SPORTS HERE ARE THE MOST FAMOUS SPORTS IN GREECE
OLYMPIC GAMES â–Ş Greece is famous for the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games took their name from an ancient Greek town, Olympia situated in the Peloponnese. The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC in ancient Olympia and they were dedicated to Zeus. During the Olympic Games all the wars stopped between the city-states. The prize for the winners was an olive leaf wreath. â–Ş The Olympic Games stopped in 394 AD and they started again in 1896 in Athens when Pierre De Coubertin had the idea of reviving them. They are the most famous athletic event in the world and every country participates in them.
FOOTBALL â–Ş Football is the most popular sport in Greece. Few people know that is an old game invented by the ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greek game of Episkyros is recognised as an early form of football by FIFA. Nowadays, Greece has about 2500 football clubs, the most famous of which are Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Aek Athens, Paok, Larissa, Aris, Iraklis. â–Ş The Greek national football team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times, in 1994, in 2010 and in 2014. Greece has qualified for the European Championship four times, its first in 1980, its second in 2004, its third in 2008 and its fourth in 2012. 2004 was our most successful run as we became European Champions by defeating the host of Euro 2004, Portugal, in the final.
BASKETBALL ▪ Basketball is also very famous in Greece. Traditionally, the national team of Greece is one of the world’s top basketball powers. In 2006 it won the silver medal in the Mundobasket after beating the USA in the semi-final. Greece has won the FIBA Eurobasket twice, in 1987 and in 2005. Greece has also won one silver (1989) and two bronze medals (1949, 2009) in FIBA EuroBasket, having closely missed a medal in several occasions (4th place in the 1994 and 1998 FIBA World Championships, 4th place in the 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2007 FIBA EuroBasket), as well as ending up in the fifth place in their last three Olympic appearances (United States 1996, Greece 2004, China 2008). Greece is now tenth in the FIBA World Rankings.
BASKETBALL ▪ Greek men’s professional basketball teams have also won a total of 17 championships. One of the greatest achievements of Greek basketball are the victories of Panathinaikos Athens (1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011) and Olympiacos Piraeus (1997, 2012, 2013) in the finals of men's Euroleague competition. ▪ Some of the most famous Greek basketball players of all time are Nikos Galis, Panayiotis Yannakis, Fragiskos Alvertis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Vassilis Spanoulis and Giannis Antetokounmpo who plays for the NBA team Milwaukee Bucks.
ATHLETICS â–Ş The official start date of conducting competitions in athletics is in 776 BC, when we had the first Olympic games. Originally, only races were included but then jumps and throws were added. The marathon which is a long distance running event (42 km) was introduced in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger who was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Greeks had won the Persians in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and after saying that the Greeks had won, he fell to the ground and died.
ATHLETICS ▪ Athletics events are still very popular in Greece and Greek athletes have won 29 medals in total, at the Olympic games for Greece and 19 medals in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Some of the most successful Greek athletes are : ▪ Voula Patoulidou (gold medal in women’s 100m hurdles race in the 1992 Olympic Games) ▪ Kostas Kenteris (gold medal in the 200m race in the 2000 Olympics, 2001 World Championship and 2002 European Championship) ▪ Katerina Thanou (silver medal in the women’s 100m in the 2000 Olympics and gold medal in the European Championship in 2002)
ATHLETICS ▪ Fani Chalkia (gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles in the 2004 Olympics) ▪ Tassoula Kelesidou (silver medals in women’s discus throwing in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
▪ Pigi Devezi (silver medals in the women’s triple jump the 2004 and 2008 Olympics) ▪ Niki Bakogianni (silver medal in the women’s high jump in the 1996 Olympics)