Makedonas

I think the Voracova situation is crazy and makes Djokovic look much better now. It shows that Australia was allowing others who followed the same process in, and it was not just "arrogant Djokovic getting special permission because he is famous" as people were saying. Nobody is blameless in this situation, but now Australia looks very bad for originally allowing it and now changing their minds. It's too late for that. You can't give people exemptions and then revoke them. Going forward, they should be more consistent to avoid messy situations such as this.

Who? Do you mean Robert Lewandowski?

I like that this is a category. I wish Greece would do the same. Every year we have either basketball or water polo teams winning. Very rarely will sailing/rowing teams win these awards, usually only if they win Olympic medals and even then they don't always get the award. It would be nice to separate it and add this category because our sailors and rowers often get ignored because of the big team sports.

That's the thing though, if he needed a medical exemption then he did not need the vaccination. It was one or the other, not both. Also while I would have gotten vaccinated in his situation, I can respect that at least he did not fake it. I am sure he could've had the Serbian government make fake papers that looked official to say that he is vaccinated but instead he chose to not lie and instead he is honest.

Also didn't Djokovic help with vaccinations in Belgrade during a tournament there? That he provided vaccinations for those who CHOSE to receive them? I thought I saw something about that. Another thing is that some of these people claim they "follow science" but they only follow some of it. As I have said, I am vaccinated but some of us need to recognise that natural immunity is also real and relevant. We clearly see now that people with the vaccines can still get and spread the virus. I have a family member who is vaccinated that recently got the virus and had bad symptoms. I know that many people around the world also have a similar situation. So is it really true that an unvaccinated person who had the virus in October for example is "a danger to society" but that a person who got vaccinated in March for example is "safe and free"? The recent trend seems to be that the unvaccinated person in this situation would have greater immunity. I don't think we know exactly how long natural immunity lasts for so it might be hard to determine, but maybe governments should really consider natural immunity for a certain period of time as an alternative to vaccination requirements? Obviously it could be difficult if after X amount of months the natural immunity proof (a positive test from a previous month for example) is no longer valid, but it is astonishing that nobody wants to talk about natural immunity. We know that Djokovic had the virus during the summer of 2020, which is too long ago for natural immunity to still be relevant, but is it possible that he had it again last year? Perhaps when he skipped Indian Wells in October?

Is this really true though? They said that they would allow medical exemptions. I don't know yet about the other countries but for Australia, the latest news was that there would be medical exemptions so technically he did not know that he needed to be vaccinated to go there.

I think Djokovic made a mistake by posting about the exemption, as that drew a lot of attention to his situation. Had he just posted "Off to Australia!" then people could be free to make their own conclusions from that and think that maybe he got the vaccine and it would be less suspicious. Instead, he chose to announce his current vaccination status to the world. People are saying there are issues with his visa but also that Tennis Australia reviewed his visa application. So I don't know. I think there is still a lot of information which we do not know now so I don't want to jump to conclusions yet because the situation is still quite unclear in my opinion. I personally like Novak and want to see him play even though it was a bit annoying that he was being so dramatic all along. Other players like Sandgren and Babos at least were more transparent during this process. Also if he does get deported, would that mean he is banned from going back to Australia for a certain period of time? Which would mean we might never see him play at the Australian Open again...

I'm vaccinated and people sometimes tell me I look like Djokovic, plus I used to play tennis, so would you mind if I took his spot instead of you? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live my dream

I'm glad that he is playing but the "medical exemption" is BS and we all know it. I think it is unfair for players to miss out on the Australian Open due to not getting the vaccine, but I think it is even more unfair to allow some unvaccinated players but not others... It will be interesting to see if the other slams also require it and/or what their countries decide.

Ιστιοπλοΐα, κολύμβηση, κωπηλασία, πυγμαχία, σκοποβολή, στίβος, ταεκβοντο, τενις κτλ: Ας φανταστούμε ότι έγραψα κάτι…πραγματικά δεν έχω όρεξη

Greece's Despina Papamichail qualified for Adelaide beating #151 Jones and #147 Voegele. She's 28 years old but currently at a career-high ranking of 182 and doesn't have many points to defend until July. It would be nice if she can really rise up the rankings the next few months and be a late bloomer. This is the first time she qualified for a WTA main draw (she was a lucky loser the other time she played a main draw so she didn't really "qualify").

Καλή χρονιά σε όλους! Και συνεχίζω… Μπάσκετ: Πρέπει η Εθνική ανδρών να πάρει μετάλλιο στο φετινό Eurobasket. Φτάνει πια. Δεν αντέχω άλλο . Αξίζουμε ένα μετάλλιο μετά από τόσα χρόνια. Μακάρι να τα καταφέρουμε. Χρειαζόμαστε και καλά αποτελέσματα στα προκριματικά του Mundobasket ανδρών αλλά και Eurobasket γυναικών, ώστε να κάνουμε τα πρώτα βήματα για τα ολυμπιακά εισιτήρια. Πιστεύω μπορεί να κάνει σπουδαία πράγματα και η εθνική γυναικών κ20 το 2022. Δεν ξέρω πως θα λειτουργεί το Πανευρωπαϊκό αλλά αν γίνει κανονικά (όχι όπως πέρυσι) θα έχουμε την χρυσή μας γενιά με Μποσγανα, Χατζηλεοντη και Παπαδόπουλου στη διάθεση μας... Στο Euroleague ο Ολυμπιακός είναι από τα φαβορί φέτος. Μακάρι να πάει στο Final Four (έχουμε μερικά χρόνια να δούμε μια ελληνική ομάδα εκεί), και από εκεί είναι όλα πιθανά! Ξιφασκία: Ανυπομονώ να δω τι θα κάνουν οι Γεωργιαδου-Γκουντουρα μετά το θρίαμβο τους στη Γαλλία. Μακάρι να βρουνε τρόπο να αγωνιστούν μαζί και στο ομαδικό (μαζί με την 3η καλύτερη ελληνίδα προφανώς). Αν δεν είχε σταματήσει η Βουγιούκα τόσο νωρίς, θα μπορούσαμε ίσως και ένα μετάλλιο στο ομαδικό στους Ολυμπιακούς! Στο φλερέ θα ήθελα την Χαλδαιου να μπει στο τοπ 100 (αυτή τη στιγμή βρίσκεται στο νο.167). Ας θυμηθούμε ότι είχε πάρει χάλκινο στο Ευρωπαϊκό νεανίδων το 2020. Πάλη: Η Πρεβολαρακη να πάρει μετάλλιο σε μεγάλη διοργάνωση (Παγκόσμιο/Πανευρωπαϊκό), ο Πιλιδης να κερδίσει το Survivor και να υπερασπιστεί τον τίτλο του στο Παγκόσμιο Κ23, ο Κουγιουμτσιδης να συνεχίζει να πάρει μετάλλια στις ηλιακές κατηγορίες (κατέκτησε 3 μετάλλια το 2021), και ο Χοσονοφ να πάρει το χρυσό στο Παγκόσμιο Κ23 (το 2021 είχε πάρει το ασημένιο).

Maria won but it was not pretty

That's too bad that he is injured. Thank you all for your replies. Please excuse my ignorance as I am not very familiar with most winter sports.

Hello friends, does AJ Ginnis have any chance of winning a medal? Or at least being top 10? I think our highest ever placing in any winter Olympic event was 13th so it would be nice if he can break that record. Fun Fact: He was actually born in Greece and lived in Greece until he was 12. Happy New Year to all!

Στη καλλιτεχνική κολύμβηση θα ήθελα να δω πως θα επανέλθουν τα κορίτσια μας μετά από το φιάσκο που αντιμετώπισαν στο Τόκιο. Ελπίζω να πάνε όλα καλά στο παγκόσμιο και θα ήταν μια ευχάριστη έκπληξη να βελτιώνουμε τη βαθμολογία μας στο ομαδικό και να καλύψουμε τη διαφορά από την Ισπανία και την Ιταλία όσο μπορούμε. Με την Γαλλία ως οικοδέσποινα, δύσκολα να ξαναπάρουμε την πρόκριση στο ομαδικό το 2024, αν και έχουμε μια πολύ νεανική ομάδα σε σχέση με άλλες χώρες. Το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι το ντουέτο θα πάρει εύκολα το Ολυμπιακό εισιτήριο και είμαι περίεργος να δω αν θα είναι πάλι Παπάζογλου-Πλατανιώτη το δίδυμο, η αν θα υπάρχουν αλλαγές στην ομάδα. Όσον αφορά τη γυμναστική, σίγουρα ο Πετρουνιας θα είναι το μεγάλο φαβορί στο Ευρωπαϊκό Πρωτάθλημα και περιμένουμε και ενα μετάλλιο και στο Παγκόσμιο (μακάρι το χρυσό!). Θέλω να δω και καλά αποτελέσματα από τους άλλους αθλητές της ενόργανης. Μου φάνηκε ντροπή που ο Πετρουνιας ήταν ο μόνος Έλληνας στο Τόκιο στο άθλημα του (και παραλίγο να μην προκριθεί ούτε αυτός). Ηλιοπουλος, Τανταλιδης, Κατσαλη, Αφράτη κτλ. Καλό θα ήταν κάποιους από αυτούς να εξελίσσονται τα επόμενα χρόνια και να πάνε στην επόμενη Ολυμπιάδα. Το ίδιο ισχύει για την ρυθμική, όπου η Κελαϊδίτη, η Μαγοπουλου και η Δερβίση θα έχουν πιθανότητες πρόκρισης. Θα ήμουν ικανοποιημένος με 3 η 4 αθλητές της γυμναστικής στο Παρίσι (μάλλον 2-3 στην ενόργανη και 1 στη ρυθμική). Προσωπικά δεν παρακολουθώ πολύ την ποδηλασία, όμως θέλω τουλάχιστον να συνεχίσουμε να στέλνουμε 3-4 ποδηλάτες σε κάθε Ολυμπιάδα. Γνωρίζω ότι ο Λιβανος τα έχει πάει εξαιρετικά στην κατηγορία των εφηβων και μακάρι να μας φέρνει καλά αποτελέσματα στην κατηγορία των ανδρών στο άμεσο μέλλον.

Στο τζούντο θα έχουμε παγκόσμια και πανευρωπαϊκά πρωταθλήματα το 2022. Δύσκολα να πάρουμε κάποιο μετάλλιο (τουλάχιστον στην κατηγορία ανδρών-γυναικών) αλλά καλό θα ήταν να έχουν καλές εμφανίσεις οι τζουντόκα μας και να ανεβούν βήμα-βήμα στη παγκόσμια κατάταξη. Στο Τόκιο στέλναμε 2 τζουντόκα, θα ήθελα η ομάδα να φτάσει στα 3-4 μέλη στο Παρίσι, πράγμα που πιστεύω είναι εφικτός στόχος αν και λίγο δύσκολος. Ας θυμηθούμε ότι ο Τσελιδης βρισκόταν σε τροχιά πρόκρισης πριν τον τραυματισμό του. Στις καταδύσεις θα ήθελα τα νέα παιδιά να συνεχίσουν τις καλές τους πορείες, με αποτέλεσμα να έχουμε 1-2 εκπροσωπους στο Παρίσι σε αυτό το άθλημα. Τα ίδια ισχύουν στην άρση βαρών (Ιακωβίδης + Γεωργοπούλου ίσως, φαίνεται να έχει μέλλον στο άθλημα) και στο πινγκ πονγκ (Γκιώνης + Σγουροπουλος) εν όψει 2024.

Also in general I think our women’s rowing team can shine in Paris. We only had three girls in Tokyo. Christina Bourmpou and Maria Kyridou, both 20 years old (18 when they secured qualification for Tokyo) finished 5th in the women’s pair. Maria’s sister, Anneta Kyridou, finished 10th in the women’s single sculls as a 22 year old despite only competing in the event for one year. All three of these girls have won so many medals at the U23 and junior levels, and also European Championships, Youth Olympics, etc. Apparently the Kyridou sisters are training together to compete in the pair in Paris so I’m not sure what Bourmpou will do, but we have some other options that she can make a strong crew with. Evangelia Fragkou this year won four medals in four events. Bronze at the World U23s (double sculls w/Arabatzi), bronze at the World Juniors (single sculls), gold at the European U23s (double sculls w/Anastasiadou), and gold at the European Juniors (double sculls w/Natsioula). Evangelia Anastasiadou was originally going to try to qualify in the women’s lightweight double sculls with Anneta Kyridou, but things changed when Anneta switched to single sculls. Anyways she won gold in the lightweight single sculls at the European U23 Championships in 2020 as an 18 year old, and silver in 2021 at the World U23 Championships in the same event, and also as I said won gold at the European U23s in the double sculls with Fragkou even though Anastasiadou is a lightweight rower at just 165cm. Styliani Natsioula who won gold with Fragkou in the double sculls at the European Juniors this year is another good option. They won bronze together in 2020 when Natsioula was just 15. Natsioula will still only be 19 in Paris so maybe Los Angeles is where she will shine. Lastly, our other good young lightweight rower besides Anastasiadou is Eleni Leventelli. She won bronze this year in the lightweight single sculls at the European U23 Championships as a 17 year old. When Anastasiadou was that age she came in 6th place at the European U23s, so technically her progress is better than Anastasiadou’s at the moment.

In addition to those I already mentioned (Ntouskos, Tentoglou, Tzengko), I'd like to add a few others for Georgios Pilidis (wrestling) - He qualified for Tokyo which was impressive considering he's only 21. Since then he also won gold at the World U23 Championships (he had won a lot of medals at major events for his age group but this was his biggest achievement so far). 2021 was a great year for him despite having injury problems as well. Financially he lacks support so he is taking a break now to compete on Greece's Survivor (they offer big prize money plus it is a way to become famous and attract sponsors). I haven't watched any episodes yet (I think there were only one or two so far) but everyone is suddenly taking an interest in him and people who never heard of him are all saying he is the big favourite to win it all. I think it says a lot about how much he wants to make a big career in wrestling that he's willing to go to Survivor to acquire the money to support his career. He is clearly ambitious and has already done very well so I don't see why he can't achieve great things. I just hope competing on Survivor and missing a few months of training won't have such a negative impact on him (though his injury problems didn't stop him in 2021 either despite not being able to properly train at times). Apostolos Papastamos (swimming) - He had some injury problems in 2021 also, so he didn't do well in Tokyo but I think he can do much better in 2024. Let's not forget he won gold in the 400 medley at the 2019 World Juniors and European Juniors, also won gold in the 200 medley at the European Juniors and bronze at the World Juniors. In the 400 medley he broke our NR in 2019 as an 18 year old and also broke the world junior record (I'm not sure if he still has it or not). Anastasia Dragomirova (athletics - heptathlon) - Due to injury problems she was only competing in shot put in 2021, but she is planning to return to the heptathlon next year. She's never competed in a senior heptathlon yet, but some of her PBs are really impressive. 15.69 in shot put (this year, as an 18 year old), 45.76 javelin (last year, as a 17 year old), 1.78 high jump (last year, as a 17 year old), 6.44 long jump (in 2019, as a 16 year old). With those PBs, she would've been 1st in the shot put in Tokyo, 4th in the long jump and 10th in the javelin. She's still so young and can build on these, but her results in track events aren't that impressive although she hasn't competed a lot so it's tough to judge so far.

Τι περιμένετε από τους αθλητές μας το 2022; Ας αρχίσουμε με το πόλο, όπου οι εθνικές μας ομάδες πήραν συνολικά 6 μετάλλια το 2021. Το 2022 έχουμε παγκόσμια και πανευρωπαϊκά πρωταθλήματα μπροστά μας (στην κατηγορία ανδρών-γυναικών) αλλά και διάφορες μεγάλες διοργανώσεις στις ηλικιακές κατηγορίες. Σίγουρα δε θα στεναχωρηθώ αν ξαναπάρουμε 6 μετάλλια κατά τη διάρκεια της χρονιάς Βεβαια υπάρχουν και τα ευρωπαϊκά πρωταθλήματα των συλλόγων όπου διεκδικούμε διακρίσεις και στους άνδρες αλλά και στις γυναίκες, ειδικά με τις ομάδες του Ολυμπιακού.

Not to sound arrogant but it's probably going to be Greece, really I'm offended that we weren't included in the poll as an option

This issue is still being discussed very much in Greece, the fan award winners will be released in a few days so the results of that will be very interesting. This has caused a lot of controversy with people saying Giannis should've won, or Tentoglou, or Ntouskos, or Tsitsipas, or Tsimikas... In my opinion it's nice that we are even having these conversations because it shows that we had a good year for male sportsmen if we have so many good options for this award, but also it shows that the athletes from more popular sports like basketball, football, tennis will always be favoured over those from athletics or rowing, gymnastics...

Stefanidi thinks Tentoglou deserved to win and she is not staying quiet about it. She has a good point. She always speaks her mind even though I often disagree with her, I respect that she isn't afraid to give her opinions (on various issues including outside of sport too).

Georgiadou and Gkountoura gave a long interview after this and they both said the Olympic qualification system is unfair how only one athlete per country can make it if they don't have a team, and that their goal is to qualify for Paris as a team but it will be very hard to find 1-2 more athletes. However they kept repeating this so I wonder if they are in talks with Vougiouka to make a comeback. She will be 38 in Paris, but Velikaya and Zagunis are both 36 and still in the top 10 at the moment. That would be really special if they could make it happen although Vougiouka has been retired for 5 years now so who knows what physical condition she will be in even in the unlikely event that she does come back. The girls also said that they were cheering for each other every round, and when they found out they were facing each other in the final they were celebrating together and hugging together while everyone else was looking at them strangely. They said they didn't care who won in the final (which is probably a lie, lol) and that afterwards they went out to dinner to celebrate together. They said fencers from big powers like Russia, USA, Italy, France won't understand how special it was for them to both make the final and that they hope it gives them more sponsors because they went to Orleans with their own money. They said it's hard to make it without support and that there were other talented fencers in Greece who stopped at 18 to go to university and try to have a normal/stable life and make a career.