Greece has a long presence at the modern Olympics, as they have competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of only five countries to have done so.
Greece has hosted the Games twice, both in Athens. As the home of the Ancient Olympic Games it was a natural choice as host nation for the revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, while Greece has also hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics.
During the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Greece always enters the stadium first and leads the parade to honor its status as the birthplace of the Olympics, with the notable exception of 2004 when Greece entered last as the host nation.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was officially appointed the flag bearer for Greece at the Paris Olympics alongside foot march athlete Antigoni Drisbioti.
12+1 defining moments for Greece in the Olympics
Greek athletes have won more than 120 medals in 15 different sports and the country currently ranks 36th in the all-time Summer Olympics medal count. Athletics and weightlifting have been the top medal-producing sports for the nation and in the latter Greece is placed among the top 10 countries overall.
Gymnastics, shooting and wrestling are the other sports that have produced ten or more medals for Greece. Narrowing down the biggest moments to just 13 is challenging, but here are some significant achievements of Greece in the modern Olympics.
1. Birthplace of the Revival (1896): The very first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. This marked a historic revival of the ancient tradition.
Fourteen nations and 241 athletes, all males, took part in the games. Participants were all European, or living in Europe, except the United States team. Over 65 percent of the competing athletes were Greek.
The host nation won 10 gold, 18 silver, and 19 bronze medals in the competition.
2. Spyridon Louis’ Marathon Victory (1896): Spyridon Louis, a Greek water carrier, won the marathon race in 1896, a monumental moment for the host nation.
Greek historian Dimities Masouris states that “Louis wasn’t interested in athletic competition,” he just “wanted to win so he could impress the prettiest girl in Marousi, Athens: Helen.”
His enthusiasm must have gotten the best of him as he beat out the competition in such a fierce manner that he was later accused of cheating. Nevertheless, the allegations against him were unfounded.
3. Weightlifting Domination (Late 1800s – Early 1900s): Greek weightlifters were a major force in the early years of the Olympics, winning several medals in this sport. The most famous of all was Periklis Kakousis who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics at St. Luis. He won a gold medal in the two hand lift event.
4. Greek patriot Kostas Tsiklitiras (1908-1912): Tsiklitiras is best remembered for winning four Olympic medals in standing long jump and standing high jump in the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics.
His career stopped in 1913 when he volunteered to fight in the Balkan Wars. Although he could avoid conscription, he insisted on fighting for his country and fought at the Battle of Bizani. He contracted meningitis and died in Athens at the age of 24.
Between 1920 and 1960 Greek athletes did not achieve much in the Olympic Games. Wars, occupation, civil strife, political instability and poverty played a significant part in reducing athletics and other Olympic sports to the margins.
5. Sailing and the Olympic Games (1960): Former King of Greece Constantine made a mini-revival of Olympic sports for Greece when he won the Gold medal at the 1960 Games held in Rome.
At the opening of the Games in Rome, he was the flag bearer for the Greek team. He won an Olympic gold medal in Sailing (Dragon class), which was the first Greek gold medal since Tsiklitiras at the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics. Constantine was the helmsman of the boat Nireus and other members of the team included Odysseus Eskitzoglou and Georgios Zaimis.
Thousands lined the streets of Athens to welcome home the only Greek Olympic champion at the Rome Olympics as he rode through the city in an open-top Rolls Royce.
6. Wrestling Olympian for Greece (1980): Greece had a long wait of twenty years to celebrate a gold medal. At the Moscow Olympics Stelios Mygiakis a Greek Greco-Roman wrestler, won an Olympic gold medal and was the first Greek to become an Olympic Champion in wrestling. He was named the 1980 Greek Male Athlete of the Year.
7. Enter Pyrros Dimas (1992): At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona the world welcomed a new weightlifter, 20 years old at the time, who became one of the greatest in the history of sport: Pyrros Dimas.
Dimas became three times Olympic Gold Medalist (in his fourth Olympiad, a knee injury notwithstanding, he won the bronze medal), and three times World Champion. He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1996.
With the 1993 and 1995 World titles under his belt, Dimas was the favorite to win Olympic Gold in the 83 kg class for the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was the flag bearer of the Greece Olympic team. He won the event with two new World Records.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won another gold medal, this time in the 85 kg class. This made him one of just three weightlifters at that time to have won three Olympic gold medals.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Dimas was chosen as Greece flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Dimas was recovering from knee surgery and a hurt wrist and was not expected to compete in these Olympics, but he came away with a bronze medal in the 85 kg class, becoming the fourth weightlifter in history to win a medal at four different Olympic Games.
8. Patoulidou wins Gold for “Greece re gamoto” (1992): Voula Patoulidou was the surprise gold medalist of the Women’s 100 m hurdles race at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. On 5 August 1992, Patoulidou qualified for the final in the 100 m hurdles by improving her personal best from 12.96 (set in the qualifying round) to 12.88 seconds in the semi-finals. This success made her the first Greek woman ever to reach a track final in the Olympic Games.
One day later, the clear favourite of the 100 m hurdles final, Gail Devers of the United States, made a mistake and tripped on the last hurdle. Patoulidou took advantage and lunged her body forward for the finishing line. She crossed the line in 12.64 seconds, a Greek national record that still stands.
She is remembered for her statement after the race: “I did it for Greece re gamoto,” which roughly translates as “damn it!”.
9. Four gold medals for Greece at the Atlanta Olympics (1996): The Atlanta Olympic Games were very successful for Team Greece as it won four gold and four silver medals, the best performance since the first modern Olympics in Athens.
Artistic gymnast Ioannis Melissanidis became the Olympic champion on the floor exercise. Nikos Kaklamanakis, who participated in five consecutive Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, won the sailing race. Kakhi Kakhiashvili, a naturalized Greek athlete, won gold in wrestling in 1996, a significant win for Greece in this sport. Pyrros Dimas won the fourth gold.
10. The rise and fall of Kostas Kenteris (2000-2004): Kostas Kenteris was a controversial figure in Greek athletics. Having won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 200-meter race he was caught in a doping scandal in Athens in 2004.
His spectacular rise to fame culminated between 2000-2004. He won gold medals in the 200 meters at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics, making him the only European sprinter (along with Linford Christie) to win the gold medal in all three major competitions and the only European World Champion in the 200 meters races.
For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Kenteris was one of the hopes of the home crowd for winning a gold medal in athletics and favorite to light the Olympic flame.
However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou failed to attend a drug test. While they claimed to have been injured in a motorcycle accident – in a frantic attempt to return to the Olympic village for the test upon hearing the news in the media – an official Greek investigation would later find that the alleged accident had been staged.
In the ensuing doping scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games.
11. Olympics coming home (2024): The Athens games marked the homecoming of the Olympics to their birthplace, and the unforgettable opening ceremony rose to the momentous occasion.
All the skeptics who had warned that a small country like Greece could not efficiently host a complicated and demanding modern event such as the Olympics were completely silenced by Athens’ gargantuan effort.
In the Games, Greece won 16 medals, a record until then – bar the 1896 Games. The highlight for the spectators at the Olympic Stadium was the victory of Fani Chalkia in the 400-meter hurdle race.
12. The Lord of the Rings (2016): At the Rio Olympics Lefteris Petrounias nicknamed “Lord of the Rings” won his first gold medal in a glittering career in gymnastics.
He is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World champion (2015, 2017, 2018) and a nine-time (2011, 2015–18, 2021–24) European medalist on the still rings (seven gold and two bronze).
Petrounias who hopes to win another medal for Greece in Paris, once said: “I do not think that there is a magic secret leading to success. Talent is a helpful tool, but success can only come when you work hard and have passion for what you do and patience to keep going.”
Katerina Stefanidi in pole vault, Anna Korakaki in pistol shooting and Spyros Gianniotis in swimming won three more gold medals for Greece at Rio.
13. Tentoglou: The new star of Greek athletics (2020): Miltiadis (Miltos) Tentoglou who won the gold medal in the long jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is the athlete to beat in the Paris Olympics.
He is considered as one of the greatest long jumpers of all time, having won the first place in all major World and European championships, with a total of 11 gold medals.
