Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-08-17

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] ILIADIS WON THE GOLD IN JUDO

[02] THE FIRST OLYMPIC MEDALS FOR GREECE

[03] KENTERIS-THANOU TO APPEAR BEFORE THE IOC DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION

[04] PIRROS DIMAS WILL GO FOR THE 4TH OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL

[05] PRESENTATION OF THESSALONIKI'S BID TO HOST EXPO 2008

[06] BEKATOROU-TSOULFA AIM FOR THE GOLD

[07] ILIADIS QUALIFIES FOR THE JUDO FINAL

[08] GAINS IN THE ASE

[09] BITTERNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT

[10] GOLD MEDAL IN THE ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES TICKET SALES

[11] THE GOC TO APPEAL TO THE SUPREME SPORTS COURT ON BEHALF OF KAKLAMANAKIS

[01] ILIADIS WON THE GOLD IN JUDO

Eighteen-year-old Greek judoka Ilias Iliadis won the Olympic gold medal in Judo (81 kg) after dominating over his Ukrainian opponent Roman Gontyuk.

In the semifinal, the athlete from Aminteo, in Florina northern Greece, had dominated over Russia's Dmitri Nossov in less than 2 minutes securing not only a place in the finals but an Olympic medal as well.

Earlier, he had dominated over Australia's Morgan Endicott-Davies, Argentina's Ariel Sganga and Korea's Woo Kwon Young.

[02] THE FIRST OLYMPIC MEDALS FOR GREECE

Greece rose to the 14th place last night on the list of countries, which have already won medals in the 28th Olympic Games in Athens.

The unexpected gold medal came yesterday in the men's Synchronized 3 m Springboard won by the Greek pair of Nikos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis.

A little earlier, Leonidas Sabanis had won the bronze medal in the men's Weightlifting (62 kg).

The Greek political leadership congratulated the three athletes. The medals they won brought back optimism to the Greek Olympic Team.

[03] KENTERIS-THANOU TO APPEAR BEFORE THE IOC DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION

Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, who are expected to be released from the KAT Hospital in Athens today, have been summoned to appear in person before the IOC Disciplinary Commission tomorrow to explain why they missed a drug control test last week.

Their coach Christos Tzekos and their lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos appeared before the commission yesterday. The commission decided that Kenteris and Thanou will have to appear before it in 48 hours.

According to the Athens newspaper To VIMA, the medical examiner who examined the two in hospital at the order of the prosecutor found that they suffered no head injuries as a result of the motorcycle accident in which they were involved last Thursday night.

[04] PIRROS DIMAS WILL GO FOR THE 4TH OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL

Greek weightlifter Pirros Dimas will compete on Saturday aiming at the 4th Olympic Gold Medal in Weightlifting to become the first athlete with such a record. It appears that his wrist injury during yesterday's training was not serious.

The three times Olympic gold medallist was taken to the Geniko Kratiko Hospital in Athens and the x-rays showed that he had suffered a rupture of the metacarpus which, however, was characterized as not serious.

The Greek Olympic medallist stated that the only problem is that for 2 or 3 days he will not be able to train with a weight bar, stressing that the issue for him is more a psychological than a real one.

[05] PRESENTATION OF THESSALONIKI'S BID TO HOST EXPO 2008

The presentation of Thessaloniki's bid to host EXPO 2008 held in Athens today gives substance to the government's intention to exploit the opportunity offered by the Olympic Games to launch actions aimed at strengthening Thessaloniki's candidacy.

In a videotaped message, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis referred to the great significance Thessaloniki's candidacy has for the wider region.

During the presentation, Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis appealed to the Balkan mayors to support the Greek bid while, at the same time, he praised the initiative of Thessaloniki Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos to create the Major Balkan City Mayors Network.

Mr. Tsiartsionis stated regarding the Balkan Peninsula that the road of Europe changes, improves and upgrades this part of the world.

[06] BEKATOROU-TSOULFA AIM FOR THE GOLD

Sophia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa aim for an Olympic gold medal in sailing in women's 470 class.

The two Greek world champions are 1st with 19 penalty points as in today's 5th sailing race finished first. They also managed to increase to 11 points their distance from the second crew, France's Ingrid Petitjean and Nadege Doroux, who have 30 penalty points.

[07] ILIADIS QUALIFIES FOR THE JUDO FINAL

Greek judoka Ilias Iliadis qualified for the 81 kg final of the Olympic Judo Tournament today.

The athlete from Aminteo, in Florina northern Greece, dominated over Russia's Dmitri Nossov in less than 2 minutes securing not only a place in the finals but an Olympic medal as well.

Earlier, he had dominated over Australia's Morgan Endicott-Davies, Argentina's Ariel Sganga and Korea's Woo Kwon Young.

[08] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +1.26% at 2273.90 points, while the volume of transactions was at very small at 75 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 165 had gains and 100 had losses, while the value of 135 stocks remained unchanged.

[09] BITTERNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT

Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou appeared bitter and disappointed while leaving the KAT Hospital in Athens today.

I've never used anabolics, I'm suffering a big injustice, stated Kostas Kenteris, pointing out that after crucifixion comes resurrection.

Katerina Thanou appeared bitter and together with Kostas Kenteris they will appear before the IOC Disciplinary Commission tomorrow to explain why they missed a drug test.

The whole issue is closely watched by Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who is being briefed on the latest developments and all aspects of the case, both by the responsible government ministers and the government spokesman.

According to information, Mr. Karamanlis is not pleased with the developments and government sources stress that it is a government decision to proceed with the reform of the sports sector.

[10] GOLD MEDAL IN THE ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES TICKET SALES

The Athens Olympic Games are the world champions in ticket sales dethroning Barcelona, which held the record until now.

The Athens 2004 Organizing Committee representatives announced that a total of 3,285,000 tickets have already been sold compared to the Olympic Games in Barcelona where the tickets sold had reached 3,021,000.

Yesterday, a total of 78,154 tickets were sold and the Athens 2004 revenues are at 181 million euros, while the target set is 183 million euros.

According to predictions by Athens 2004 Organizing Committee Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Marton Simitsek the tickets sold in the Athens Olympic Games will exceed the 3,500,000 mark.

[11] THE GOC TO APPEAL TO THE SUPREME SPORTS COURT ON BEHALF OF KAKLAMANAKIS

Greek Olympic Committee, GOC, President Lambis Nikolaou announced today that the GOC will appeal to the supreme sports court on behalf of Nikos Kaklamanakis.

The Greek Olympic medallist asked for the GOC assistance on the issue created in the 1st sailing race in which he had finished 1st. The race was cancelled and will be repeated after an objection that was raised by Argentina, Holland and Hong Kong.

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article