Eight years after her first Olympics, Lapunova qualified for her third Ukrainian team, as a 23-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She eclipsed her personal best and a FINA B-cut of 2:02.30 in the 200 m freestyle from the World Championships in Madrid, Spain. She edged out Switzerland's Hanna Miluska to lead the third heat by 0.57 of a second in 2:02.71. Lapunova failed to advance into the semifinals, placing twenty-second overall in the morning prelims.