The focus of the Greek team going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be to look to improve on its rather disappointing 2016 campaign.
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Over 100 years ago, the first Olympic Games was hosted in the Greek capital of Athens. Little did they know at the time that the event would go on to become one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the entire world. Historically speaking, Greece has done fairly alright over the years at the Olympics. They did have a rather embarrassing slump from 1924 to 1952 when they failed to win even a single medal, but they still have a pretty impressive medal tally. The southern European nation has won a total of 117 medals at The Games. Of them, 33 are gold medals, 44 are silver medals, and 40 are bronze medals. Apart from hosting the inaugural Olympics in 1896, Athens also hosted the 2004 Games. That year seems to have been kind to Greek sport. They won 16 medals in front of their home fans that year and even won the Euro Cup in football.
The focus of the Greek team going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be to look to improve on its rather disappointing 2016 campaign. As a matter of fact, Greece has not done very well at all in the recent Olympics. They only won two medals in 2008 and followed that up by winning three in 2012. In 2016 they did a little better with six medals, but it still is not good enough for the country that founded the whole competition. The nation’s medal hopes for this year also seem quite dim, to be frank. They will send over ten athletes in only three sports, one of which is completely team-based. Water Polo, Swimming, and Athletics are the sports.
Greece’s best year in the Olympics was the first Olympics. The 1896 Athens Games was the one in which Greece won an incredible 47 medals, and was ranked second as the competition concluded. It cannot be seen as a fair statistic since so many countries that participate today did not back then. If we glance upon the modern era, then the nation’s best year was 2004 in which they won 16 medals. The 16 included six gold medals, six silver medals, and four bronze medals. They were ranked 15th in that edition of The Games.
The nation has not really been as prolific in The Games as one might think. They do not really win that many medals so they are not particularly dominant in any single sport as such. However, if we go by the number of medals, then the country’s best performance has been in Athletics so far. The nation has a total of 29 medals in the sport, including seven gold medals, 12 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. Weightlifting is a sport in which they have performed quite well. They have bagged 18 medals in total, including six gold medals, eight silver medals, and four bronze medals. Swimming, Shooting, Gymnastics, and Wrestling are also some of the competitions where the nation has done fairly well.
Going by the tally of medals, Greece’s best athlete would be weightlifter Pyrros Dimas. The former Olympian has won four medals in total, including three gold medals and one bronze medal. His final Olympics was the one that was held in Athens in 2004. Currently, he is the technical director of the USA’s weightlifting team. He also had a career in politics in his country. His three gold medals are no doubt an incredible feat. However, some would argue that his fourth and final medal, the one in Athens, might be his greatest. Those who would argue for the statement would have a good reason. Dimas won the bronze in 2004 despite suffering from a serious knee injury. Weightlifting is a sport where a lot of pressure is put on the knees. To win a medal in a competition like the Olympics with an injured knee deserves adulation and praise.
Another great sports personality in the Olympics that came out of Greece was Konstantinos Tsiklitiras. Not many people know this former Olympian as he was active during the early 1900s. He participated in the 1908 and 1912 Olympics and won four medals for his country. These include one gold medal, two silver medals, and one bronze medal. Tsiklitiras excelled particularly in two sports, standing long-jump and standing high-jump. In fact, he was the Greek champion in both sports a combined 19 times in his career. The athlete passed away in 1913 when he lost his life while fighting in the Balkan Wars. He was only 24 at the time, and might have gone on to win countless more medals. Tsiklitiras is one of those individuals who will always be remembered as a legend of the Olympics. After all, winning four individual medals in just two Olympics is, by no means, an easy feat.
Greece, in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, enjoys the presence of a total of 83 athletes. Athletics will have the most participants with 20. Water Polo comes next with 13, and it seems like the Greeks will put a lot of faith in swimming this year as they are sending a total of 21 athletes (nine in artistic swimming) in the sport.
