| Thailand at the Olympic Games | ||||||||||||
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| At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 42 (24 men, 18 women) in 13 sports | |||||||||||
| Flag bearer | Paradorn Srichaphan | |||||||||||
| Medals Rank: 25 |
Gold 3 |
Silver 1 |
Bronze 4 |
Total 8 |
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| Olympic history (summary) | ||||||||||||
| Summer Games | ||||||||||||
| 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 • 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Winter Games | ||||||||||||
| 2002 • 2006 • 2010 | ||||||||||||
Thailand competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. With three gold and eight medals altogether, it was the best ever performance of Thai athletes at any Olympic Games.
Contents |
Thailand had never won a medal in Olympic Badminton, and it seemed like their best chance to change that in Athens lay with the mixed doubles team, which was fifth-seeded. However, they lost their first match to a Swedish team, including a hard-fought 31-point second set.
No other Thai entrant came into the tournament ranked in the top 10, but world #21 Boonsak Ponsana pulled off a surprise run in the men's singles. After easing through his first match, Ponsana beat the 5th seed from Korea in a tough, hour-long match. With the elimination from his quarter of the top seed, Lin Dan, Ponsana then advanced to the semi-final, where his run ended, as he lost two consecutive matches to Indonesian opponents to end up in 4th. The bronze medal match was a straight sets loss, but was more than an hour long, and featured a 33-point second set.
Of the nine medals Thailand had won at the Olympics Games coming into Athens, eight had been in Boxing, so it is no surprise that it was among the Thais most successful events in the 2004 Games. The six Thai boxers in Athens included the first Thai Olympic gold medalist (Kamsing), a world champion (Jongjohor) and three Asian Games medallists (Pannon, Boonjumnong and Prasathinphimai). Somluck Kamsing was the first to go down, losing his first round bout handily. Next was Pannon, beaten by the eventual gold medalist from Cuba, along with Jongjohor, who also had the misfortune of drawing a Cuban in the second round, and lost a tight bout. The three other boxers all survived to the semifinals, and were guaranteed at least bronze medals.
In the Middleweight class, 2002 Asian Games silver medalist Suriya Prasathinphimai lost to European champion Gaydar Gaydarbekov, settling for bronze. In Bantamweight, surprise semifinalist Worapoj Petchkoom upset world champion Aghasi Mammadov, but in the final was no match for defending champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. The third boxer in the semifinals, Light Welterweight Manus Boonjumnong, had beaten the world champion in the quarters, and after a semfinal win, faced another Cuban in the final. Boonjumnong outpointed his opponent by 6 to win the gold medal and give Thailand a complete set of medals from Boxing.
Overall, the team went 14-5 in Athens, and finished tied with Kazakhstan in the Boxing medal count. Four of the six boxers on the team had their final bout of the tournament against a Cuban.
Men's Light Flyweight (48 kg):
Men's Light Welterweight (64 kg):
Bunluewong had a very strong cross country portion of the eventing competition, but the other parts of his competition were not strong enough for him to qualify for the final.
Both Thai fencers went 1-1 in Athens, Kothny winning a very tight match against a closely ranked opponent, and Rathprasert, the lowest seed in the draw, beating the 58th ranked fencer in the world to move on to the second round.
Nikree finished ahead of only two other boats in the women's single sculls.
Homraruen finished in the middle of the pack, with his best showing a 5th place in the final race of the competition.
Neither Thai shooter managed to make a final in any of their events. This was surely a disappointment for Majchacheeap, who was the world record holder in the 10 metre air rifle, and at the time the only man to have ever shot a perfect 600 points in that event.
Men's 50 metre Rifle 3 Positions:
No Thai swimmer made a semifinal, but Ratapong Sirisanont was the closest, only 3 places out of the qualification spots.
Women's 400 metre Individual Medley:
Komwong entered the tournament as the #75 player in the world, winning her second round match against a top-30 opponent in five sets before falling to the #16 seed.
Thailand had never won a medal in any martial arts, but at the 2003 World Championships, the country won its first two medals of the Olympic era in the sport. Those two medalists appeared in Athens, and though they both lost to eventual finalists, they continued in the repechage.
In the Women's Under 57 kg class, Nootcharin Sukkhongdumnoen lost a semifinal on points, after it finished tied 7-7, to an American fighter, and was then beaten by eventual bronze medalist Sonia Reyes in the second repechage round. In the Under 49 kg class, Yaowapa Boorapolchai lost to a Cuban fighter in the second round, but filed a protest, claiming she had scored two hits and not been awarded scores. The protest was denied, but advanced to the bronze medal match after her Canadian opponent ended up with a negative score through penalty points, and won the bronze medal on a penalty point awarded in the second round.
Srichaphan, the 16th ranked player in the world and the #10 seed, was eliminated in the first round after getting a fairly tough draw, 30th ranked Joachim Johansson. Though Tamarine Tanasugarn was less heralded, only 47th in the world, her loss may have been more disappointing, as she fell in three sets to an Indonesian player ranked outside the top 100, who entered the tournament on a Tripartite Commission Invitation.
Before Sydney, Boxing was the only sport in which Thailand had ever won a medal, but they changed that with a bronze in women's weightlifting, the first ever medal for a Thai woman.
Four years later, the Thai team was poised to increase that medal count. At the 2003 World Championships, they had won three medals, one of each type, and two of those medalists, including world champion Udomporn Polsak were competing in Athens. Incredibly, all four Thai women who traveled to the Games came home with medals, two gold and two bronze. At 48 kg, Wiratthaworn had the experience of setting an Olympic record but finishing 3rd, as she had the best Clean & Jerk but was well behind in the Snatch. In the 58 kg class, Kameaim held off a Turkish lifter to earn bronze. At 75 kg, Pawina Thongsuk trailed after the Snatch, but forced a tie in the Clean & Jerk, and won by having lower body weight. The fourth medal came from the world champion Polsak, who was never under serious pressure in cruising to gold, becoming the first Thai woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
Dattuyawat completed a Snatch of 137.5 kg, 11th in that portion, but did not compete in the Clean & Jerk.
Tana's medal did not count in the official standings, but if it had, it would have been Thailand's first in Athletics.