Greece at the 2016 Summer Olympics

rdf:langString Greece at the 2016 Summer Olympics

rdf:langString auto

rdf:langString Summer Olympics

rdf:langString Greece competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Greek athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland. As the progenitor nation of the Olympic Games and in keeping with tradition, Greece entered first at the Maracanã Stadium during the opening ceremony. The Hellenic Olympic Committee confirmed a roster of 93 athletes, 56 men and 37 women, to compete across 15 sports at the Games, the smallest in Summer Olympic history since 1992. Aquatic sports constituted the largest number of athletes on the Greek team, with a combined total of 29 entries (14 in swimming, 2 in synchronized swimming, and 13 in men's water polo). There was a single competitor each in archery, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, table tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling. The Greek roster featured 36 returning Olympians, with archer Evangelia Psarra (the oldest member of the team, aged 42) and long-distance swimmer and double world open water champion Spyridon Gianniotis headed to their fifth consecutive Games as the most experienced competitors. Five Greek athletes vied for their fourth Olympic appearance, including table tennis player Panagiotis Gionis, gymnast Vlasios Maras, and judo legend Ilias Iliadis (all of whom started as members of the host nation team in Athens 2004). Sailor and two-time medalist Sofia Bekatorou, who raced alongside her partner Michail Pateniotis in the Nacra 17 class, created Summer Olympic history as the nation's first ever female flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Greece returned home from Rio de Janeiro with six medals (three gold, one silver, and two bronze), a vast improvement on the nation's overall medal tally from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Anna Korakaki accomplished a historic feat as the first Greek athlete to earn multiple medals at a single Olympics since 1912, with a gold and a bronze in women's pistol shooting. The gold medal was the first one for Greece after a 12-year drought. Two other golds were awarded to gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias in the men's rings, and pole vaulter Ekaterini Stefanidi, the first for Greece in the track and field after 12 years. Gianniotis enjoyed the final race of his swimming career with a runner-up finish in the open water marathon, while Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis handed the Greeks their eighth Olympic medal in sailing, obtaining the bronze in the men's 470 class.

rdf:langString GRE