Among the Turkish athletes, three of them were born in the former Soviet Union (two of which were previously played for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona), namely archer Natalia Nasaridze, long distance runner Ebru Kavaklıoğlu, and Belarusian-born heptathlete Anzhela Atroshchenko.

Finn sailor Ali Enver Adakan, who achieved a top ten finish in Sydney four years earlier, was appointed by the committee to carry the Turkish flag in the opening ceremony.

[3] Nearly half of these medals were awarded to the athletes in weightlifting, including a third straight defense for Halil Mutlu in the men's bantamweight class on his final Olympic bid.

After a series of doping-related disqualifications he moved up to second place after the gold medalist Koji Murofushi of Japan.

[8] However as he had been suspended from the sport for doping offenses since 2004, the IOC decided not to award the silver and bronze medals.