Paraskevi Patoulidou
 Patoulidou in 2006 |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Athletics | ||
Representing  Greece
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| Olympic Games | ||
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1992 Barcelona | 100 m hurdles |
| Mediterranean Games | ||
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1991 Athens | 100 m |
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1991 Athens | 100 m hurdles |
Paraskevi ("Voula") Patoulidou (Greek: Παρασκευή "Βούλα" Πατουλίδου, born 29 March 1965) was born in Tripotamo (now part of Florina). A prolific athlete, Patoulidou throughout her athletics career competed in the 100 metres, 100 metres hurdles and in the long jump events. Patoulidou became a Greek sporting legend in 1992, when she was the surprise winner of the Women's 100 m hurdles race at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. She was the candidate for the Prefecture of Thessaloniki in the local elections of Autumn 2006 supported by the opposition party of PASOK, but lost the election to Panagiotis Psomiadis.
On 5 August 1992, Patoulidou was celebrating for having qualified for the final in the 100 m hurdles by improving her personal best from 12.96 (set in the qualifying round) to 12.88 seconds in the semi-finals. This success made her the first Greek woman ever to reach a track final in the Olympic Games, a great feat in its own right.
One day later, however, one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Olympic Games was to take place. The clear favourite of the 100 m hurdles final, Gail Devers of the United States, made a mistake and tripped on the last hurdle. Patoulidou took advantage and lunged her body forward for the finishing line. Having crossed the line in 12.64 seconds (a Greek national record that still stands), Patoulidou immediately threw her hands in the air celebrating what she thought was a silver medal. When she watched the replay of the race on the stadium's big screen and realised that she had won the race, Patoulidou fell to her knees and put her hands over her face in astonishment. In her first interview to the Greek journalists minutes after the race, Patoulidou dedicated her medal to her home country by saying “For Greece, dammit!”, a catchphrase that is still in use.
The official results:
The unheralded victory made Patoulidou the first female Greek sportswoman to win an Olympic gold medal, Along with Pyrros Dimas, who won a gold medal in weightlifting during the same Games, Patoulidou is considered to have inaugurated a new era for Greek sports. Notably, Greek athletes often refer to Patoulidou's triumph as the defining moment and inspiration in their quest for Olympic success. After the 2 medals in 1992 the medal haul for Greece at the Olympics increased to 8 in 1996, 13 in 2000 and 16 in 2004.
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