Areti Athanasopoulou

Areti Athanasopoulou (Greek: Αρετή Αθανασοπούλου; born November 17, 1977) is a Greek taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the women's featherweight category.[1] She claimed a gold medal in the 59-kg class at the 2003 World Taekwondo Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and represented her nation Greece in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004).[2] Throughout her sporting career, Athanasopoulou trained as a member of taekwondo squad for AS Vyronas Athinaikos in her native Athens, under head coach and master Apostolos Iakovakis.[3]

Areti Athanasopoulou
Personal information
Full nameAreti Athanasopoulou
Born (1977-11-17) 17 November 1977
Athens, Greece
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
Event(s)57 kg
ClubAS Vyronas
Coached byApostolos Iakovakis
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Greece
World Championships
2003 Garmisch 59 kg

Athanasopoulou made her official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed in the women's 57-kg class. She opened her match with a more convincing victory over Egypt's Shimaa Afifi by a marginal judging decision, before losing the quarterfinal to her Dutch opponent Virginia Lourens with a score of 6–8.[4]

In 2003, Athanasopoulou improved her feat from the Olympics to capture the women's featherweight title over Mexico's Iridia Salazar on the referee's decision at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.[2] Athanasopoulou's gold medal victory sealed her place on the Greek team, as her country hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics.[5]

When her native Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, Athanasopoulou emerged as one of the crowd favorites among the Greek athletes in the women's featherweight class (57 kg), following her notable triumph from the World Championships a year earlier.[6] In front of the raucous home crowd inside Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex, Athanasopoulou suffered a shocking defeat to Thailand's Nootcharin Sukkhongdumnoen upon the referee's decision, after their opening match ended in a 6–6 draw.[7] She later filed an appeal to the judges about the decision, but her protest to the score was immediately denied. Unable to deal with her painful defeat, Athanasopoulou admitted tearfully: "From what I saw, the difference in the score was 3 or 4 points in my favor, I'm so disappointed that I can barely hold my tears."[8][9]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Areti Athanasopoulou". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  2. Stroud, Rick (8 August 2004). "Tae Kwon Do". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. Από πού (δεν) πάνε για το Πεκίνο [Whether we go to Beijing or not] (in Greek). To Vima. 20 February 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. "Sydney 2000: Taekwondo – Women's Featherweight (57kg)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 52–56. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. Αθανασοπούλου: Τώρα το 2004 [Athanasopoulou: Off to 2004] (in Greek). Kathimerini. 30 September 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  6. "Athens 2004: Taekwondo – Women's Entry List by NOC" (PDF). Athens 2004. LA84 Foundation. pp. 5–7. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  7. "Taekwondo – Women's Featherweight (57kg/126lbs) Round of 16". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  8. "Summer 2004 Games; Taekwondo: In a Surprise, Newcomer Wins a Silver Medal for the U.S." The New York Times. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  9. "Blazer glory takes on Olympics sound and fury". Independent Online (South Africa). 28 August 2004. Retrieved 9 January 2015.


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