Makedonas

Tentoglou won the men's long jump with 8.22. He only had two valid jumps today.
 
Another U20NR came in the women's shot put from Maria Rafailidou. She had 16.53 earlier this week and now got 16.59. She's second in the world for U20 this year 
 
So of course Karalis was the big star of our nationals this year, more than Tentoglou, but we also had a lot of teenagers show good signs for the future (Antonatou, Alivizatos, Mitropoulou, Iakovaki, Rafailidou etc).
 
Antonatou and Alivizatos are both from Kefalonia island. Antonatou's brother is a shot putter who is 19 yo and had a new PB yesterday of 17.92 in the NCAA. I don't remember us ever having any strong athletes from Kefalonia in any sport aside from the late Anna Pollatou who won an Olympic bronze in rhythmic gymnastics. What are they feeding these kids on this island (it only has about 35.000 residents)?! Very impressive.

2nd best all time performance 
 
 
 

Tentoglou won the men's long jump with 8.22. He only had two valid jumps today.
 
Another U20NR came in the women's shot put from Maria Rafailidou. She had 16.53 earlier this week and now got 16.59. She's second in the world for U20 this year 
 
So of course Karalis was the big star of our nationals this year, more than Tentoglou, but we also had a lot of teenagers show good signs for the future (Antonatou, Alivizatos, Mitropoulou, Iakovaki, Rafailidou etc).
 
Antonatou and Alivizatos are both from Kefalonia island. Antonatou's brother is a shot putter who is 19 yo and had a new PB yesterday of 17.92 in the NCAA. I don't remember us ever having any strong athletes from Kefalonia in any sport aside from the late Anna Pollatou who won an Olympic bronze in rhythmic gymnastics. What are they feeding these kids on this island (it only has about 35.000 residents)?! Very impressive.

He missed all 3 attempts at 2.27 to finish in second place. Merlos cleared 2.27 on his first attempt to equal his PB from a few weeks ago and will go for 2.29 now.
 
 
Another 2008-born athlete, Evelyn Mitropoulou, got 6.45 in the women's long jump 
The U20WL is 6.46, so she was very close. She also smashed her own indoor U20NR of 6.25 today 

17 yo Charalampos Alivizatos in the men's high jump with 2.25 at  National Championships 
His previous PB was 2.19, he equaled that today, then cleared 2.21 on his first attempt,  2.23 on his third, and 2.25 on his first!
 
He is trying now for 2.27 and missed his first attempt. He is currently in second place as Merlos also cleared 2.25 but with less attempts.
 
He is improving rapidly. His PB after 2023 was 1.90, then 2.07 after 2024 and 2.15 after 2025 

I think that is great for Sinner, the money will really help fund his career 

I think that is great for Sinner, the money will really help fund his career 

3-4th places:
 
 12-5
 
First ever EC medal for the greek men's team! 
 
 

Forgot this thread even existed, in the summer I’ll be going to  for the first time in July (Phuket and Bangkok, I know our picks are “boring” but I’ll be back to visit the hidden gems) for about a week, with my friends!
 
Way too little time to spend there and I wish I could be there longer, but I have an opportunity to work in the film industry for about a month, right now one of my biggest interests, and if I take it I’ll have to come home early, don’t want the hassle that comes with rebooking flights/booking hotels. Not sure what I’m deciding but thought I’d share with you guys 

Tereza Mihalikova is almost top 20 in doubles. She could play with Sramkova perhaps.

And the 2025 Skateboarding World Championships will take place...Next week  I have added them to the 2025 World Championships list.

Karalis just cleared 6.07 and then 6.17 at our  Indoor National Championships! 

Some notable  retirements:
 
Elisavet Pesiridou (athletics - 100m hurdles) - She announced her retirement on her 34th birthday. She competed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. She narrowly missed Paris 2024 despite being in good form, the rest of he field seemed to get stronger and her ranking was a bit lower even though she was quite consistent. She struggled with injuries in 2025.
 
Fani Tzeli (taekwondo) - She was 7th in Tokyo 2020 but didn't qualify for Paris 2024. Still, she is only 24 yo and seemed to be rising up again after winning bronze at the European Championships so it is a bit surprising.
 
Aikaterini Divari (sailing) - She competed in Tokyo 2020 but didn't qualify for Paris 2024. Only 25 yo.
 
AJ Ginnis (alpine skiing) - Despite winning a silver at the World Championships he never got to compete at the Winter Olympics as he was always unfortunately injured. A shame as he is by far our best winter athlete ever. Only 31 yo, and I have a feeling he might come back in 2030 based on his last interview...

Stefanos Ntouskos  wins gold medal in men's single sculls !!! It is his first medal in world championships
 
 

Karalis just cleared 6.07 and then 6.17 at our  Indoor National Championships! 

Karalis just cleared 6.07 and then 6.17 at our  Indoor National Championships! 

Karalis just cleared 6.07 and then 6.17 at our  Indoor National Championships! 

Karalis just cleared 6.07 and then 6.17 at our  Indoor National Championships! 

By the way, the girl who hugs him in the video is 16 yo Eleni Iakovaki, daughter of Periklis Iakovakis (2006 European champion in 400 hurdles and 2003 World bronze medalist). She won the women's 400 event today with a massive PB of 53.95 (U20NR and U18NR) and seems to be rapidly improving. Her previous PB was 55.09 from last year (outdoors).
 
We also had 16 yo Apostolia Antonatou finish second today in the women's 60m with 7.33, which is also a new U20NR and U18NR. A few weeks ago she got 7.38 to equal Katerina Thanou's U20NR but now she beat her and she's only 16.

i am not in favor of naturalization. Since we have international competitions between countries i want to see each country's performance based on its own personell strength or/and culture/style so whats the point for example fro european teams in basketball to have american players?? tomorrow the sports federations will extend the number of naturalizations and we will have teams which will result actually as the same product. Unless IOC abolish country represantation and athletes particip[ate as individuals or we will have teams created indepedently from nations (for example Giannis will have his own team, Doncic his own etc)

I think most people have similar views to be honest. There are plenty of reasons for genuine transfers of nationality (lineage, residence etc). Sure, some of them only do it to increase their chances of getting to Olympics etc, but so be it. 
 
I remember the footballer Deco (born in Brazil, played in Portugal to start his career) saying that he felt playing for Portugal was the right thing to do as he “owed” his career to them. I found that interesting at a time I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it 
 
The fast track “purchase” of athletes doesn’t sit well though. Turkey and Bahrain being most egregious to me

Just look at women's magazines - fashion, diets, makeup, interior design, gossip but never any articles about sport.

Hi all,
 
I'm happy to have found others who love the Olympics as much as I do.
 
Random facts about me:
1) I'm an almost 40-yr-old dad from the States (South Carolina).  I'm teaching my girls to watch international sport/the Olympics...they know that when it's Olympics time, the TV doesn't tune in to anything else.    And now that I've discovered the international federations and the competitions in the 'off years', my wife/kids know there's no telling what sport I'll be watching...currently watching the table tennis for today's finals at the Europe Smash.
 
2) I grew up loving geography, maps, cultures, languages, etc.  (I'm a Spanish teacher now.)  I always watched the Olympics growing up, and my favorite part has always been the Parade of Nations (which I know makes me an outlier among all of my friends who are there for the sport).  Have always just loved the idea of having people from virtually every nation all together.  And to see the sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit on display between the nations is so inspiring.  I'm a Christian, and one thing we believe is that one day in the afterlife there will be peace among all, and while the Olympics isn't a perfect representation of that, it's a nice glimpse.   
 
3) I had the opportunity to go to a baseball game during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (just a couple of hours from me)...I think it was Netherlands and Nicaragua.  I got to see one of the bronze medals that the USA won in baseball that year, as one of the players (Matt LeCroy) was previously a student at my high school and he came to talk at our church afterwards.  I also got to see the torch relay before 2002 in Salt Lake as it also came through South Carolina.
 
4) I grew up always liking figure skating and gymnastics, and of course swimming/diving/artistic swimming and track/field (athletics) were always fun to watch.  But now, my sport that I follow most closely is Sport Climbing.  I discovered it at the Tokyo Olympics and have been in love ever since.  I didn't really think about it much after Tokyo, but leading up to Paris, I caught some of the Olympic Qualifier Series and discovered the IFSC.  After Paris, I started watching all the comps in between.
 
5) Though Sport Climbing is my absolute favorite, when people ask what sports I watch in the Olympics, I have to honestly reply that I watch them all.  I try to catch a little of each sport, trying to learn about sports that I'm less familiar with.  Current secondary favorites are Table Tennis, Weightlifting, and Modern Pentathlon (and Curling in winter, and SkiMo has recently caught my eye).  It also helps that I discovered more about the structure of International Sport, in that each one has their own federation, like the IFSC.  I took some time to follow each of them on YouTube and Facebook, and I'll try to pay attention if there are some major competitions in the sports.
 
6) As I watch the Olympics, I also try to be intentional about watching athletes from as many nations as I can.  Here in the USA, it's of course not surprising that NBC shows primarily stories related to our athletes...but I know other nations are just as proud of their athletes.  So, in looking at other sports, I get to see other nations shine for a bit.  I also try to watch things like the opening heats for the 100m in the pool or on the track to see athletes from all over the world compete.
 
7) I may or may not have purchased the soundtrack to the 2024 Opening Ceremony and listen to it quite frequently.    (I also have gone back and watched the opening ceremony from the Olympics site a couple of times now, where it's ad-free and without NBC commentators checking in on Team USA.  And interestingly enough, in the replay they uploaded, they fixed the error where North/South Korea were introduced as the other nation.)
 
8) Super happy to have found this site because of how it highlights qualification procedures.  Growing up, I always wondered how people made it to the Olympics, and now that the Internet exists, I have found the Qualification docs on the Olympics site, and now there are sites like these that show when these events (and many more!) are taking place.
 
I'm sure I have many other thoughts, but I'll let these suffice for now.    Looking forward to following international sport over the next few years as we prepare for LA!  (I hope to be there!)

This is absolute insanity,and i love it,thank you for the instant information.