Greece National Thread

[Makedonas 2,155]

And Ntouskos said last year that he would probably stop rowing after Tokyo. He just turned 24 so I hope he reconsiders this decision. Maybe a good result at the European Championships this week and the Olympics later this year will help him attract sponsors or something. He should at least be able to continue to Paris 2024 where he will be 27 and probably have a very good chance for a medal.

 

Bourmpou and the Kyridou sisters will be going to universities in the United States after the Olympics so they will probably disappear from the national team for a few years like Asoumanaki did (and other big talents like Vontzou, Pergouli, Angelopoulou, Georgoudi, Agioti etc). Probably some of the other young ones like Anastasiadou and Fragkou will follow too...

[Yannakis 362]

On 09/04/2021 at 23:04, Makedonas said:

Worth noting that in men's rowing we had 8 guys in London 2012 and 8 also in Rio 2016. It looks like we will only have one in Tokyo...

 

Very disappointing, but not surprising. Our federation is a mess. Papachristos retired after finishing 4th in London, he was just 23. So did the Gkountoulas twins who finished 9th and were 27 years old, though I guess that isn't too young (or old) for rowing.

 

Then after Rio we saw more retirements. Angelopoulos finished 8th as a 24 year old. Petrou finished 6th as a 20 year old. Giannaros, who finished 6th in Rio as a 24 year old, last competed in 2018 at age 26. Magdanis was 8th in London and 6th in Rio, last competed in 2017 as a 26 year old.

 

We have a big problem in rowing and it needs to be addressed. We lost many talents. Others who retired (Christou, Konsolas, Tsilis, Tziallas) were at least in their late 20s or early 30s which is more acceptable.

 

And even just a few years ago we had good young guys like Nikolaidis and Stergiakas who I thought for sure would be in Tokyo. Now they don't compete anymore either!

 

 

And let's not forget on the women's side. Nikolaidou was 23 and Asoumanaki was 19 when they finished 4th in W2X in Rio 2016. It looks like neither will be in Tokyo! Giazitzidou was 22 and Tsiavou 26 when they stopped rowing after winning bronze in London 2012. Kalampoka won three gold medals at the World U23 Championships plus another silver and stopped rowing at age 22. There are many more examples of situations like this. It's very sad. We've lost so much talent in rowing and it's crazy that we only have 3 athletes going to Tokyo. I still think we will qualify one or two more boats (W1X and LW2X) but we should have a big rowing team winning a lot of medals and that is not happening. 

Huge drop for us. I hoped that this generation can give us a lot of medals like in old times, but sadly it can't happen in Tokyo So, the state must do its best to keep them and prepare them well for Paris. 

[Makedonas 2,155]

2 hours ago, Yannakis said:

Huge drop for us. I hoped that this generation can give us a lot of medals like in old times, but sadly it can't happen in Tokyo So, the state must do its best to keep them and prepare them well for Paris. 

The best girls lately go to American universities with scholarships. Asoumanaki, Tsamopoulou, Pergouli, Vontzou, Georgoudi, Angelopoulou, Noni, Agioti, Amalia Tsiavou...now Bourmpou and the Kyridou sisters will follow. Once these girls start graduating I hope some of them will rejoin the national team. Apparently that is the plan and we just elected a new rowing federation president.

[Yannakis 362]

On 13/04/2021 at 06:07, Makedonas said:

The best girls lately go to American universities with scholarships. Asoumanaki, Tsamopoulou, Pergouli, Vontzou, Georgoudi, Angelopoulou, Noni, Agioti, Amalia Tsiavou...now Bourmpou and the Kyridou sisters will follow. Once these girls start graduating I hope some of them will rejoin the national team. Apparently that is the plan and we just elected a new rowing federation president.

New president has the necessary knowledge to keep most of these athletes on the national team.

[Makedonas 2,155]

14 minutes ago, Yannakis said:

New president has the necessary knowledge to keep most of these athletes on the national team.

I hope so. A problem was that the girls had to be at training camp most of the year and couldn't combine rowing with their studies. So they went to the USA where they had those opportunities to do both. Then in the summer sometimes they would come back and help the national team but the head coach decided after 2018 that he didn't want these athletes.

 

Rowing is an amateur sport in Greece so these rowers make no money.

[Yannakis 362]

4 hours ago, Makedonas said:

I hope so. A problem was that the girls had to be at training camp most of the year and couldn't combine rowing with their studies. So they went to the USA where they had those opportunities to do both. Then in the summer sometimes they would come back and help the national team but the head coach decided after 2018 that he didn't want these athletes.

 

Rowing is an amateur sport in Greece so these rowers make no money.

Very ungrateful by the coach. I can't understand why the state never before put rowing in profesional category, they have a big opportunity every time when athletes win medals?

[Makedonas 2,155]

15 hours ago, Yannakis said:

Very ungrateful by the coach. I can't understand why the state never before put rowing in profesional category, they have a big opportunity every time when athletes win medals?

Yes, rowing we always do very well in U23 and junior competitions but unfortunately the problems happen when these athletes get older and need to support themselves.

 

It's a shame because we should be doing much better in rowing.

[Yannakis 362]

Table tennis player Panagiotis Gionis has qualified for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

[Makedonas 2,155]

So we now have 43 so far for Tokyo. In the next two weeks we will have diving, wrestling, and taekwondo qualification tournaments coming up.

 

I hope we can get one or two divers and I think it's possible. Wrestling we already have Prevolaraki, maybe Pilidis can make it too. In taekwondo we have four good athletes who will try to qualify. I hope 1-2 can make it. Telikostoglou has to make it, surely. Hopefully after these we will have 46-47 total.

 

Later in May we will know more about rowing, cycling (cross-country), weightlifting, and shooting. And of course swimming and athletics are ongoing. We only have 6 currently for athletics, but I think in the end we will have at least 22-23.

[Yannakis 362]

On 25/04/2021 at 21:51, Makedonas said:

So we now have 43 so far for Tokyo. In the next two weeks we will have diving, wrestling, and taekwondo qualification tournaments coming up.

 

I hope we can get one or two divers and I think it's possible. Wrestling we already have Prevolaraki, maybe Pilidis can make it too. In taekwondo we have four good athletes who will try to qualify. I hope 1-2 can make it. Telikostoglou has to make it, surely. Hopefully after these we will have 46-47 total.

 

Later in May we will know more about rowing, cycling (cross-country), weightlifting, and shooting. And of course swimming and athletics are ongoing. We only have 6 currently for athletics, but I think in the end we will have at least 22-23.

This number will certainly multiply. Beside you said it, we could have Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari in tennis, Evangelia Planationi and Evelina Papazoglou in artistic swimming, Theodoros Iakovidis in weightlifting, for sure Petrounias in gymnastics.