Makedonas

Does this tournament impact the rankings?

Sad for New Zealand but now it says on Wikipedia that Canada will take their spot. And with one quota from the Americas being reallocated, suddenly I think Greece has a decent chance to take it. USA and Australia were 9th and 10th at the 2019 Worlds and will be tough to beat. Ireland (5th at 2021 Euros) and Poland (7th at 2021 Euros) as well as Switzerland will probably also be tough, but our girls definitely have a chance to finish top 3 IMO.

Thank you, I didn't know. So the two finalists make it and then three from Stage 3? I just assumed it was the four semifinalists plus one more quarterfinalist. As of now he's 7th in the ranking of those who haven't yet qualified, and Sirucek is 8th so hopefully he qualifies from here. Kou, Drinkhall and Robles are also in decent ranking positions of those still alive in Stage 2.

Wow can't believe Gionis lost. Hopefully he can still qualify for Tokyo via ranking.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it would be nice if anyone is able to help https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-sonia-run-this-godassigned-marathon-and-win?sharetype=teams&member=10288962&pc=fb_co_campmgmt_w&rcid=r01-161911386763-4a06f38e69ca404e&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_lico%2Bshare-sheet&fbclid=IwAR1b2a6QL4d4JsbgeQ4bUk4FBuX2alSKB5LOPDoO_xip42Z5OjW7bKl9k7k This is her: https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/greece/sonia-cekini-boudouri-14695187

Good to see Prevolaraki in the final. She is now guaranteed to win her 5th European Championships medal. Hopefully this will be the first gold for her.

Do you think Petrounias is expected to qualify for Tokyo? And if he does, do you think he would be the favourite to win gold?

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.

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.

Sure.

If it makes you feel better, Argentina is an elite nation in football. Many other nations would give up every other sport to be in Argentina's position in football

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.

What about tennis (doubles)?

At least you won medals. We used to win the medal table at the European Championships in the late 2000s and early 2010s and now the best we could do is two 4th place finishes... We have a very young team so I have hope for the future, but also we always have young teams and everyone quits rowing at a young age. It's an endless cycle of us doing well in U23 and junior rowing but we struggle at the senior level. Even now we had 10 rowers in this team, three were teenagers and only two were older than 22 yo...

Softball is probably also a sure gold for the US, no?

Men's single sculls is an Olympic event and you won bronze

He said this last week: "China has three men qualified on individual apparatus and, if I'm not mistaken, according to the tie breaking rule, Weng Hao will get the quota on the pommel horse. This is, honestly, the worst that could happen to China. They have virtually no chance of a medal on the pommel horse with the level of the competition as it is. China's best chance would be on the still rings with Liu Yang, and to top it off, Yang qualifying means that Petrounias would not qualify -- what would make a medal for Yang even "easier" to achieve.According to rumors, the Doha World Cup will be staged in early June, so we'll see how China will deal with their quotas." Sorry for China but honestly Petrounias deserves to be in Rio. Gold European and world in 2015, European and Olympic 2016, European and world 2017, European and world 2018, then took a year off due to injury and surgery and came back for the World Championships in 2019 where he got 4th place which isn't enough to qualify. Unlucky because we couldn't qualify in the team event, and he missed a lot of the World Cup series due to injury. His 4th place at the 2019 World Championships was his worst performance in over 5 years and it was only because it was his first competition after injury and he was not in his best shape but still had to go because it was an important qualification event. China wins so many medals and Greece does not, so sorry if this sounds rude but it is a million times more important for us to get Petrounias there instead of Yang.

1-Athletics 1-Gymnastics 1-Sailing 1-Shooting 1-Swimming 3-Others (more of the aforementioned sports, tennis, wrestling, fencing, karate, taekwondo, water polo, cycling, rowing, judo) In athletics our best chances are Stefanidi and Tentoglou. Papachristou and Tzengko I think also have outside chances. I will say expecting 1 medal in athletics is a fair prediction for us. In gymnastics, Petrounias is the defending Olympic champion. If he qualifies, he is Greece's best chance to win a medal in any sport. The only reason he hasn't qualified yet is because he missed one year due to injury. Especially with the Games being moved to 2021, he is in a good position now and probably back to his normal level. In sailing, Mantis/Kagialis won bronze in Rio and I think got 4th at the last World Championships. Karachaliou is ranked 2 in the world and Kokkalanis was close to winning medals in 2012 and 2016. Between these three I think we should expect 1 medal in sailing. In shooting, we obviously have Korakaki who won two medals in Rio and there is also Mavrommatis and Mitas in the men's skeet who are decent. Shooting is an unpredictable sport but I think it is fair to expect 1 medal from this sport. In swimming, Gkolomeev is our best chance as he won silver at the 2019 World Championships. We also have Vazaios and Papastamos who are good and have improved a lot. I also think it is fair to expect 1 medal here. Now for the rest we have some chances like tennis (Tsitsipas and Sakkari), fencing (Gkountoura), karate (Chatziliadou), taekwondo (Telikostoglou), wrestling (Prevolaraki), basketball, water polo, maybe someone in rowing or judo, cycling (Volikakis), or some other surprises in the other sports like sailing (Mitakis), athletics (Kyriakopoulou) etc. It is hard to predict because we have a lot of people with chances but not many clear favourites. So I will say 8!

No medals for Greece Very disappointing of course. Our two crews in A Finals both finished fourth. In the women's pair, Bourmpou/Kyridou finished in 4th place. They had won bronze last year (well six months ago haha). The difference between first and fourth was just 1.5 seconds, so they were very close to even gold. I don't think GB competed last year so I guess that is the reason why our girls went down from third to fourth. Still a very good result considering Christina is 20 and Maria is 19. They will have many more chances in the future. I am certain of that. Not sure if they will be able to win any medals this year. Olympic medal is extremely unlikely. Not sure if they'll show up at the World U23 Championships to defend their gold from 2019 because it is just two weeks before the Olympics. And also not sure about the European U23 Championships because both are supposed to be going to university in the United States after the Olympics. And in the men's single sculls, Stefanos Ntouskos was second for most of the race but finished 4th in the end, right at the last second. I hate to make excuses but I really think he was at a disadvantage since he was in the Olympic quali regatta and had to race twice on Thursday while everyone else was resting. Still, this is a good result as he is young and improved on his result from last year where he was 5th. And in the men's single sculls, the best rowers in the world are mostly the Europeans so this is a good sign for the Olympics. Lastly, congratulations to all rowers from all countries who won medals here! I know that my country will get back on the podium next year

Actually I think this is the first time ever that Anneta Kyridou competed in single sculls without winning a medal. The other three times she competed in this event were 2019 European U23 (gold), 2020 European U23 (gold) and 2020 European (bronze)

So our women's lightweight double finished second in Final B which is okay. Six months ago at the last European Championships they were 9th, so now they moved up to 8th. Really they were probably 6th or 7th best but had a very difficult draw, plus they were tired after having to compete in the European qualifying regatta. I think they still have some chance for Tokyo based on their showing here. The biggest disappointment for us is Anneta Kyridou, finishing 9th in the women's single sculls after winning bronze here last year as a 21 year old. That being said, she faced a lot of challenges this week that were unprecedented so mentally it must have been tough for her. Plus she was in the European qualifying regatta too, so she had 6 races in 6 days, with 5 being in the last 4 days. That's a lot so she has an excuse for her mediocre performance. I hope she can make it to Tokyo because she deserves it more than anyone else. Our men's lightweight double sculls finished 11th and our men's pair finished 12th. It looks like neither team has a chance for Tokyo at this point, but both are very young. Zisis Boukouvalas who was in our men's pair is still just 18 years old! Now we wait to see what will happen with our crews in Final A. Both definitely have chances for medals, I just fear that Ntouskos will be too tired from the European qualifying regatta. Like Kyridou, this will be his 6th race in 6 days, and 5th in the last 4 days.

Not a good day for the Greeks Our LM2X and M2- finished 6th in their semifinals which was more or less expected. I don't think either has a chance at the Final Qualification regatta but it would be a good experience for them. Both teams are very young and should be aiming for Paris 2024. Our LW2X came 5th in their semifinal, very disappointing but also they were in a very tough semi. The other one was weaker. I think tomorrow's Final B will be a big test for them. If they can finish 1st or 2nd then I believe they still have a chance to make it to Tokyo. The problem is Fitsiou. If Nikolaidou can get healthy within the next month (I don't know what her current condition is, but she said in a few weeks ago that she is still injured but hoping to make it to Tokyo), then Anastasiadou/Nikolaidou could be an amazing team. Anneta Kyridou was 4th in W1X and didn't make it to Final A. Pretty disappointing but I'm not surprised. She has had a very long week. Dominated her heat at the European Qualifying regatta, then fell into the water in the final, then had to come back in less than 24 hours to compete in an extremely difficult heat, then had to race again on the same day in the repechage where she finished 1st. She probably could've won a medal here again if she didn't compete at the European Qualifying regatta too. She's clearly tired both physically and mentally. Lastly, Ntouskos was 3rd in his semi in M1X which is good but he is starting to look tired. It's understandable though. He raced on Monday, then twice on Thursday, then again on Friday and again on Saturday and now will race in Sunday's Final A. I hope he can sneak a medal but I fear that fatigue will play a role. He seems to be in great shape otherwise. Also we still have our women's pair in the final, they won bronze last year as 19 year olds. I hope they can win another medal this year. I think they have a good chance!

They only have a live audio feed so far. Worldrowing could do such a better job promoting their sport. They had streams for the European U23 and Junior Championships last year which were watched by thousands of people on Youtube. They should do the same for this too.

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...

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.