Defining moments at Athens

Hicham El Guerrouj ended his Olympic gold medal drought by winning double gold at Athens and Thorpe established himself as the king of freestyle by defeating Phelps in the 'Race of century'.

Ten defining moments of the 2004 Olympic Games which came to an end on Sunday:

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Hicham El Guerrouj ends long wait

The popular Moroccan went into the Games as the undisputed king of the 1,500 metres 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 1,500 and added the 5,000 metres 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 10,000 metres, 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 spokeswoman Giselle Davies displayed their surrendered accreditation to hundreds of eager cameramen.