Greece at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Greece at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Greece competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. They were represented by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, which announced on July 28, 2008, the 156 Greek athletes to compete in Beijing, composed of 84 men and 72 women, the largest Greek Olympic team ever excluding the home team of the Athens 2004 Olympics. Greece took part in archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, gymnastics, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, beach volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
As the progenitor nation of the Olympic Games, and in keeping with tradition, Greece entered the Beijing National Stadium first during the opening ceremony, led by the judoka Ilias Iliadis, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
The Greek team was originally awarded two silver and two bronze medals. In all four medal cases there was participation by athletes who were also medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (in the case of groups, at least one of their members was a former medalist).
Alexandros Nikolaidis won a second olympic silver medal, Vasileios Polymeros was second after his third place in Athens (along with Dimitrios Mougios), while the golden medalist of 2004 Sofia Bekatorou led the yngling class team to the third place. Hrysopiyi Devetzi was third, but eight years later (2016) she was disqualified by IAAF and the IOC and had her Olympic bronze medal annulled due to stanozol use.
Medalists
Archery
Greece will send archers to the Olympics for the third time, seeking the nation's first Olympic medal in the sport. Elpida Romantzi earned the country its first qualifying spot, in the women's competition, by placing 36th in the 2007 World Outdoor Target Championships. Evangelia Psarra placed third at the European qualifying tournament, giving Greece a second spot in the women's individual competition.
Athletics
Men
Track & road events
Field events
Women
Track & road events
Field events
Combined events – Heptathlon
Basketball
Greece qualified for the men's basketball tournament through the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men 2008.
Men's tournament
Roster
Group play
Quarterfinals
Boxing
Greece qualified two boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament. Both qualified at the second European continental qualifying tournament.
Canoeing
Slalom
Sprint
Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final
Cycling
Track
Greece will have entries in the men's Keirin and team sprint.
Sprint
Keirin
Diving
Gymnastics
Artistic
Men
Women
Rhythmic
Judo
Rowing
Men
Women
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Sailing
Men
Women
Open
M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;
Shooting
Men
Swimming
Men
Women
Synchronized swimming
Table tennis
Singles
Team
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Beach
Greece has two teams in the women's Olympic beach volleyball tournament.
Water polo
Greece participated in both the men's and the women's tournaments. The men's team finished in 7th place, while the women's team finished in 8th place.
Men's tournament
Roster
Group play
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Classification quarterfinal
Classification semifinal
Classification 7th–8th
Women's tournament
Roster
Group play
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Classification 7th–8th
Weightlifting
11 competitors were banned after testing positive for drugs.
Wrestling
Men's freestyle
Men's Greco-Roman
See also
Greece at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
References
Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008
Summer Olympics