Nikos Skiathitis
Bronze medal, August 22, 2004, Vassilis Polymeros-Nikos Skiathitis, lightweight double sculls. Athens 2004
Greek rowers won their first medal in the history of the Olympic Games in Athens. A bronze medal in the lightweight double sculls with Vassilis Polymeros and Nikos Skiathitis. The two Greek men had a terrible race, especially in the last five hundred meters. With the support of 15,000 fans in the rowing stadium of Schinias, they managed to defeat the Danish athletes with great effort and finished 3rd. An unforgettable success that was celebrated frenetically. The 23-year-old Nikos Skiathitis even got out of the boat and collapsed on the platform completely exhausted and powerless. The two rowers from Volos fought with courage, tenacity and will and surpassed themselves in the last 500 m of the course. The final ranking: Poland 6.20.93 France 6.21.46 Greece 6.23.23 Denmark 6.23.92 Hungary 6.24.69 Japan 6.4.98
They said..
Polymeros: “It was a race for the soul, but we had trained hard and expected such a development, we had made our plans. The spectators played a catalytic role in the final sprint.”
Skiathitis: “Until the 1500m I told myself, we lost the medal. But the closer we got to the front, the more our psychology rose, and in the final the voices of the fans gave us tremendous encouragement. When we crossed the finish line, I knew I had given up my entire soul because I was so tired.”
August 22, 2004
