How much have the Olympics changed in 96 years? Check below for a brief comparison between the two.
| Category | St. Louis – 1904* | Australia – 2000 |
| Chief Individual Organizer | David R. Francis | Lois Appleby |
| Date of Games | August 19 – September 3 | September 15 – October 1 |
| Nations | 12 | 200 |
| Athletes | 687 (6 women) | 10,651(4,069 women) |
| Sports | 14 | 28 |
| Events | 94 | 300 |
| Spectators | 80,000 (10,000 for the marathon) | 1,108,000 |
| Olympic Stadium Seating | 12,000 | 110,000 |
| Ticket Prices | 50 cents to $1 | $150 – $1500 Australian |
| Media | Approximately 50 | 16,033 |
| Television Viewers | 0 | 3.7 billion |
| Cost of Facilities | $140,000 | over $600 million |
| Funding | Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, U.S. Government | Commonwealth, U.S. Government |
| Exhibition Sports | Basketball, Baseball, Lacrosse, Water Polo | n/a |
| First-time sports | Boxing | Triathalon, Taekwondo, Womens weightlifting, soccer, Women’s Softball |
| Marathon entrants | 32 (all men) | 900 (men) |
| Average July high temperature | 86 degrees | 55-70 degrees |
| Track and Field Events | Gold | Gold |
| 100m | 11.0 – Archie Hahn, USA | 9.87 – Maurice Green, USA |
| 400m | 49.5 – Harry Hillman, USA | 43.84 – Michael Johnson, USA |
| 800m | 1:56 – J.D. Lightbody, USA | 1:45.08 – Nils Schumann, Germany |
| 1,500m | 4:05.4 – J.D. Lightbody, USA | 3:32.07 – Noah Kiprono Ngenyi, Kenya |
| Marathon | 3:28.53 – T.J. Hicks, USA | 2:10.11 – Gezahng Abera, Ethiopia |
| 110m hurdles | 16.0 – F.W. Schule, USA | 13.00 – Anier Garcia, Cuba |
| Pole Vault | 3.51m – C.E. Dvorak, USA | 5.90m – Nick Hysong, USA |
| High Jump | 1.81m – S.S. Jones, USA | 2.35m – Sergey Kliugin, Russia |
*Lacking accurate records from the 1904 Olympics, discrepancies may exist for some categories.