Niki Bakogianni

Silver medal, August 3, 1996, Niki Bakogianni, High Jump. Atlanta 1996

Within five years, Greek athletics provided two big surprises in two Olympic disciplines, both with a female touch. in Barcelona in 1992, Voula Patoulidou won the gold medal in the 100m hurdles, and in 1996 it was Niki Bakogianni who surprised Greece in the high jump. Of course, the 1996 Greek champion showed early on what she was up to by setting an  record in Greece of 1.97, an achievement that can bring an athlete to the finals of the event as well as in a prominent position. In favor of the girl from Lamia is her well-known fighting ability at the Games. Fourteen gymnasts exceeded the qualifying mark for the final, 1.93, and with 1.99, two days later, five of them were surpassed. Kostadinova (Bulgaria), Babakova (Ukraine), Bevilacqua (Italy) with the first attempt and Bakogianni, Gulyayeva (Russia) with the second attempt.

The Greek champion once again set a new record for Greece, which of course gave her a lot of optimism and strength for the future. The bar was raised to 2.01 and only three athetes cleared this height, so the three medals were finally decided and their color was still pending. Kostadinova and Babakova made it with the first attempt, Bakogianni with the second. At 2.03 Kostadinova passed again, Babakova failed, and Bakogianni landed a dream jump on her third attempt to take the silver medal. The gold medal was won by Kostandinova with 2.05, a height that Niki could not surpass but had already achieved so much. The final: Kostadinova (Bulgaria) 2.05 Bakogianni (Greece) 2.03 Babakova (Ukraine) 2.01 Bevilacqua (Italy) 1.99 Gulyayeva (Russia) 1.99 Astafei (Germany) 1.96 Motkova (Russia) 1.96 Zilinskiene (Lithuania) 1.96.