2 Euros Olympic Games

Greece was granted the 2004 Summer Olympics partly on the strength of Athens having hosted the inaugural modern Games in 1896, making the return a deliberate centennial gesture — delayed by eight years due to the 1996 Centennial Games being awarded to Atlanta instead, a decision that caused considerable diplomatic friction with the Greek government. This commemorative was issued specifically for the Athens games, one of the few instances where a eurozone member state's commemorative 2 euro directly intersected with a live international sporting event on home soil.