Athletes participating in the Athens 2004 Olympics come in all shapes, ages and sizes. The youngest woman competing at the Games is 13-year-old Zeinab Mohamed Khaireh from Djibouti who is in the women’s 1500 meters.
The oldest female is Annettte Woodward, 57, a mother of six from Australia. She took part in the shooting competition.
The youngest, shortest and lightest male athlete at the Games is 14-year-old Bryan Nickson from Malaysia who is competing in the diving competition. Nickson weighs 30 kilograms and stands a mere 1.38m. The oldest is Ian Millar from Canada, who at 67 is competing in the equestrian event.
The two tallest male and female athletes are both on the basketball teams of China and Russia, respectively.
Playing center for the Chinese basketball team, Ming Yao is 2.26m and became the first ever foreign player to be a No. 1 pick in an NBA draft.
At 2.14m, Maria Stepanova from Russia towers above Emilia Mikue Ondo from Equatorial Guinea, who at 1.30m was easily overlooked in the women’s 800m.
Judo expert Aytami Ruano from Spain was the heaviest athlete, weighing in at 198kg, which proved too heavy for the Athens scales.
Cheryl Haworth from the United States in the women’s +75kg weightlifting competition is the heaviest among her female athletes at 131kg.
The lightest female in the Games is gymnast Patricia Moreno from Spain, who weighs a mere 31kg.
