Fani Chalkia
Gold medal, August 25, 2004, Fani Chalkia, 400m. Athens 2004
The progress of Fani Chalkia within a year was amazing, and the girl from Larissa was rightly included in the list of favorites for a medal. And she proved her talent in 400m hurdles from the very beginning. In the preliminary heat she set a new record for Greece with 53.85, and she did it with her typical ease. In the semifinal she was incredibly strong and fast and she managed something unique. She broke the Olympic record in this discipline with a new record for Greece of 52.77, breaking the 53 seconds barrier (old record 52.82, Hemmings 1996).
On the day of the final, the Olympic Stadium was packed with fans and Chalkia looked confident. She started an incredibly fast race, and already in the first meters the Greek champion showed that only a mistake could take away her victory. The gold medal came with a performance of 52.82 and caused an emotional roller coaster throughout Greece. In fact, Chalkia added to her collection the two fastest races in her discipline in the history of the Olympic Games: 52.77 and 52.82. The final: Chalkia (Greece) 52.82 Tirlea (Romania) 53.38 Tereshchuk (Ukraine) 53.44 Tosta(USA) 53.83 Pittman (Australia) 53.92 Bikert (Russia) 54.18 Taylor (USA) 54.97 Pechenkina (Russia) 55.79
They said..
“When I was warming up, I felt that I was in amazing shape. I understood that I will not lose the race, I was ready for anything. I ran hard and on the home stretch I knew I was going to win. Greeks are born winners, born heroes, we can perform miracles. I have been trying very hard in the last few months, but also in general since I made the decision to return to athletics.”
August 25, 2004
