OLYMPIC GAMES

The history of the Olympic Games The Olympic games were the most important event in Ancient Greece. They were conducted in Ancient Olympia every four years starting in 776 BC. Some of the sports that exist in our time were the same back then. There were for example races, wrestling, long and high jump, javelin and discus. However, the ancient Olympics had fewer events than the modern games, and only Greek men were allowed to participate. The Olympic games had religious significance as they were conducted in honour of God Zeus. The prize for the winner was a wreath of olive branch. In 1894 Pier de Coubertin along with 13 other countries decided to start the Olympic Games again in Athens, Greece.

The Olympic games today Olympic Games or Olympics are held every four years and it is the leading international sporting event featuring summer and winter sports , in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's first ever sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. This year’s motto was : ‘’Live your passion’’

Rio 2016 This year the Olympic Games were held in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. The 2016 Summer Olympic Games, commonly known as Rio 2016, was a highly anticipated and really successful international multi sport event. The excitement amongst the sports fanatics reached its peak on August 5th. More than 10500 athletes from 206 nations participated in 28 sports and competed for the gold, silver and bronze medal. The great event ended on 21st August.

Greek Olympic Athletes

Anna Korakaki Anna Korakaki was born on 8 April 1996 in Drama. She is a Greek shooter. She represented Greece at the 2016 Summer Olympics winning a gold medal in the 25meters Pistol and a bronze medal in the 10meters Air Pistol. At the age of 20 she became the first Greek woman to win two Olympic medals in the same competition and the first Greek athlete in general since 1912. Korakaki has been a member of the Greek international team since 2010.

Pyrros Dimas Pyrros Dimas was born on 13 October 1971. He is now a retired weightlifter but he is currently involved in Politics as a member of the Greek Parliament. Dimas is widely considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all times having been three times an Olympic Gold medalist and three times World Champion.

Eleftherios Petrounias Eleftherios Petrounias is a Greek artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 olympic champion, the 2015 World Champion and a two time European Champion (2015, 2016) on the still rings. Petrounias joined the Panionios Gymnastics club at the age of 5 and he also practises parkour. He has also graduated from the Athens University of Economics and Business obtaining a degree in Communications and Marketing. His gold medal was Greece’s first medal in the reings since Dimosthenis Tampakos won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Dimosthenis Michaletzakis Dimosthenis Michaletzakis was born on 19 October 1998 in Alexandroupoli. He began swimming at the age of four. He has achieved a world record in the 200 meters butterfly at the international swimming meeting held in Berlin in April 2015 with a time of 2,13.09, which was recorded as the leading time ever. He also won the gold medal at Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Ilias Iliadis Ilias was born on 10 November 1986 and he joined the judo team at the age of 10. He was coached by his father, Nikos Iliadis, in 2002 and within two years he became the leading judoka of the world. He won a gold medal in the half-middleweight (81 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens at age 17. Illiadis also won a gold medal 6 years later at the 2010 World Judo Championships in Tokyo.

Voula Patoulidou Voula Patoulidou is a Greek former athlete and a politician. She was born on 29 March 1965 and she is the first female Olympic medalist in Greece. In her first participation in the Olympics in 1988 she came 15th in the 100 meters. On 5 August 1992 she won the gold medal in Barcelona in the 100meters hurdles. It was the first gold medal for Greece since 1912. She was a member of the Olympic team for 16 years and she took part in 5 Olympic Games from 1988 to 2004. On 9 December 2004 she announced her withdrawal from active duty.

Fani Chalkia Fani Chalkia, an athlete of Olympiakos, won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. During the semi-finals Chalkia set an Olympic record of 52.77 seconds.

Katerina Thanou Katerina Thanou is a Greek former sprinter. She won numerous medals in the 100 metres including an Olympic silver medal at the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, while she was the 2002 European champion in Munich, Germany. She was also crowned World and European champion in the 60 meters at the indoor championships.  In 2007, Marion Jones won in the 100 metres at the 2000 Olympics leaving Katerina Thanou in the second place.

Antonios Pepanos Antonios Pepanos was born in 1866 in Patras and he was a Greek swimmer. He was recognised as the best swimmer in Greece when he came first in all local races. He won the silver medal at 500meters at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Spyros Louis Spyros Louis was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern day Olympic marathon at the 1896 summer Olympics, thereby becoming a national hero.