard '98) men's four
Pat Todd (Harvard '02) men's lightweight four
Paul Teti (Princeton '01) men's lightweight four
Chris Ahrens (Princeton '98) men's eight
Lianne Nelson (Princeton '95) women's eight
Caryn Davies (Harvard '04) women's eight
Simon Carcagno (Princeton '98) men's spare
Liane Malcos (Brown '00) women's spare
Thomas Herschmiller (Princeton '01) coxless fours, competed for Canada
Andreanna Morin (Princeton '05) women's eight, competed for Canada
Josh West (Yale '98) men's eight, competed for Great Britain
Nikola Stojic (Brown '93) pairs, competed for Serbia-Montenegro
Veljko Urosevic (Columbia '03) men's lightweight four, competed for Serbia-Montenegro
Milos Tomic (Columbia '05), men's lightweight four, competed for Serbia-Montenegro

Sailing
Isabelle Kinsolving (Yale '02) women's 470 crew
Katie McDowell (Brown '98) women's 470 skipper
Kevin Hall (Brown '91) men's finn

Soccer
Kristen Luckenbill (Dartmouth '01)
Tanya Kalivas (Princeton '01), competed for Greece
Eleni Benson (Yale '04), competed for Greece
Sophia Smith (Cornell '00), competed for Greece

Swimming
Angela 'Dawn' Chuck (Brown '02), women's 100-meter freestyle, competed for Jamaica
George Gleason (Yale '01), men's 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke, competed for the U.S. Virgin Islands
Jackie Pangilinan (Harvard '08), women's 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke, competed for the Philippines
Juan Valdivieso (Princeton '04), men's 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly, competed for Peru

Taekwondo
Chinedum Osuji (Cornell '96) competed for Trinidad and Tobago