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"Greek sprinter Kostas Kenteris was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support in his absence at Olympic Stadium. Thousands of fans chanted his name Thursday night at the 200-meter sprint, an event Kenteris pulled out of after missing a drug test. "When I heard all these people - the thousands of people - shout my name, it was the most beautiful thing that I have heard in recent years," Kenteris told the TV Mytilini channel."
Read more at AP Wire | 08/27/2004 | Kenteris Says He Did Nothing Wrong
" Melania Grego scored less than a minute into the second overtime to lead Italy over Greece, 10-9, in the women's water polo gold medal match Thursday.
The United States team beat Australia, 6-5, earlier in the day to win bronze.. Italy and Greece were tied 7-7 at the end of regulation, and both teams scored twice in the first overtime to send the match into an extra three-minute frame. Italy's Tania DiMarco tallied with just nine seconds left in the first OT period to deny Greece a celebration. Grego's game-winner, at 2:04, was the only goal of the second overtime. She scored three times on the day. "I couldn't believe we could lose," Greece's Kyriaki Liosi said. "For sure, this is a huge success, but when you get this high, you want to get gold." Italy's Francesca Conti made eight saves on 17 shots."
Read more at Italy women win water polo gold; U.S. takes bronze
"Greek sensation Fani Halkia blitzed to gold in the Olympic women's 400 meters hurdles on Wednesday to confirm her meteoric rise in the world elite.
Halkia, a no-hoper last year, raced home in 52.82 seconds to thrash Romania's Ionela Tirlea-Manolache (53.38) and Ukraine's Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova (53.44).
World champion Jana Pittman of Australia, running after a brave battle against injury, faded to fifth while world record holder Yuliya Pechenkina of Russia trailed in last after a wretched run.
The winner, who came from nowhere to run the sixth fastest time in history during the semi-finals, knelt on the ground to kiss the track after her triumph as the crowd bayed their support.
"I felt I would win when I came into the stadium," Halkia said, wearing a blue and white national flag around her shoulders."
Read more at Awesome Halkia Stuns Sad Pittman in Hurdles
The winner of the Gold Medal: Fani Halkia from Greece
The winner of the Silver Medal: Ionela Tirlea-Manolache from Romania
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova from Ukraine
"Prosecutors seized the hospital records on Wednesday of two disgraced sprinters who withdrew from the Olympics after missing a doping test and crashing on a motorcycle.
Prosecutors Spyros Mouzakitis and Athina Theodopoupou visited Athens' KAT trauma hospital and left with files containing the hospitalisation records of Kostas Kenteris, the 200-metre gold medalist in 2000, and Katerina Thanou, who took silver in the 100 metres in Sydney, a source in the Athens prosecutors office said.
The two athletes crashed on a motorcycle and were hospitalised a few hours after they could not be found at the Olympic Village for a drug test."
Read more at Athletes' medical files seized
"A member of the Greek judo team who fell from her third-floor apartment balcony following a quarrel with her boyfriend has died. Eleni Ioannou had been hospitalized in critical condition for more than for two weeks.
The Red Cross hospital said Ioannou, 20, died Tuesday in the intensive care unit where she had been treated since Aug. 7 for multiple fractures to her head and body.
Ioannou, a competitor in the 172-pound-plus class, fell from the balcony after an argument with her boyfriend, 24-year-old Giorgos Chrisostomides.
Police questioned Chrisostomides and released him. Relatives and neighbors said he was inconsolable, and jumped from the same balcony two days later. He remains hospitalized in critical condition at Athens' Evangelismos hospital."
Read more at Greek judo champ dies two weeks after balcony fall
"A search of a warehouse used by the coach at the center of a doping scandal involving the country’s star sprinters uncovered small amounts of anabolic steroids, Greece’s National Organization of Medicines said Monday.
The search coach Christos Tsekos’ facilities last week was part of an investigation into whether 2000 Olympic medalists Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou tried to avoid a doping test on the eve of the Athens Games by staging a motorcycle accident.
A prosecutor and two inspectors from the agency, the Greek equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, confiscated 641 boxes of food supplements and found that more than 1,000 of the supplements listed ephedrine as the main ingredient."
Read more at Anabolic steroids found in Greek coach’s warehouse
The winner of the Gold Medal: Athanasia Tsoumeleka from Greece
The winner of the Silver Medal: Olimpiada Ivanova from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Jane Saville from Australia
The winner of the Gold Medal: Dimosthenis Tampakos from Greece
The winner of the Silver Medal: Jordan Jovtchev from Bulgaria
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Yuri Chechi from Italy
Medal Contenders:
"The International Olympic Committee has stripped a Greek weightlifter of his bronze medal and expelled him from the Athens Games for a doping offense.
Officials say Leonidas Sampanis tested positive for twice the allowed amount of the male hormone testosterone. Sampanis, who denies any wrongdoing, is the ninth weightlifter at the Games to fail a drug test, and the first to lose a medal as a result. The bronze he won in the men's 62-kilogram category will go to Venezuela's Israel Jose Rubio Rivero."
Read more at Greek Weightlifter Stripped of Olympic Medal
"Greece has been rocked by the threat of being stripped of an Athens Games medal and the host nation's team manager has offered to quit, as doping overshadows Michael Phelps' drive to be Olympic swimming's top medal winner.
Weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis, a national hero days ago when he won his country's first medal at the Games, became the latest Greek athlete to be hit by drug woes that have plagued the Olympics throughout their first week.
"I am stunned. I am going mad. We do not, and I stress this, do not, give our athletes testosterone," Sampanis's coach Christos Iakovou said on Friday after confirming the athlete had tested positive for a banned substance.
If Sampanis' second sample tests positive he will be stripped of his bronze medal and expelled from the Games.
Hours later Greek team manager Yiannis Papadoyiannakis offered to resign, but his bosses quickly tried to smooth over the new embarrassment in a saga that the Greek government has warned threatens the image of the birthplace of the Olympics."
Read more at Greek drugs drama dominates
News has just broken in New Zealand that a Kiwi Cyclist has just withdrawn from the Olympics because he took a banned substance months ago and traces are still showing up in his system.
News is sketchy but we'll update this with more details as they come to hand.
Also in related doping news a Greek Weightlifter is likely to have his bronze medal taken from him after being tested for drugs after competition.
"A prosecutor looking into the suspicious motorcycle accident involving Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou wants to take a closer look at the injuries sustained by the athletes, a judicial source said Thursday.
Prosecutor Haralambos Lakafosis, overseeing the investigation into the accident, wants to question some of the doctors at Athens' KAT hospital, a senior source in the Athens prosecutor's office told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The medical condition of the two athletes is considered a key part of the investigation into the accident and could answer allegations that it may not have taken place or was staged."
Read more at Prosecutors to check sprinters' injuries
"A Greek crew won the first sailing gold medal of the Summer Games, and Americans Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham were in position to take their first Olympic title.
Sofia Bekatorou and Aimilia Tsoulfa clinched the 470 gold after building an insurmountable lead following 10 races.
The silver and bronze medals will be determined Saturday.
After they crossed the finish line, the duo capsized the boat, stood on the hull and waved the Greek flag to the delight of spectators and photographers.
A few minutes earlier, Foerster and Burnham took the lead in the men's 470 with one race left in the 11-race series. "
Read more at Greeks Win First Sailing Gold
Greece has won the Gold Medal in Womens Double Handed Dinghy. The Bronze and Silver medals will not be decided today - as another race is needed to decide these places. Final results are expected on the 21st of August.
The countries in contention for Silver and Bronze are Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and Denmark.
"Initial investigations have revealed that Greek sprinters Kostadinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou faked a motorcycle accident after missing a drugs test, a high-ranking legal source said.
Kenteris, the Olympic 200 metres champion from the 2000 Sydney Olympics (news - web sites), and Thanou, a women's 100m silver medallist in those Games, were said to have suffered minor injuries in the mysterious accident which occurred late last Thursday after they had failed to appear for a doping test at the Olympic village.
Greek heroes Kenteris and Thanou withdrew from the games on Wednesday after appearing before an International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) disciplinary hearing.
The probe by a Greek prosecutor had shown that either the accident did not take place at all, or that the athletes deliberately crashed the bike in order to give themselves injuries, the source, a high-ranking official, added."
Read more at Greek sprinters' motorbike accident faked: legal source
"A roaring crowd helped inspire Greece's top women's beach volleyball team to trounce China on Wednesday and reach the next round.
To the delight of the chanting, flag-waving, sell-out crowd at the beach volleyball stadium, Effrosyni Sfyri and Vasiliki Karadassiou came out fighting to dominate China's Tian Jia and Wang Fei 21-14 21-17 throughout the match.
"I'm really honored to play before this crowd. I felt lots of pressure -- we wanted to play good for them," Karadassiou said of the fans yelling "Hellas, Hellas."
"But I'm spoiled now -- I don't want to play on an empty court again."
Others did not have such a good day. Defending Olympic champion Dain Blanton's hopes of winning another beach volleyball medal were left buried in the sand as the American failed to get out of the preliminary round."
Read more at Crowd Inspires Greek Beach Volleyballers; U.S. Duo Ousted
"When Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal and evicted from the Seoul Olympics in 1988, there was a sense that this was a lucky strike for the movement against drugs in sport. His had been a random test, and he and his handlers had been ham-fisted in the management of his regime.
The withdrawal yesterday of Kostas Kederis and Katerina Thanou from the 2004 Games in their homeland is the biggest Olympics drugs story since, but this time it is different. The only honourable way out now is to take the fifth amendment and the first bus home.
Against a background of the much increased power and stringency of the World Anti-Doping Authority, ground-breaking developments in drug testing and the United States' belated but welcome campaign to toughen up on drugs, it seems that cheating is the exception. Suspicions will not be aroused if, as expected, few or no world records are set at these Games."
Read more at Greece's loss a win for all drug-free competitors
"Greece's two top sprinters pulled out of the Athens Games on Wednesday and apologized over a drugs drama that besmirched the spiritual homeland of the Olympics.
It was the biggest drugs scandal to hit the Olympic movement since 100 meter gold medallist Ben Johnsons's ignominious exit from the Seoul Games in 1988 over a positive test for steroids.
Greek Olympic 200 meters champion Costas Kenteris, a national hero dubbed "Greece Lightning," said he was withdrawing "out of a sense of responsibility."
"I am adamant, I was never notified to go to the Olympic Village to take the test."
"Over the last years, I have gone through over 30 tests with no problems," he added, referring to his missed eve-of-Games test last Thursday."
Read more at Greek Sprinters Pull Out of Games
Also read about this story at Kenteris quits Olympics
The US "Dream Team" saw off a spirited display by Greece to seal a 77-71 win in the men's basketball competition.
The Americans, humbled by Puerto Rico on Sunday, showed more fight against the hosts in front of a hostile crowd.
But they did not have things all their own way as the Greek players drained a succession of three-pointers to keep the contest close in the second half.
Source BBC USA survive Greece scare
The winner of the Gold Medal: Ilias Iliadis from Greece
The winner of the Silver Medal: Roman Gontyuk from Ukraine
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Dmitri Nossov from Russia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Flavio Canto from Brazil
Greece's dream for its first ever Olympic gold in table tennis was shattered as its top medal hopeful Kalinikos Kreanga crashed out of the men's singles last 16despite the enthusiastic support of a home crowd.
In a third round encounter staged in the Galatsi Olympic Hall in northwest Athens Tuesday morning, Kreanga, currently ranked 9thin the world, suffered a straight-set loss to Swedish veteran JorgPersson 4-0.
Source Chinaview Greece's table tennis gold quest ends as Kreanga crashes out
"Greece's suspect sprint duo Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou will check out of hospital in Athens at midday local time (10 a.m. British time) today, their coach has told Reuters."
"Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis of Greece won the gold medal in the synchronized 3-meter springboard yesterday in Athens with a score of 353.34. It was Greece's first gold at the Games.
The win was a glorious surprise for Athens, igniting a party complete with song and dance.
"I still can't believe it," Siranidis said. "It feels like a fairy tale. It's hard for me to speak."
Lao Lishi and Li Ting gave China its third diving gold medal of the Games, easily winning the women's 10-meter synchronized platform event."
Read more at Greeks get first gold
"Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou face a criminal investigation over missed drugs tests and a motorcycle accident, a judicial source told reporters on Monday."
Read more at Greek sprint duo to face criminal probe - source:
"Lawyers representing Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have succeeded in postponing until Wednesday the IOC disciplinary hearing into their missed drugs tests.
It is the second such delay and means the case will continue to cast its shadow over the Games for at least the next 48 hours, rather than there being a line drawn under the episode today.
The International Olympic Committee had initially been hoping to deal with the issue last Friday."
Read more at Accused Greeks granted hearing delay
"Drug testers tried unsuccessfully for two days to track down Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou in Chicago just before the Athens Olympics opened on August 13, IAAF president Lamine Diack has said.
"They weren't in Chicago, that's why the IOC (International Olympic Committee) tried to test them in the village," Diack, the head of the International Association of Athletics Federation, said on Sunday.
The pair have been suspended from the Games by the Greek Olympic Committee pending an IOC hearing on Monday."
Read more at Testers failed to find Greek sprinters
"Star sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were suspended Saturday from the Greek Olympic team for missing drug tests, but their fate was left in the hands of the International Olympic Committee (news - web sites).
The Greek committee's seven-member board removed the athletes pending a final decision by the IOC (news - web sites) at a hearing Monday. The sprinters' coach, Christos Tsekos, was also suspended.
The case has shamed Greece and overshadowed the opening of what was supposed to be a triumphant showcase of national pride and achievement at the Athens Games.
Making the situation worse, police are now investigating a suspicious motorcycle accident that put the two in the hospital Thursday night just hours after drug testers failed to find them in the Olympic Village. The runners sustained cuts and bruises, and were to be released Monday."
Read more at Greeks Suspend Star Sprinters, Coach
"Dogged by charges of skipping a drug test, Greece's top sprinter had been a candidate to run with the torch in the final moments of the opening ceremony at the Athens Games but was passed over, local organizers said.
Organizers ended days of speculation Saturday by acknowledging that Kostas Kenteris was on a list of 12 athletes who were candidates to participate in the last part of the relay, which concluded at the main stadium during Friday's ceremony. Organizers wouldn't say why Kenteris did not get the honor.
Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, a Greek windsurfing champion from the Atlanta Games, ultimately lit the cauldron. Six athletes ran with the torch in the stadium, though organizers had originally said there would be seven torchbearers."
Read more at
Greek sprinter Kenteris, dogged by charges of skipping drug test, was candidate to light cauldron
"Greek police have launched a preliminary investigation into the mysterious motorbike accident involving Greek sprint stars Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, according to police sources.
Police are checking the declarations the two athletes and training partners made after Kenteris and Thanou were taken to hospital following the accident early Friday, which happened just hours after they failed to show up at a mandatory drugs test.
The pair, who remained in hospital, face long bans for missing the dope test.
Kenteris, the 200 metre Olympic champion, said he lost control of the motorbike, which he and Thanou borrowed from their coach Christos Tzekos.
They were heading from Tzekos' home back to the Olympic athletes' village, where they were supposed to have undergone the drug test."
Read more at Sprint stars' motorbike accident probed
"Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou will be withdrawn from the Olympic Games, a source close to the Greek team says.
The cases of Kenteris, the Olympic 200 metres champion, and Thanou, runner-up in the Sydney Games 100 metres, were being discussed at a meeting of the Greek Olympic Committee.
The two are due to attend an International Olympic Committee disciplinary hearing on Monday to explain why they missed a drugs test this week in Athens."
Read more at Greek sprinters withdrawn from Games
"Greece's biggest star might drop out of the Athens Games after missing a drug test, shaming the host nation as it opened its first Olympics in more than a century. Greece's Olympic Committee will meet Saturday to discuss the bizarre case of sprinter Kostas Kenteris, the 200-meter Olympic champion who is accused of dodging a drug test and was later hospitalized after a motorcycle crash.
A source within the committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that one topic at the meeting will be whether Kenteris should withdraw from the games.
Even if he drops out, the International Olympic Committee probably will proceed with its doping case against him. A hearing was set for Monday.
Kenteris and fellow Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou were in a motorcycle wreck Thursday night just hours after drug testers failed to find them in the Olympic village."
Read more at Greece's top athlete may drop out of Games
"Women volleyballers start Kenya’s quest for Olympic glory today as they take on the hosts at the Peace and Friendship stadium court.
Kenya’s match will be the second in Pool A and will be at 4pm. The first Pool A match will be between Japan and Brazil at 2pm.
Kenya’s captain, Violet Barasa, said they won’t succumb to intimidation expected to come from uproarious and noisy home fans.
"We are charged for the match and nothing, including noise, will distract us. We know how crucial the first match is in a tournament of this magnitude and what it means to team morale for the remaining matches," Barasa said.
If credentials are any measure of what to expect in today’s match, Kenya certainly starts as firm favourites."
Read more at Kenya's volleyball team determined to beat Greece
"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) spared Greece major embarrassment on the opening day of the Athens Games on Friday by granting its two top sprinters more time to explain why they missed a dope test.
A 72-hour extension for Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, after they failed to show up for a Friday disciplinary commission drugs tribunal, was perhaps only a postponement of what could still turn into a national scandal.
The sprinters are in hospital after being injured in a mystery overnight motorcycle accident. Both were said to be stable and not seriously hurt but have been ordered to stay in medical care for at least two more days.
An IOC statement said: "In order to ensure a fair process and give due consideration to the athletes the disciplinary commission has decided to postpone the hearing until Monday, August 16."
After waiting in vain for the pair to leave hospital for the hearing, IOC drugs-panel member Sergei Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion, said: "It was a doctor’s decision. It wasn’t really our decision.""
Read more at IOC delay averts opening day shame for Greece
"Home heroes Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou will attempt to save their careers in Athens today – but the damage to the Olympics their country is so proud to host has already been done.
If current 200metres Olympic champion Kenteris and former world indoor champion Thanou cannot come up with a plausible excuse for failing to take a random test in the Athletes’ Village yesterday, they will be expelled from the Games in disgrace and serve an automatic two-year ban.
Wild rumours circulating round the Greek capital as the stunned host nation attempted to come to terms with the most devastating blow to Olympic credibility since Ben Johnson tested positive in 1988 included that Kenteris and Thanou were simply not told about the test.
It later emerged that the pair had been involved in a road traffic accident shortly after they had missed the drugs test."
Read more at Early Setback for Athens Games.
Greece's two top sprinters were not seriously injured in a motorcycle crash but it was unclear if they could compete in the Athens Olympics even if cleared on doping charges, a senior Greek sports official said Friday.
Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou had been upset before the crash after being told they faced possible drugs bans because of missed drugs tests, athletics federation chief Vassilis Sevastis told reporters outside the hospital.
"As you will understand their psychological state was not good. It seems that it's not something very serious. Tests are ongoing. They will stay overnight in the hospital," he said. "
Read more at Greek Sprinters' Injuries 'Not Serious' -Official.
"For an Olympic, world and European champion, Kostas Kenteris is an incredibly impenetrable character.
This is a man who, according to his achievements at the big championships, should be one of the biggest names in world sport.
But while Kenteris is a national hero in Greece, his international reputation is less clear-cut.
The dramatic developments in Athens on Thursday night, when Kenteris and his training partner Katerina Thanou first missed a drugs test and were then hospitalised after a road accident, were just the latest in a long line of incidents which have left question-marks hanging over his reputation.
Kenteris was a 400m runner going nowhere until he linked up with controversial coach Christos Tzekos in 1999."
Read more at Kenteris - the Greek enigma
Group A
Greece Vs South Korea Kick Off 20:30 Greek Time
South Korea may be hoping that the Greek football team drop the olympic torch on the way to the opening ceremony in the hope that there luck has finally run out. Greece have just come back from Portugal where they pulled of the sporting shock of the year by winning the european championships and defeating Portugal twice and France on the way. Greece have never got past the first round of this tournament though to be fair they have only entered twice the last time being in 1952. Greece have the player of Euro 2004 missing in Theodoros Zagorakis but do have the home support which often does well and did South Korea enough favours to get them to the World Cup 2002 semi finals unfotunately since the departure of Guus Hiddink they have not really performed to there potential again but with Real Sociedad's Lee Chun-soo up front they should be able to score a few goals this tournament.
Prediction
Greece 2 - 1 South Korea
Key Man
Amanatidis - Greece
Group G
Greece Vs Usa Kick Off 18:00 Greek Time
Greece Qualify as hosts for this event and taken on number 2 in the world USA in there first match, the Greeks have improved tremendously over the past few years and will surely be encouraged by the male teams success in Euro 2004, the Greeks also have seven US based players in there squad witch should make this match a bit fierce. The US on the other hand are falling the other way, this olympics will be the last major tournament for most of there players as they hit that age and they will surely be hoping to go out with gold.
Prediction
Greece 1 - 1 USA
Key Player
Mia Hamm
"At the end of a workout under a searing sun at an old Greek stadium, captain Julie Foudy gathered the U.S. women's soccer team in a midfield huddle.
"Let's get this party started!'' Foudy bellowed in a singsong voice.
The party that is the 2004 Olympic Games is indeed about to begin, with soccer kick-starting the festivities two days ahead of everything else.
The United States opens against Greece on Wednesday on the island of Crete, one of eight games two days before the opening ceremony for a sport that has to start early to squeeze everything in.
"We've been ready for a month,'' goalkeeper Briana Scurry said. "We're very excited to see what we've got.''
Most everyone knows what the United States has - a deep, talented team determined to reclaim its supremacy after disappointing finishes at the 2000 Olympics and the 2003 World Cup.
Greece, however, is another matter. The soccer-mad country that so euphorically celebrated its surprising men's European Championship title last month barely recognizes the women's game."
Read more at U.S. meets Greece in curtain raiser
"As relatives tell it, it was the stuff of Greek tragedy: A love-struck young man threw himself off his balcony Monday, two days after a quarrel prompted his girlfriend -- a member of Greece's Olympic judo team -- to jump from the same spot.
"He had very intense feelings about the girl. He was very much in love," said Nikos Drakopoulos, a printer who lives across the hall from the couple. "He could not see himself living if she was gone."
Giorgos Chrisostomides, 24, was on life-support at an Athens hospital with injuries to his head and back. His high-school sweetheart, 20-year-old judo champion Eleni Ioannou, was at another hospital in critical condition with multiple fractures to her head and body.
The couple had been inseparable since Ioannou moved into the apartment Chrisostomides shares with his grandparents just over a year ago."
Read more at Judo champ's boyfriend jumps from balcony too
"The Greek Olympic Team has 440 athletes, of which 223 are men and 217 women. The age average of the team is 25.9 years (men 26.7; women 25).
Weightlifters Pyrros DIMAS and Akakios KAKIASVILI have not only lifted thousands of kilograms in their career but have also carried off the greatest number of gold medals among the Greek Olympic athletes competing in Athens. Each has won three gold medals.
However, it is a woman who holds the record for appearances in Olympic Games. Agathi KASSOUMI (Shooting), mother of two daughters, will participate in her sixth Olympic Games in Athens after debuting in Los Angeles in 1984.
At 46, Equestrian rider Antonis PETRIS is the oldest male athlete in the Greek Olympic Games team. PETRIS abandoned Equestrian for many years to focus on his business, but started training again in the past few years and now hopes to do well in Athens. He will participate in the Individual Jumping and Team Jumping events with his horse Pedro La Daviere.
Paraskevi PATOULIDOU, 39, is the oldest female athlete in the Greek Olympic Games team - and one of its most famous. PATOULIDOU became the first Greek woman to win an Olympic Games gold medal when she won the 100m Hurdles in Barcelona in 1992. Greek fans will have the opportunity to see her compete once again in a home town Olympic Games, this time in the Women's 4x100m Relay.
Although Greek at heart, 111 (25.2 per cent) of the 440 athletes were born abroad."
Continue reading Greek Olympic Team: Facts and Figures.
"Two Americans playing on the Greek Olympic baseball team have failed drug tests and could be banned from the Olympics, Greek assistant coach Dusty Rhodes told The Times-Union on Sunday.
Rhodes, who is head coach at the University of North Florida, said he learned Sunday that a pitcher and an outfielder failed the drug tests that each of his players took upon their arrival in Athens on Thursday. Rhodes refused to identify the names of the players.
The two players, who both play in the minor leagues, were expected to take a second drug test Sunday to compare to the first test, and the results should be known within 24 hours, Rhodes said.
Officials will determine once the second test comes back if the players will be allowed to represent the host country when the Greek team plays its first game in the Athens Olympics on Sunday, Aug. 15, said Rhodes."
Read more at Americans fail drug test in Athens
"The first day has passed, but yet nobody can tell how things will go with Eleni IOANNOU (GRE). The Greek champion had fallen from the third floor of her house in Nea Ionia, an Athens suburb.
According to Kostas MANDRAGOS, the consultant of the Intensive Care Unit, ''IOANNOU's condition is stable, but we would be needing about a week to tell for sure.''
''The condition of the athlete is stable. She is hospitalised in the ICU of the Red Cross Hospital. It's still early, so we'll need a week to be sure about her health'', said MANDRAGOS."
Continue reading IOANNOU in stable condition
Update ABC reports:
A young Greek couple, described as love-struck and inseparable, fought over who could play solitaire on their computer.
Now they're at separate hospitals, after apparently jumping off the same balcony.
The woman, who's a member of the Greek Olympic judo team, plunged to the ground on Saturday. She's listed today in critical condition.
Today, the boyfriend jumped from the same third-floor balcony. He's on life-support at an Athens hospital.'
"WNBA star Lauren JACKSON scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Australian women's Basketball team to a comfortable 75-57 win over Greece in the the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament in Heraklio, Crete.
On court for just 29 minutes, the dominating Seattle Storm centre was ably supported by veteran forward Trish FALLON (14 points) as the Sydney Olympic Games silver medallists lifted their intensity to take control of the game in the second half. The Opals led 21-20 after the first period and 44-38 at half-time before using their dominance on the boards (50-33) to shut down the Greek offence."
Read more at JACKSON leads Australia to 75-57 win over Greece.
"When Athens hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, they won 10 out of the 43 first place medals.
But with their national football team pulling off a stunning Euro 2004 triumph in July and with their sportsmen bringing in 70 medals in various world and European championships in 2003, hopes are high of a record Olympics medal haul.
In realistic terms, however, Greek officials would be happy if they could muster another record 13 medals as they did in Sydney four years ago when they picked up four gold, six silver and three bronze.
This time round, they are fielding a 500-strong squad with defending 200m champion Costas Kenteris hotly tipped to become the first man ever to defend a title over the distance while women's 100m specialist Katerina Thanos looks to build upon a silver in Sydney.
“We are going for at least three medals and for our athletes to participate in 10 to 15 finals, twice as many as in Sydney,” predicted athletics coach Odysseas Papatolis.
The Greek athletics association (SEGAS) has spent 1.8 million euros on preparing the team but president of the organisation Vasilis Sevastis has admitted that many athletes are having to use their own money to train. "
Read more at Greeks hope for record haul.
"A member of the Greek judo team is in a critical condition after falling from a third-floor balcony in Athens.
Eleni Ioannou, 20, fell from her apartment in the Nea Ionia district at about 0330 and was taken to the Red Cross Hospital.
"It is a miracle she is still alive... she is fighting for her life," said Ioannou's coach Giorgos Bountakis after visiting her at the hospital."
Update ABC reports:
A young Greek couple, described as love-struck and inseparable, fought over who could play solitaire on their computer.
Now they're at separate hospitals, after apparently jumping off the same balcony.
The woman, who's a member of the Greek Olympic judo team, plunged to the ground on Saturday. She's listed today in critical condition.
Today, the boyfriend jumped from the same third-floor balcony. He's on life-support at an Athens hospital.'
"Greece's Kostas Kederis says he is in great shape and ready to defend his Olympic 200m title in Athens.
Kederis was forced to pull out of the Paris world championships last year with a leg injury but claims to now be back to full fitness.
He said: "I feel wonderful. I have fully recovered from all my injuries."
Source - Kederis in confident mood
"Using 10-man lineups and a pair of retired starting pitchers, the Olympic baseball teams for Greece and Canada gave about 200 fans at Camden Yards a sneak preview of this month's Olympic tournament in Athens.
The Greek team, composed of Americans of Greek descent, scored three runs in the first off former big league lefty Paul Spoljaric, but Canada rallied against Orioles prospect Nick Markakis and went on to a 5-3 victory.
Markakis, the seventh overall pick in the 2003 draft, has played outfield for low Class A Delmarva this season and had not pitched in a game since his days at Young Harris (Ga.) Junior College. He will pitch in a relief role for Greece in the Olympics and threw an inning against Canada, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks. Markakis got the loss as he threw 31 pitches, 14 of them out of the strike zone."
Read more Baseball America: Canada Tops Greece 5-3 In Exhibition.
"The Olympics may be coming home but are Greek athletes running away?
Four years after Kostas Kenteris won gold, there are still doubts over Greece's drug-testing
The day after Greece had secured a surprise victory in the last Olympic 200 metres final, a headline in the Sydney Morning Herald asked: "Who the Hellas is Kostas Kenteris?"
Four years later, despite the fact that this Air Force sergeant has also found time to add world and European titles and stands ready this month to deliver to the Greek nation the home Olympic victory they crave in the wake of the football team's startling triumph in Euro 2004, that question remains unanswered."
Continue reading The Olympics may be coming home but are Greek athletes running away?.
"Born in San Diego, Alex Cremidan grew up as a Greek-American drawn to both sides of his hyphenated heritage.
He served as an altar boy at his Greek Orthodox Church and took a memorable trip to visit relatives in Athens, developing a connection to the country where his grandparents were born.
"Even though I was born here in the U.S.," Cremidan said, "when I was growing up I had a strong (Greek) heritage."
Another affinity, this one purely American, occupied his boyhood imagination.
Baseball.
He's a professional now, a relief pitcher for the South Bend Silver Hawks trying to work his way up the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
That American dream will be deferred this month while Cremidan competes for the Greek baseball team in the Olympic Games."
Continue reading Cremidan takes Olympic detour.
ATHENS: Greece unveiled its biggest Olympic team on Wednesday, 16 days before the homecoming Games begin in Athens.
The host country will field 441 athletes led by 200 metre Olympic champion Konstantinos Kenteris and weightlifter Pyrros Dimas. Dimas will be Greece’s flagbearer before he attempts to win his fourth consecutive Olympic title.
Next month Greece will make its Olympic debut in a number of team sports with little or no domestic following, including baseball and softball. The host country is on a sporting high after the national soccer team’s shock win at the European Championship in Portugal earlier this month. reuters
Source: Greece unveils biggest Olympic team
"Pyrros Dimas and Kakhi Kakiasvilis may be virtually unknown to all but the most devout of Olympic watchers, but in their adopted homeland of Greece they are as-real-as-it-gets reality TV.
When they each compete for a fourth Olympic gold medal in Athens, records are likely to be broken, and not just on the lifting platform.
Just how big are the two in Greek culture - even if, for the moment, they're not as big as Greece's surprise European soccer champions? Greeks simply refer to Dimas with the one-word identifier Pyrros. When he and Kakiasvilis lift during an Olympics, it's not just sports fans who watch but virtually the entire country." Read more at Heavyweights face burden of expectations - The Times of India.
"The Greek Olympic baseball team is so short of cash that it has no funds to return for the games after training in the United States, a top official said Friday.
"At this moment we do not have money to pay for the tickets for our team to come to participate in the Olympic Games," Panos Mitsiopoulos, president of the Greek Baseball Federation, told The Associated Press.
All but one player have been training in Baltimore. Peter Angelos, the Greek-American owner of the Baltimore Orioles, helped organize the Greek Olympic team." Source - Chief: Greek Olympic baseball team broke in Baltimore
Greece have announced their Athletics Team for the Athens Olympics. It has 63 athletes - the biggest ever team for Greece in its history of attending the Games.
The Greek Athletics Team is as follows:
MEN
100m - Georgios THEODORIDIS, Christoforos CHOIDIS
200m - Konstantinos KENTERIS, Anastassios GOUSSIS, Panayotis SARRIS
400m - Anastassios GOUSSIS, Stylianos DIMOTSIOS
800m - Panayotis STROUBAKOS
1500m - Panayotis STROUBAKOS
Marathon - Nikolaos POLLIAS
110mh - Dimitrios PIETRIS
400mh - Periklis IAKOVAKIS
20km walk - Eleftherios THANOPOULOS
50km walk - Georgios ARGYROPOULOS, Spyridon KASTANIS, Theodoros STAMATOPOULOS
4X400m - Periklis IAKOVAKIS, Anastassios GOUSSIS, Panayotis SARRIS, Stylianos DIMOTSIOS, Georgios DOUPIS, Dimitrios GRAVALOS
Decathlon - Prodromos KORKIZOGLOU
Pole Vault - Marios EVAGGELOU
Long Jump - Louis TSATOUMAS, Dimitrios FILINDRAS, Dimitrios SERELIS
Triple Jump - Christos MELETOGLOU
Discus Throw - Savvas PANAVOGLOU
Hammer Throw - Alexandros PAPADIMITRIOU
WOMEN
100m - Ekaterini THANOU
200m - Olga KAIDATZI
400m - Chrisa GOUDENOUDI
1500m - Konstantina EFENTAKI
5000m - Chrisostomia IAKOVOU
Marathon - Georgia AMBATZIDOU
100mh - Flora REDOUMI
400mh - Fani HALKIA
20km walk - Athanassia TSOUMELEKA, Athina PAPAYIANNI, Christina KOKOTOU
4x100m - Ekaterini THANOU, Georgia KOKLONI, Marina VASSARMIDOU, Efrosini PATSOU, Maria KARASTAMATI
4x400m - Chrisa GOUDENOUDI, Olga KAIDATZI, Fani HALKIA, Dimitra DOVA, Chariklia BOUDA, Georgia KOUMNAKI
Heptathlon - Argyro STRATAKI
High Jump - Niki MITROPOULOU
Pole Vault - Georgia TSILIGGIRI, Afroditi SKAFIDA
Long Jump - Niki XANTHOU, Ioanna KAFETZI, Stella PILATOU
Triple Jump - Chrisopigi DEVETZI, Athanassia PERRA, Olga VASDEKI
Shot Put - Kalliopi OUZOUNI, Irene TERZOGLOU
Discus Throw - Ekaterini VOGOLI, Anastassia KELESIDOU, Stella TSIKOUNA
Hammer Throw - Alexandra PAPAGEORGIOU, Stella PAPADOPOULOU, Evdokia TSAMOGLOU
Javelin Throw - Mirela MANJANI, Angeliki TSIOLAKOUDI, Savva LIKA
Source - IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations - Athens Olympic Games 2004
After Greece's win in the European Football Championships one would expect that Soccer will be rather popular across the nation. This is true but it seems that it's only men's soccer that has been a passion for Greek football enthusiasts. This could be about to change with the introduction of the first Greek women's football team which has been announced in the lead up to the Athens Olympics.
'"It is a good opportunity. If we are good surely things will be different. Soccer will be professional and sponsors will get involved," said 21-year-old Angeliki Lagoumtzi, a defender on the team from the northern town of Kavala.
Getting the women's team together was not easy, even if Greece got in as host country allowing its female squad to take part in the Aug. 13-29 games without qualifying.
There is not much of an amateur league and Greek officials had to scour the country and among Greek diaspora communities for talent.
They eventually signed up 13 women from Greece and another nine of Greek descent from the United States.'
