Paris 2024 Country Profiles

[Makedonas 2,155]

Inspired by my "Tokyo 2020 Country Profiles" topic, it's time for people to post some interesting facts/figures about their country’s delegations. I’ll start with Greece 

 

By the numbers:

30th Summer Olympic appearance (tied for most of all-time)

 

100 = athletes in Paris (largest team since London 2012. We had 83 in Tokyo 2020)

59 = male athletes in Paris (46 in Tokyo 2020)

41 = female athletes in Paris (37 in Tokyo 2020)

16 = sports in Paris (17 in 2020, 15 in 2016, 19 in 2012, 22 in 2008)

59 = Olympic debutants in Paris

41 = former Olympians in Paris

1 = mother in Paris, Alexandra Asimaki-water polo (we had 4 in Tokyo 2020 but two retired, the other two missed qualification, and we also had another two from Tokyo who became mothers since then but missed qualification also)

32 = athletes born in 2000 or later (we had 18 in Tokyo 2020, you would think we'd have more now but I guess it was only 3 years since then instead of 4)

35 = age of oldest Olympic debutant (Nick Calathes-basketball)

6 = former Youth Olympics participants (3 from 2014 and 3 from 2018)

6 = most Olympic appearances (Panagiotis Gionis-table tennis). He is our only athlete in Paris who was at Athens 2004!

5 = former Olympic gold medalists (Anna Korakaki-shooting, Stefanos Ntouskos-rowing, Eleftherios Petrounias-gymnastics, Ekaterini Stefanidi-athletics, Miltiadis Tentoglou-athletics)

12 = former Olympic medalists (same as above +7 male water polo players)

 

Athletes with the most Olympic appearances (including Paris) :

6: Panagiotis Gionis (table tennis - 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024)

4: Theodora Drakou (swimming - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Ioannis Fountoulis (water polo - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Kristian Gkolomeev (swimming - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Byron Kokkalanis (sailing - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Evangelia Platanioti (artistic swimming - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Maria Prevolaraki (wrestling - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Ekaterini Stefanidi (athletics - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024), Andreas Vazaios (swimming - 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024)

 

Former Olympians who were not in Tokyo:

Alexandra Asimaki (water polo - 2008, 2024)

Efthimios Mitas (shooting - 2012, 2016, 2024)

 

Three youngest Olympians:

1. Evangelos Ntoumas (swimming) - 16 years, 0 months

2. Dimitra Kontou (rowing) - 18 years, 10 months

3. Apostolos Siskos (swimming) - 19 years, 1 month

 

Three oldest Olympians:

1. Panagiotis Gionis (table tennis) - 44 years, 6 months

2. Antigoni Drisbioti (athletics) - 40 years, 4 months

3. Efthimios Mitas (shooting) - 39 years, 2 months

 

Siblings:

1. Eleftheria Plevritou (water polo), Margarita Plevritou (water polo), and Vasiliki Plevritou (water polo)

2. Petros Tsitsipas (tennis) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (tennis)

3. Ariadni Spanaki (sailing) and Odysseas Spanakis (sailing)

4. Stamatia Scarvelis (athletics) and Nicholas Scarvelis (athletics, 2016)

*Those in italics competed in the past but are not in Paris.

 

Parents/Children:

1. Maria Sakkari (tennis) and Angeliki Kanellopoulou (tennis, 1984)

2. Ioli Mytilineou (equestrian) and Hannah Roberson-Mytilinaiou (equestrian, 2004)

3. Alexandros Papanastasiou (water polo) and Anastasios Papanastasiou (water polo, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996)

4. Athina Giannopoulou (water polo) and Stavros Giannopoulos (water polo, 1984)

5. Maria Patra (water polo) and Evangelos Patras (water polo, 1988, 1992, and 1996)

6. Kristian Gkolomeev (swimming) and  Tsvetan Gkolomeev (swimming, 1980 and 1988)

*Those in italics competed in the past but are not in Paris.

 

Top cities with the most 2024 Olympians:

1. Athens - too many to count

2. Thessaloniki, Macedonia - 12

3. Chania, Crete - 6

4. Heraklion, Crete - 3

5. Grevena, Macedonia - 2

*First time since 1980 that no athletes from Volos, Thessaly are going to the Olympics, and first time since 1992 that no athletes from Larisa, Thessaly are going to the Olympics.

 

Athletes born in other countries:

 Nick Calathes (basketball) - His paternal grandfather is Greek and he has spent 9 seasons in the Greek domestic league

 Kristian Gkolomeev (swimming) - His family moved to Greece when he was an infant and he lived in Greece his entire life

 Tatiana Gusin (athletics) - She moved to Greece at age 7

 Dauren Kurugliev (wrestling) - No real connection, we shamelessly gave him citizenship out of nowhere last year

 Kameron Maramenidis (sailing) - His father is Greek

 Theodoros Tselidis (judo) - His father is Greek and he moved to Greece in 2018

 Stamatia Scarvelis (athletics) - Both of her parents are Greeks

 Thomas Walkup (basketball) - Similar to Kurugliev but in his case he has at least played 3+ seasons in the Greek domestic league

 

Athletes from Greece but representing other countries:

 Anna-Maria Alexandri (artistic swimming), Eirini Alexandri (artistic swimming)

 Marilia Mimides (water polo)

 Sideris Tasiadis (canoeing) [okay he is different from the others because he lived most of his life in Germany and likely learned the sport there but he did live in Greece for 10 years during his childhood so we’ll count him]

 

Athletes that train in Greece but represent other countries:

 Kalia Antoniou (swimming), Nikolaos Antoniou (swimming)

 Tori Franklin (athletics)

*I didn’t include people who play for Greek clubs in team sports because in water polo for example there would be so many.

 

Biggest teams by sport:

Water Polo: 26 in 2 events

Swimming: 17 in 11 events

Athletics: 13 in 14 events

Basketball: 12 in 1 event

Rowing: 7 in 4 events

 

Biggest changes in team size compared to Tokyo:

(+)13: Water Polo

(+)12: Basketball

(-)7: Artistic Swimming

(-)7: Athletics

(+)5: Swimming

 

Events where more than one athlete/team per country is allowed to participate, and the country has reached the maximum quotas:

Athletics: women’s pole vault (3)

Shooting: men's skeet (2), women's 10m air pistol (2)

Swimming: men's 50 m freestyle (2), men's 100 m backstroke (2), men’s 200 m backstroke (2), women’s 100 m butterfly (2)

 

First time qualifying in…

Shooting women's skeet EVER

Shooting mixed skeet EVER

Equestrian since 2004

Tennis men's doubles since 2004

Basketball since 2008

Tennis women's doubles since 2008

Women's water polo since 2008

Men's swimming 4x200 freestyle relay since 2008

 

First time not qualifying in…

Women's triple jump EVER

Weightlifting since 1956

Any men's track or road event since 1988

Hurdles events since 1988

Cycling - track since 1988

Triple jump since 1992 (women's triple jump didn't begin until 1996)

Women's sailing since 1992 (though we did qualify in a mixed event here)

Archery since 1996

Men's race walking since 1996

Men's swimming 200m individual medley since 1996

Men's 110 hurdles since 2004

Cycling - mountain biking since 2008

 

Other interesting facts:

-In 2004 (8 and 8), 2008 (2 and 2), 2012 (1 and 1) and 2016 (3 and 3), each time Greece had the same amount of men’s medals as women’s medals. Then in 2020, we won 4 men's medals and 0 women's medals. It will be interesting to see what the breakdown of medals by gender will be this year.

 

-This is our 12th consecutive Olympic participation in men's water polo. We've never had more than two consecutive participations in any other team sport. In Tokyo, they won their first Olympic medal which was a silver. Our boys have also won 4 World Championships medals, including bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023, but never gold. Will this be the time that our men's team finally win a golds medal?

 

-As mentioned, it is our first time qualifying for men's basketball since 2008, and women's water polo since 2008. The (arguably) most successful player on each of those teams will be in Paris, as Vasilis Spanoulis is now coaching the men's basketball team, and Alexandra Asimaki came out of retirement and rejoined our women's water polo team. Nobody else on those rosters from Beijing will be in Paris as an athlete or head coach!

 

-Race walker Antigoni Drisbioti will be making her 3rd Olympic appearance, this time at 40yo. She was 32 in Rio and 37 in Tokyo. I guess it's pretty rare from someone in a sport like athletics to never make it to the Olympics until their 30s and then make it 3 times!

 

-Javelin thrower Elina Tzengko is Greece's first Olympian (man or woman) of Albanian descent (by far the largest immigrant group in Greece) since Savva Lika in 2012, who was coincidentally also a javelin thrower. The only other Greek female Olympian of Albanian descent that I know of is Mirela Manjani, who won medals for Greece in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Coincidentally, she was also a javelin thrower! So all three Albanian-Greek women to compete in the Olympics were javelin throwers! And it's not like Albania is some powerhouse in throwing events or anything  Also unlike Lika and Manjani, Tzengko was born in Greece and is not an immigrant.

 

-Greece has never won an Olympic swimming medal in a pool, only a bunch of medals in 1896 when the swimming events took place in the sea, and an open water medal from 2016. Based on the recent performances of some of our swimmers, especially Apostolos Christou in the men's 100m backstroke, could this be the first time we win a swimming medal in a pool?

 

-We have also not won medals in fencing or tennis since 1896, and I think we have good chances this time with Theodora Gkountoura in the women's sabre (she won bronze at the last World Championships), and perennial top 10 players Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas in tennis (especially in mixed doubles but also they have some chances in singles). Also it's a shame that Despina Georgiadou, who is ranked 3rd in the world in the women's sabre and won medals at the last two World Championships, is not allowed to compete in Paris as Greece did not qualify in the team event...

 

-23 yo Emmanouela Katzouraki is the first Greek to ever qualify in the women's skeet. She won bronze at the World Championships last year, and should have a decent shot at a medal not only in that event but also in the mixed event with men's reigning world champion Efthimios Mitas. I think her winning a medal would be a really great story that would make big news in Greece, because she was actually a passenger and a survivor of the Tempi train crash in February 2023. It was (and still is) a very big topic in Greece, it was the deadliest crash in Greek history and 57 people died. Katzouraki was lucky that she only suffered minor injuries. Had she sat in a different wagon she would not be in Paris or any other Olympic Games...

 

-Greece continues our rowing tradition of sending lightweight rowers in the open categories. In 2016, it was Nikolaidou who finished 4th in the women's double sculls (she won two World Championship medals in the lightweight single sculls in 2013 and 2014 before having to switch to double sculls in 2015 as she could not find a good lightweight partner for Rio). In 2020, it was Ntouskos who won gold in the men's single sculls (he was 6th in 2016 in the men's lightweight four as a 19 yo). Now, not only will Ntouskos be back in Paris, but also his girlfriend, Evangelia Anastasiadou will be competing in the women's pair. She is 165cm and had a similar situation to Nikolaidou where she switched to an open weight category. With lightweight rowing being axed from the Olympic programme, Greece is a good example for other countries to follow on how to transition the lightweight rowers to the open categories!

 

Feel free to add any other interesting facts about your countries’ teams!

[De_Gambassi 1,223]

Some number from 

 

 

• Organisation

 

It'will be the  6th  time that France host the Olympics after the Summer Games of Paris 1900 and 1924, and The Winter Games of Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992

 

 3  The number of fail bids by Paris to host the Summer Olympics before 2024 (1992, 2008 and 2012)

 

 6.8 billions  The original budget of the Games from 2017

 

 8.8 billions  including  2.4 billions  of public money. The current projected budget of the Games, a  29%  increase from the original budget

 

 3  Michelin Stars chefs have been chosen to cook at the olympic village

 

 2  only permanent venues were built for the Olympics : The Aquatic Centre and the Porte de la Chapelle Arena

 

 326,000  spectators are expected during the opening ceremony. A number cut from the orignal  600,000  number for safety reasons

 

 8.8 millions  tickets have been sold so far. Already a record for the Olympics.

 

 

• Qualifications

 

 3  national teams will make their olympic debut at Paris 2024 : the women water polo, field hockey and volleyball teams

 

 1  The 3x3 mens national Team was the only team who was not qualified by defaut and had to qualifie for its home olympics

 

 0  quotas were given by the wrestling federation. The only federation not guarantying any home quotas

 

 

• Team

 

 571  french athletes are going to participate. It's the biggest french team in history.  49,4%  of them are women and  199  were already in Tokyo

 

 224cm  vs  148cm  The tallest (Victor Wembanyama) vs the smallest (Coline Devillard)

 

140kg  vs  41kg  The biggest(Tedy Riner) vs the smallest (Alessia Zarbo)

 

It'will be the  7th  participation of Mélina Robert-Michon 

 

Nikola Karabatic and Teddy Riner are tied with  3  golds each as the most decorated participants

 

 16%  of the national delegation is born in Paris or in the Ile de France region

 

 

 

Edited July 24 by De_Gambassi