Giannis Antetokounmpo had a smile on his face the entire weekend at NBA All-Star in New Orleans.
From the moment the Bucks’ forward walked into his media availability session on Friday, he was astounded at the reception he received.
“This is amazing. I gotta take a picture of this before we start,” Antetokounmpo said as he saw the number of journalists, including a dozen or so from Greece, waiting at his table.
“This is crazy,” he continued. “I haven’t seen so much media in my life.”
Antetokounmpo’s historical selection as an All-Star starter was made even more impressive when he finished his debut game as the East team’s leading scorer with 30 points − more than players such as Lebron James and Kyrie Irving − and could have even won the award as the game’s Most Valuable Player had the East been able to defeat the West. They lost 192-182.
“You know, at the start of the game, I was just hoping I could get a bucket, to not embarrass myself and just have fun,” he said post-game. “It was fun. I told the coach I’m going to play hard no matter what. That’s the only thing I know how to do.”
Golden State Warriors’ superstar forward Kevin Durant said that Antetokounmpo will have a presence at every All-Star game from now on.
“That’s a big compliment coming from KD,” said Antetokounmpo when told of Durant’s comments.
“I believe I can be here as long as I play basketball. The most important thing is that I believe it. I appreciate the compliment from KD. I’ll try to be here every year because this is fun.”
Antetokounmpo made history by being the first ever Greek voted to the NBA’s showcase event, and his selection served a purpose greater than just basketball − it was also a celebration of Hellenism.
He answered questions in Greek during Friday’s media session and even told the reporters from Greece that he would prefer an international gold medal to an NBA MVP award or title.
His reason? “Because it will represent an entire country,” he said. At every opportunity he spoke of the appreciation he has for the support he has received from Greeks worldwide.
“Whatever I do, I have Greece behind me,” he said. “I try to make all Greeks proud and I thank them for their support.”
Antetokounmpo’s ascension from peddling bootleg CDs on the streets of Athens to being selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft to now, representing his team and country at the All-Star game − repeatedly over the weekend Antetokounmpo alluded to “living the dream”.
“This story and this journey is incredible,” he said after the game. “A lot of people helped me. My family was right there for me.”
Despite his impressive showing in the game on Sunday, all Antetokounmpo said he wanted to do was soak it all up with his family − older brother Thanasis, younger brothers Alex and Kosta, and his parents, Veronica and Charles.
“The highlight for me [was] seeing my family after the game on the court, taking pictures with all the celebrities out there,” he said. “Just the smile on their faces, how excited they are to be here. I think that’s the highlight.”
Still, even after all the adulation of the weekend, and the memories it created, Antetokounmpo is ready to get back to work and help the Bucks reach the playoffs.
“I was talking with [Milwaukee’s assistant] coach today and I told him, ‘I can’t wait until we get back and I start practicing and playing games’.”
Category: SPORTS
Sport news about Greece, Egypt and Cyprus
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Antetokounmpo: ‘Whatever I do, I have Greece behind me’
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Egypt 2-0 Ghana: Pharaohs maintain perfect start to World Cup qualifying
A first-half Mohamed Salah penalty and a late goal from Abdallah Saied guided Egypt to a 2-0 victory over Ghana in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday.Egypt, who won 2-1 in their opening match in Congo last month, sit firmly on top of Group E with six points while Ghana are now at serious peril of failing to qualify with just four more games to come.
Ghana full-back Harrison Afful brought down Mahmoud Trezeguet in the box two minutes before the break and Roma forward Salah made no mistake from the resulting penalty, calmly converting into the middle of the goal.
Ghana came back strongly after half-time, with Egypt’s 43-year-old goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari forced into making key saves from Christian Atsu just after the hour mark and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu in the 79th minute.
However, Saied finished off a counter-attack with five remaining to seal victory for Egypt, who are bidding for a first World Cup spot since 1990.
Victory secures revenge for the Pharaohs, who were heavily beaten by Ghana in a qualification play-off for the 2014 World Cup.
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Sherif Osman, Rehab Ahmed, Fatma Omar and Shaman Ibrahim win medals at Rio Paralympics
Egyptian powerlifter Fatma Omar won the silver medal of the women’s -61 kg event at the Rio 2016 Paralympics on Sunday. The 42-year-old missed out on the first attempt but was successful in her second and third attempts as she lifted 133 kg and 140 kg respectively to secure the silver medal. Fatma narrowly missed out on gold as Nigeria’s Lucy Ejike, who won silver in the London 2012 Games, broke the Paralympic and world record to finish first with a 142 kg lift. Yan Yang of China settled for bronze with a best lift of 128 kg. This marks Fatma’s first silver medal in the Paralympic Games as the five-time Paralympic medalist won four consecutive gold medals in the Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London Games.
Sherif Osman has claimed Egypt’s first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympics, winning the men’s -59 kg powerlifting event held on Friday. The 33-year-old broke his own Paralympic and world records on his way to win gold. He lifted 203 kg in the first attempt and 211 kg in his final attempt of the 59 kg competition to win Egypt’s first medal at the 2016 Paralympics, which runs from September 7 to 18.
The Egyptian champion enjoyed a comfortable victory as Ali Jawad of Great Britain won silver after lifting 190 kg. China’s Quanxi Yang came third after a lift of 170 kg.
Osman, who used to compete in the -56 kg event, is now a three-time Paralympic gold medalist as he won gold in Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games after a lift of 202.5 kg. He also clinched the gold medal in London 2012, winning Egypt’s first gold medal of the Games as well after lifting 197 kg.
Egypt’s Rehab Ahmed kicked off the day with a silver-medal winning effort in the women’s 50kg powerlifting event.In what was a very close competition, Ukraine’s Lidiaa Soloviova set a new Paralympic record by cleaing 107kg, while Egypt’s Ahmed came in second place with a 104kg lift and Vietnam’s Thi Linh Puhong Dang in third place with a 102kg effort.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 65kg powerlifting event, Egypt’s Shaaban Ibrahim secured a bronze medal.
Ibrahim, 40, came third with a 193kg effort after Nigeria’s Paul Kehinde, who lifted 220kg, and China’s Peng Hu, who managed to secure a 200kg effort.
Ibrahim has previously appeared at four other Paralympic Games, but this marks his first Paralympic medal.
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Bronze medal for Egypt in Taekwondo
Hedaya Malak won a bronze medal after defeating Belgium’s Raheleh Asemani in the women’s 57kg event. This marked the first time an Egyptian (and Arab) woman has won a medal in Taekwondo. -
Egypt: A champion prepares for the Paralympic games
Ibrahim Hamato was 10 years old when he lost his arms in a train accident, despite that he has become a champion table tennis player and helped change the perception of disabled people in Egypt. Now aged 41 he has qualified for the Rio Paralympic Games, to be held from 7 to 18 September. Hoping to win a medal in Brazil, Hamato is training hard. -
Cypriot contractor J&P wins Qatar Foundation World Cup stadium deal
Cyprus-based contractor, Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P), has been awarded the construction contract for the Qatar Foundation stadium, sources have revealed.The stadium will have a tournament capacity of 40,000, and as with all proposed 2022 FIFA World Cup venues, will feature innovative cooling technology that will provide comfortable playing and viewing conditions for fans and players alike.
The design of the stadium will see light filtered through complex geometrical pattern and will be located at Education City.
RFA Fenwick Iribarren Architects is the design consultant for the QF Stadium, while Astad Project Management serves as the project manager.
The development of QF Stadium, and the associated Health & Wellness Centre, will be overseen by the Qatar Foundation Capital Projects Directorate.
“We have received the confirmation letter on Saturday, 16 July. We are yet to receive the official document, but we expect it will come next week. Further details will be revealed then,” sources told Construction Week.
The structure is intended to reference Islamic architecture. Both the interior and exterior will be clad in translucent triangular panels whose colour and patterns will shift throughout the day, depending on the position of the sun and influence of artificial illumination which will reflect the events happening from within the stadium.
Construction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2019.
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Mohamed Ihab Wins Egypt’s Second Medal at Rio Olympics
Egyptian weightlifter Mohamed Ihab won Egypt’s second medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 77kg men’s weightlifting event.Ihab, who managed to lift 361kg, came in third place, scoring Egypt’s second bronze medal of the day and of the Rio Olympics.
The Egyptian bronze medalist came third after Kazakhstan’s Nijat Rahimov and China’s Lu Xiaojun, who both lifted 379kg and set new world records.
The bronze medal is Egypt’s second of the day after weighlifter Sara Ahmed came in third place in the women’s 69kg event.
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Sara Ahmed Achieves Egypt’s First Medal at the Olympics
Egyptian weightlifter Sara Ahmed won Egypt’s first medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics after finishing in third place in the women’s 69kg weightlifting event.Sara, who managed to lift 255kg, also became the first Egyptian woman to win a medal during the Olympics.
The 18-year-old Egyptian weightlifter came third after Kazakhstan’s Zhazira Zhapparkul and China’s Xiang Yanmei, who came second and first respectively.
Sara’s achievement also marked Egypt’s first weightlifting Olympic medal since 1948, when Attia Hamouda won silver.
While this marks Egypt’s first medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Egypt has continued to impress many at home and overseas. Many of Egypt’s athletes have broken personal and continental records at the competition.
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Gold for Anna Korakaki at Rio Games
Tuesday was the fourth day of the Rio 2016 Olympic games and Greece’s Anna Korakaki beat out the competition in the women’s 25 meter pistol competition to become the first Greek woman to win more than one medal in the same game.Korakaki won 4 out of 7 series in the intense gold medal match against Germany’s Monika Karsch to win the gold medal.
The 20-year-old shooter also won Greece’s first medal at the Rio games, taking bronze in the women’s 10 meter pistol event on Sunday.
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Greece Goes to Rio Olympics with 92 Athletes
92 athletes will represent Greece in the Rio Olympics in August, according to the Hellenic Olympic Committee.Twenty seven athletes will compete on track, while in individual sports, 15 will be in swimming, nine in gymnastics, seven in sailing and six in rowing.
Τhe Hellenic Swimming Federation has the most athletes (30), with 15 of them in swimming, two in synchronized swimming, and 13 in national men’s water polo. Three athletes will compete in cycling, two each in fencing, shooting and judo and one each in wrestling, weightlifting, archery and table tennis.
Evangelia Psarrou, at 42, is the oldest female athlete on the Greek Olympic team (born on 17.06.1974) and taking part in the Olympics for the fifth time (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012). Spyros Gianniotos is also celebrating his fifth time at the prestigious games.
For others it will be their fourth appearance at the games, those athletes include: Vlassis Maras (2004, 2008, 2012), Sofia Bekatorou (2000, 2004, 2008), Angela Skarlatou (1996, 2000, 2012), Ilias Iliadis (2004, 2008, 2012) and Panagiotis Gionis (2004, 2008, 2012).
It is worth noting that this is the first time since 1992 that Greece will have fewer than 100 athletes. In Barcelona, only 70 Greek athletes had participated. In Atlanta in 1996 there were 120, in Sydney in 2000 there were 139, in Athens 2004 there were 436 (the largest participation), in Beijing in 2008 there were 152 and in London in 2012, there were only 103.
Head of the Greek delegation will be Isidoros Kouvelos for the third consecutive time.
The 92 athletes representing Greece are:
Athletics (27)
Lycurgos Tsakonas – 200m.
Kostas Douvalidis – 110m. obstacles
Miltos Tentoglou – length
Anthony Mastoras – height
Kostas Baniotis – height
Kostas Filippides – pole vault
Nikos Skarvelis – shot put
Michael Anastassakis – hammer throw
Christoforos Merousis – Marathon
Michael Kalomoiris – Marathon
Alexander Papamichail – 20km. walking & 50km. walking
Maria Belimpasaki – 200m.
Eirini Vasiliou – 400m.
Elizabeth Pesiridou – 100m. obstacles
Alexia Pappas – 5.000m. & 10,000m.
Lili Alexoulis – length
Voula Papachristou – triplicate
Nicole Kyriakopoulou – pole vault
Katerina Stefanidis – pole vault
Chrisoula Anagnostopoulou – discus
Riga Sofia – Marathon
Rania Rempouli – Marathon
Panagiota Vlachaki – Marathon
Despina Zapounidou – 20km. walking
Antigone Drisbioti – 20km. walking
Panagiota Tsinopoulou – 20km. walking
Sofia Yfantidou – Heptathlon
Swimming (15)
Odysseas Meladinis – 50m. free
Christian Gkolomeev – 50m. free & 100m. free
Dimitris Dimitriou – 400m. free
Stefanos Dimitriadis – 200m. butterfly
Panagiotis Samilidis – 100m. breaststroke and 200m. front
Dimitris Koulouris – 200m. breaststroke
Apostolos Christou – 100m. backstroke and 200m. backstroke
Andreas Vazaios – 200m. medley
Christos Katrantzis – 4X100m. free
Nora Drakou – 50 m. free
Theodora Giareni – 50m. free
Anna Ntountounaki – 100m. butterfly
Christelle Vournas – 100m. butterfly
Spyros Gianiotis – 10km. marathon swimming
Kelly Araouzou – 10km. marathon swimming
Synchronised Swimming (2)
Evangelia Platanioti – Duet
Evelina Papazoglou – Duet
Water Polo (13)
Kostas Flegas
Stefanos Galanopoulos
Emmanouil Mylonakis
Giorgos Dervisis
Kostas Gennidounias
Ioannis Fountoulis
Kyriakos Pontikeas
Christos Afroudakis
Vangelis Delakis
Kostas Mourikis
Christodoulos Colomvos
Alexander Gounas
Angelos Vlachopoulos
Gymnastics (3)
Vlasis Maras – individual all
Lefteris Petrounias – rings
Vaso Millousi – individual all
Rhythmic gymnastics (6)
Barbara Philiou – individual all
Stavroula Samara – ensemble
Helen Doika – ensemble
Michaela Metallidou – ensemble
Joanna Anagnostopoulou – ensemble
Zoe Kontogianni – ensemble
Sailing (7)
Byron Kokkalanis – RS: X
Tzeli Skarlatou – RS: X
John Mitakis – Finn
Pavlos Kagialis – 470
Panagiotis Mantis – 470
Sofia Bekatorou – Nacra 17
Michael Pateniotis – Nacra 17
Rowing (6)
Yiannis Christou -‘s four without helmsman
George Djialas -‘s four without helmsman
Dionysios Angelopoulos -‘s four without helmsman
Yiannis Tsilis -‘s four without helmsman
Katerina Nicolaidou – double sculls
Sophia Asoumanaki – double sculls
Cycling (3)
Yiannis Tamouridis – race
Christos Volikakis – keirin
Dimitris Antoniadis – mountain biking
Fencing (2)
Vassiliki Vougiouka – saber
Katerina Kontochristopoulou – exercise sword
Shooting (2)
Efthymis Mittas – skeet
Anna Korakaki – 10m air pistol. & 25m sports pistol.
Archery (1)
Evangelia Psarrou – individual Olympic bow
Weightlifting (1)
Theodoros Iakovidis – 85t.
Wrestling (1)
Maria Prevolaraki – 53k. free
Judo (2)
Roman Moustopoulos – 81k.
Ilias Iliadis – 90K.
Table Tennis (1)
Panagiotis Gionis – single
