Makedonas

Teltsidou 5th, disappointing that she could not take a medal...

https://sportsfeed.gr/eyropaiko-paidon-korasidon-proti-stin-katataxi-i-ellada/

I think you have the wrong logo

The boys won the title!

I'm sure some players will skip but probably not like Tokyo, as there were COVID issues and also it was out of the way for players to go to Asia for just one event. Europe is much more convenient.

No, the top 10 automatically qualify, but after that the players can combine their rankings. So if Stefanos is for example around 5-8 in singles, and Petros around 75 in doubles, they will probably qualify. The cutoff will probably be between 80 and 100. It was around 200 in Tokyo though that was after many withdrawals.

Tsitsipas brothers are in the final at ATP 250 Antwerp! It was their first ATP semifinal, and now their first final. Hopefully it can be their first title! This will help them a lot to qualify for Paris, as Petros will now move up to 90 in the doubles rankings, and will be 81 if they win tomorrow!

I agree! I will probably go on holidays after that also, so I'm glad that most of the events I care about the most will be done by the second Sunday/Monday. And any other big events for Greeks (Tentoglou final, knockout/medal matches in team sports) I'm sure I can find at any cafe.

...for once it seems logic prevails, as it looks like the Kyridou sisters are now going to be the new Greek W2X. Suddenly we are now the overwhelming favourites to take a quota in this event in Lucerne, as long as things stay as is and there is no further drama.

Cycling - Road +1 TBD (men's road race)

Day 0: Opening ceremony (I usually only care for the parade of nations, so I can skip the beginning part ) Day 1: Basketball - M group phase (if Greece qualifies and is playing) Canoe Slalom - MC1 heats and WK1 heats Rowing - Wherever there are Greeks, so for this day it will be M1X and hopefully some others can qualify (W1X, M2X, W2X) Swimming - Various events Table Tennis - If there is a Greek competing Tennis - Various matches Water Polo - W group phase (if Greece qualifies and is playing)

These rankings show points that will count for Paris: https://live-tennis.eu/en/olympics-race-men-singles https://live-tennis.eu/en/olympics-race-women-singles

I did not see the full match so I can't say much, and I'm sorry about the laser. It's disappointing to lose 1-0 to both France and the Netherlands because each team got awarded two penalties against us and each team had the first penalty saved but scored the second. Some of the calls were questionable too if we're being honest, and this certainly does not disprove some theories that UEFA favors certain "powerful" nations over others. We've played well this campaign and deserve to qualify based on that. Hopefully we don't mess up in the playoffs.

So they can add breaking, sport climbing, lacrosse, squash, flag football, 3x3 basketball, and all these other ridiculous sports that we don't participate/do well in, but they just had to get rid of lightweight rowing which we are actually good in and win medals

Also I'm personally disappointed with and I really do not want Albania back in another major tournament after how their fans acted in 2016, bringing anti-Greek political banners to their opening game in France These nationalists think we are such a bad country with racist people, meanwhile their team captain at the time was playing in our league and Greece is the number one country for Albanians to migrate to. Make it make sense...

Nice 0-2 win for us at Ireland to keep our chances for direct qualification alive I would love to avoid the playoffs but we are in such a tough group so it's hard, still we are 2nd and the match against the Dutch on Monday will be critical Also it seems that Turkey will qualify directly which will make our playoff group a lot easier should we need that route...

Eleni Potari (women's handball) - competed at the 2004 Olympics. Age 41, died of cancer

That's my same thought about Greece I think "we won't qualify in any of these so I do not care" I will say it's sad that we didn't really have the option to choose to add "sports" in 2004 as the host nation, we could have swept the podium in backgammon for example

That's not true, they changed the rule so they can "enter" (and obviously play) 3, but Maria played two (Linz and Birmingham) and entered Rabat but withdrew. Had she not entered Rabat, since she did not play anyways, she would've still had a chance at a 250 next week (although not anymore since she lost in Zhengzhou). I still wonder if Muchova will show up in Cancun or not...

Nice topic, thanks for creating it @rafalgorka I think it would also be interesting to see what people say about NOCs with active users that are not their own. For example I'd be curious to see what non-Greeks think about Greece! Also I'm surprised no one mentioned tennis for Belgium. Elise Mertens is currently ranked number one in doubles, and Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen are both in the top 20 in men's doubles. I think Belgium will have a chance to win medals in both men's doubles and mixed doubles!

Gymnastics - Artistic +1 Eleftherios Petrounias (men's rings)

If you think our aquatics federation is bad after the two above posts, wait until you hear about our football, sailing, rowing, and wrestling federations

...and another two young retirements, also from aquatics... 19 yo artistic swimmers Eleni Fragkaki and Krystallenia Gialama, both of whom were part of our Tokyo Olympic team that traveled to Japan, stayed in the Olympic village, but didn't get to actually compete due to multiple positive Covid cases in the team. Well it looks like they'll never get to compete in the Olympics now, they are quitting the sport after being kicked out from the national team a few days ago. So from the 8 young girls who were a part of that team that didn't get to compete in Tokyo (after we qualified for the first time since 2004!), only 2 of them are still with the national team (3 if you include the alternate). Most of the girls were teenagers and it seemed that they would have more chances to go to the Olympics. Both girls moved from other parts of the country to Athens at age 14 to train with the national team. They competed at the World Championships in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Now, just a few months away from the 2024 World Championships, they are not being given the chance to compete and qualify for the Paris Olympics. They said they have no regrets, and that these experiences shaped their character, but now it feels like everything was a waste. This came after the federation did an annual test of about 30-40 girls after the summer. They thought their tests went well and many others, including the national team coach (!!!) also told them that they did well. Two days later, the national team coach (who is Russian and not Greek) called the girls and told them each the same thing, as if she was reading it from a piece of paper. They were told that they made some mistakes in the water at the test (there are not even any videos to see) and that they are too heavy, but the girls say they are the same weight they were in the last two years and they were never told that was a problem. They were also told that other, younger athletes deserve more opportunities, which the girls said maybe is a valid reason to remove them from the national team, but not to do it 4 months before the Olympic qualification event after spending years training with the team. They aren't even being given a fair opportunity to rejoin the national team, they are simply done. They believe the coaches have their favourites who they want to promote. The girls are also shocked that this happened to them, after so many years with the national team and working with that coach, that out of nowhere she said they are not good enough. The coach doesn't seem to care, nor the federation, and the only people who reached out to them were their teammates. They also heard that now the atmosphere in the team is not so good, ever since they were kicked out, and that they have great relationships with the other girls in the team (who told them how it is not the same without them etc.) Here is an interview from the girls (in Greek, it's too long for me to translate but quite shocking to hear some of the things they said) : https://aquafeed24.com/big-interview-aqf24-drimy-katigoro-orgi-kai-apokalypseis-apo-krystalenia-gialama-elena-fragkaki/ Some highlights: -Both girls started university last year (one in medical school and one in dentistry), and they asked to take 1-2 hours per day for their studies, but were told they need to practice 10 hours a day and have to choose between their studies and the sport, that if they chose their studies they will be removed from the national team, and so they chose the sport (now they are going to focus on studies). -They never got any money/support from the federation, not even 1 euro, but they didn't ever complain or go against the federation or the coaches, and now they are being kicked out with no reason. -There were instances where they were promised some money and never received it, and then told it was their fault for not asking for the money. -The federation rented a house for girls who were from outside Athens (these teenage girls were living by themselves in the house), and it was a small house for 4 people and at one point 11 girls were living there. They were told originally that the federation would provide them food, that also did not happen, and the girls in the house had to make their own food or eat food from their families which they froze. The house was far from the training centre and no one helped them transport themselves, they were completely on their own in a new city. -After summer 2022, the girls were getting ready to go back to the rented house in Athens, and a week before they were notified that they can't stay there because it is only for girls under 18. No one ever told them about this "rule" and they lived like nomads until February bouncing around to different relatives houses until they found a place. -The federation would brag/exaggerate in interviews about how they would support the team and that they were all working with a psychologist, but the girls say they only had a psychologist twice in one year. Despite all of this, the girls said they still loved the sport and wanted to pursue their Olympic dreams no matter what, until the national team coach ended that dream for them. They say it has happened to other girls in the past too, which doesn't surprise me seeing most of the girls from the Tokyo team have disappeared, and the Alexandri sisters are now winning medals for Austria, a country they had nothing to do with before getting citizenship...

23 yo diver Nikolaos Molvalis (25th at the 2023 Worlds in 10m platform) He was our biggest chance to qualify a diver to the Olympics for the first time since 2012. He didn't develop as we thought after he was 23rd in 2019 as a 19 yo but still seemed to have a solid chance at qualifying for Paris. He said he didn't want to take a year off school to risk it for the Olympics (it case he didn't qualify) especially since he doesn't have a program with a high enough difficulty score to fulfill his Olympic dream. He said that we don't have the facilities to attempt more difficult dives, that there are only two pools in all of Greece with such capability, otherwise he would risk injury. He blamed the Greek federation for not being able to protect his future, and he said that if he made a mistake at the 2024 Worlds and didn't qualify for Paris because of it, that he would waste a year of his life (not being able to study) and that it was too much of a risk. He said when he notified the federation of his decision to stop diving, they didn't even care or try to help him or convince him to stay, they were indifferent and did not even thank him for his contributions to the sport in our country (being by far our best diver of the last decade, not that it's a high standard but still). He said only the national team coach reached out to him and thanked him and supported him. No one else from the federation cared.