Makedonas

I can't believe that Elina Tzengko isn't going to the meet in Switzerland today (women's javelin). She could probably book a place to Tokyo with a throw around 60m (she just did 61.42 on Saturday). I know she's only 18 and will have more chances in the future but she really could've made it. She had so many throws last year above 60m (including 63.96, 0.04 cm below the standard) which obviously didn't count in the rankings. Such a wasted opportunity. Also the Greek team was announced for the U23 European Championships and she's not there either, but she'll be at the U20 European Championships. I know this is off-topic but are U20 athletes not allowed at the U23 European Championships in athletics? I thought she could go and she has a higher SB than anyone else in Europe for both U23 and U20, so you would think she'd go to both events as she'd be favourite to win gold at both.

Please show me where in the post which you quoted did I say anything about Australia. Also my past comments in this topic are about the qualification system as a whole. It is a bit unfair (in my opinion, feel free to disagree) that certain countries automatically qualify just because of their geographic location without having to swim a single metre to earn it. South Africa will lose every game by 20+ goals, mark my words. My issue is not with any other country or team but more with the qualification system as a whole in women's water polo. I don't have any "anti-non European" feelings in my heart. Perhaps you would have a different opinion on this qualification system if your country won gold at the World Championships and did not make it to the Olympics the next year (which happened to Greece in women's water polo London 2012). So yes, I am bitter about that and I have every right to be.

Is there anywhere we can see entries for those events or we have to wait?

I was thinking the same thing! It's so depressing that the qualifying period is coming to an end. In a way I like it more than the actual Games itself

Congratulations to our Serbian friends! Sorry for France, I hope your girls can win a medal in Tokyo as some consolation. I love both countries!

Our team now has 69 athletes (including Filtisakou and Tsinopoulou who haven't officially qualified but there are no more competitions in the women's 20km walk so I guess their ranking places are secured). In athletics it looks like Douvalidis, Anastasakis, Filippidis, Karalis, S.Scarvelis, Spanoudaki, Pesiridou, and Anagnostopoulou will all get in. Frantzeskakis and Tsiamis also will probably get in but it's still unclear. Tzengko has some chances too. Disappointing that some like N.Scarvelis, Baniotis, Vasiliou, Karydi will all not qualify, plus obviously Belibasaki who has been injured for most of the last two years. Scarvelis threw over 21m last year but of course it didn't count for the ranking, and this year he hasn't been in form. Baniotis I never thought wouldn't make it after he won silver at the 2019 European indoors but injuries + age have caught up to him. Vasiliou looked great in the winter season but hasn't done well enough outdoors this year unfortunately. Really a shame especially since she DNS in the final of the 2019 national championships where she definitely would've won gold which would've given her the additional 100 placement points and she would've probably qualified for Tokyo via ranking. Still she needed to do better this outdoor season and she didn't. And Karydi's ranking will be well within the top 32 but more than 32 athletes achieved the standard in her event and she came close but couldn't do it. It's disappointing but she's only 20 so I'm sure we'll see her in Paris. We also might get another 1-2 in swimming with OST just like in 2016 when we got Dimitriou and Vourna in that way. So we'll see. And you never know, maybe the men's basketball team will surprise us and manage to qualify somehow. If not, then our team will probably have about 78-82 members or so in the end. Our smallest since Barcelona 1992 but it's a very young team so hopefully in Paris we can go back to having 100+.

Is it safe to say Christos Frantzeskakis will make it in the men's hammer throw? He's currently 32 in Road to Tokyo but will be 33 when they update it now that Lomnicky achieved the standard. However there are three ANA athletes above Frantzeskakis, surely they won't all be allowed to compete, right? Can anyone confirm this info? Thanks.

I'd like to see New York host one day, that would be pretty cool. But of course my answer is Athens, Athens, and Athens. Maybe a Thessaloniki/Mount Olympus Winter Olympics also

Two fourth place finishes for Greece, no medals

Women's High Jump Marija Vukovic - 1.97m Balkan Athletics Championships She was already awarded a universality place and would've qualified by ranking regardless, but nice for her to make the standard. She lives in Greece because she has a Greek coach so I'll be cheering for her in Tokyo as it seems our two good female high jumpers will narrowly miss qualification this time around.

I don't think that's the issue for her. She won four gold medals already so I think she cares about the Olympics, but this year is different. Also she is a mother now and wants to be with her daughter which I don't think is possible at the Olympics due to covid protocols. Plus Tokyo is out of the way for her when she wants to probably focus on the US Open and try to win another Grand Slam before she retires. Also she had some injuries recently.

Looks like Armenia is really trying to build their team and get their diaspora athletes to compete for them. I've noticed that Allison Halverson (heptathlon) and Kristina Alvertsian (triple jump) both now compete for Armenia. Halverson has posts about being Armenian on her instagram, so I guess her mother is Armenian? And Alvertsian obviously has an Armenian surname. There might be others too, but these are the only two that I saw so far.

Elisavet Pesiridou will probably make it in the women's 100 hurdles. She is currently 42nd with 1204 points (40th has 1205 points) but she just won the Balkan Championships with 13.06, so she'll now move up a lot in the rankings (probably to 35 or so). I know it's not a big deal for others but really happy for her. She was injured the past few weeks and missed some meets she was scheduled to take part in, and even her participation in the Balkan Championships was uncertain. So for her to win with a SB and (99% sure) book her ticket to Tokyo is really great considering her injury situation which came at a bad time, and the fact that a few days ago we didn't even know if she would get the chance to make it to Tokyo. Also in 2019 she made the decision to skip the World Championships (even though she qualified) because she was tired from the long season, so I'm glad that the strange decision she made back then didn't ruin her Olympic chances in the end.

I played tennis for many years. I think I'd be able to avoid a golden set if facing a top 100 player. Maybe I could win two or three points in the set, LOL.

So you prefer for athletes to cheat than to have the current rules with rankings? Seriously?!

Very sad, he led Greece and Greek teams to many European titles! He is 39 years old so it's not surprising. He wanted to retire after Tokyo but unfortunately he got injured so he was going to miss it anyways and decided to retire from now I guess. He will be missed! I thank him for all of the memories he gave us.

It's going to be so annoying for athletes from other countries who would've made it if not for these universality places taking up spots from the rankings. There are a bunch of Greeks who are borderline right now, so if any of them miss out because of these universality places, I'm going to be so angry. Also it looks like World Athletics is starting to remove injured athletes from the Road to Tokyo lists. I noticed in the women's 100 hurdles that the two Germans (Dutkiewicz and Roleder) are no longer listed. Koleczek from Poland is still listed for now. I haven't checked other events.

4th place for our 20 year old Emmanouela Katzouraki in the women's skeet. Not a bad result. We have a bunch of young shooters coming up it seems (like Chatzitsakiroglou who was 6th in the men's trap at the recent European Championships in his first competition at the men's level). We had one shooter in Beijing, three in London, two in Rio and will have two in Tokyo. I think in Paris we could possibly have 5-6 even!

What score would you have given Petrounias then?

Yeah I had mentioned that a few weeks ago that she would be suspended. Our man in 96kg apparently has a chance to get in if Colombia gets banned. So we'll see. Otherwise it will be the first time since 1964 that no Greek is in weightlifting at the Olympics. Sad, but somehow maybe better to not be involved in this mess of a sport...

We lost to Russia in the semifinals Sadly this was expected.

Apparently Greece is waiting for the decision on the Colombians because then we would get the quota in men's 96 because any changes after the deadline go to the next weightlifter in the rankings and not by continental quota. At least that is what I read.

He needed to score above 15.333, and this was the third time he did it this year (he did it at the European Championships in qualifying and the final). He was injured and missed competitions for a year, missing out on World Cup events where he could've won/prevented Liu Yang from gaining those points. Then at the World Championships (his first competition in over a year) he finished 4th and the top 3 were all from countries that didn't qualify in the team event, so 4th place did nothing for him. Then he won Melbourne World Cup, then he won Baku although the final was cancelled so his qualifying score was used as the final result. In Baku I'm sure his score in the final would've been more than the qualifying score, so he probably wouldn't have needed such a high score this time around anyways. He definitely deserves credit for qualifying against all odds. I'm sure the postponement of the Games also helped of course. I am sorry for Liu Yang. I wish there was a way that both can be in Tokyo but to say that Petrounias didn't deserve to qualify is a bit unfair especially considering everything he went through, and also the fact that Greece didn't qualify in the team event so we couldn't even use him there. Petrounias has been the best on the rings over the last 5 years so it would've been a crime if he didn't make it to the Olympics. Especially for our country, we don't win a lot of Olympic medals and he will be our only gymnast going to Tokyo. I know it still sucks for Chinese fans and I sympathise with them, but at least they know they will win other medals in gymnastics.

Very true. Speaking on behalf of Greece (I would say we are a mid size nation), we are way better in athletics now than we were in 2012 or 2016, but we will have less athletes because of these quota limits and high entry standards.

She only resigned because there was pressure as she faced a lot of backlash. And in our situation the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee had to get involved.