Greece is the birthplace of track and field competition. The ancient Olympic Games put athletic competition on the public stage. The 1896 Olympics revived the concept and boosted the popularity of running, jumping and throwing events. But women didn't begin competing in track and field until well into the 20th century -- and Greek women didn't become internationally prominent in the sport until the 1990s. The success of pioneering athletes and the attention generated by the 2004 Summer Games in Athens inspired greater participation among females in Greece.
Women Ease Into Competition
The Panionios sports club has developed athletes and teams in various sports in Greece. It became the first club to establish a women's track and field division, in 1925 -- three years before women first competed in that sport at the Olympic level. Panionios teams dominated national competition from the 1950s to the 1970s, winning 19 Greek women's track and field championships. But Greek women were slow to make an impact in international competition.
Voula Patoulidou Blazes Trail
When Voula Patoulidou began her track career, she challenged Greek social norms. Skeptics told her family that she started running track just to look at the boys. But she became a role model in 1992 when she became the first Greek female athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, in the 100-meter hurdles at Barcelona. She won the event in an upset, famously overcoming foot blisters suffered upon her arrival at the Olympic village. Struggling with her luggage, she had kicked off her high heels and walked barefoot.
Greek Women Emerge in Field Events
High jumper Niki Bakogianni won the silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, ushering a golden era for Greek women in field events. Olga Vasdeki, triple jump; Niki Xanthou, long jump; Mirela Manjani-Tzelili, javelin; Paraskevi Tsiamita, triple jump; Katerina Vogoli, discus; and Anastasia Kelesidou, discus emerged as elite competitors on the world track and field stage.
Success at Athens Olympics Inspires Growth
Greece had more women, 36, than men, 28, competing in track and field at the Athens Olympics in 2004. This reflected national trends. Aleka Koronaio, social anthropology professor at the University of Athens, told the Athens Times that female athletes training at the track and the gym were no longer exceptions. The Greek government applauded the progress. "We are certain that the exceptional achievements of the female athletes will serve to increase the number of women participating in the future," said a statement issued by the general secretariat of equality on Aug. 31, 2004.
Doping Scandals Rock Greek Track
With breakthrough success came scandal. Katerina Thanou, silver medalist in the 100 meters in Sydney in 2000, seemed ready to star in her homeland in 2004. But on the eve of the Athens Olympics, she and fellow sprinter Costas Kenteris allegedly staged a motorcycle accident to avoid drug testing. They bowed out of the competition under duress and later faced criminal charges for perjury. Both were tied to the BALCO steroids scandal in the United States. In 2008, Fani Halkia, a gold-medal hurdler in Athens, was one of several Greek athletes at the Beijing Olympics who tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone.
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