In a year of major events, Greek sports have made many strides in athletics, tennis, polo, rowing, shooting, swimming and many other sports, but not in the two most popular, football and basketball, which developed in shallow waters.

The national football team took first place in their group in the category C of the League of Nations, but did not attend the World Cup in Qatar, and the “official favorite” took 5th place in EuroBasket, but qualified for the 2023 World Cup. Antetokounbo, Tedoglu, Tsitsipas, Sakkaris, Drysbiotis, Zengo, Stephanidis, Petrunias, Korakaki, Anastasiadou, Papakonstantinou, Duskos, Christou, Golomeev, Plataniotis and many of our other athletes in various sports, as well as the national polo teams and the girls of Olympiacos in the same sport, they raised the Greek flag high, achieving great success or medals in the highest world and European level competitions.

“Let not a single capable child be left without attention”

2022 was a year full of golden hopes for Greek sports. Our champions, with an older generation showing the way to success and a new generation ready to do even better, have excelled at the World and European Championships and have shown they are ready to use the 2023 pre-Olympic Games as a bridge to help them succeed. at the Olympic Games in Paris (2024).

Anna Korakaki was the first to stamp her ticket to Paris with a silver medal at the 10m Air Pistol World Championships. 3rd place in 25m pistol shooting.

And in 2022, athletes in athletics, rowing and aquatics raised the flag high. Sports of the Old World “bowed” to the 38-year-old Antigoni Drisbiotis, who became the European champion at distances of 35 and 20 km. The new generation of Greek athletics with Milto Tedoglu and Elina Tsengo also rose to the first step. European podium. Katerina Stefanidi completed her collection with a silver medal at the European Championships in Munich and became the only athlete to climb the podium in four competitions in a row. Four young children, Arethi Philippidou, Iliana Triantafillou, Yiannis Korakidis and Giorgos Papanastasiou, gave their … sports marks with honors. Hammer thrower Giannis Korakidis took first place in World 20, discus thrower Philippidou placed second in the same competition, Triantafyllou was first and hammer thrower Papanastasiou third in Europe 18.

In 2022, the “star” of Miltos Tedoglu shone again. In addition to the European Championships gold medal, he won the World Indoor Championships, placed 2nd in the Open World Championships, and became the first Greek to win a diamond in the diamond meeting. “Milto’s praise has inspired a new generation who wants to be like him, and this enthusiasm is bearing fruit. Good work has been done in preparation, but it must continue, and no capable child must be left behind. We need to give more importance to the small ones and work with the big ones so they know what lies ahead for them in the next stages of their careers. On the other hand, we have Drysbiotis, who shows the way with her dedication to what she does. Among others, a big asset is Dzhengo and Franceskakis,” 2022 head coach Giorgi Pomaski told K.

Rowing in 2022 also showed that sport is the “guarantee” of success. In all age categories there were our rowers who distinguished themselves in world and European competitions. Evangelia Anastasiadou collected one gold and two silver medals in the skiff (the first in the world -23 years old and the 2nd in Europe among women and girls), Antonis Papakonstantinou was the first in Europe and 2nd in the world among men in a light skiff, Stefanos Dushkos 2nd place in men’s skiff at the European Championships, Petros Gaydatsis was the first in Europe -23 years in lightweight, Katerina Gogou was the world and European champion (-19) in skiff, Zoe Fitsiou took 2nd place in Europe in lightweight weight among women, and our rowers in deuces, deuces and quadruples in the sculls won more than nine medals in international competitions.

Greek aquatics have collected 95 medals (22-35-38) in international competitions (polo, swimming, artistic and technical swimming). The men’s polo team took 3rd place in the world, and the women’s polo team took 2nd place in Europe. Girls, teenagers, girls and boys excelled in the competitions of their age categories. At the European Swimming Championships, Apostolos Christou was first in the 50m and second in the 100m backstroke, while Christian Golomeev was third (50m backstroke). In sports swimming Evangelia, Platanioti became the first athlete to win a World Championship medal (two bronzes).

In gymnastics Lefteris Petrunias became European champion in hoops and wrestling, Maria Prevolaraki was 3rd in the world. Taekwondo and judo were very well presented with medals and distinctions in various age categories. On the contrary, Greek sailing, which has always been a star, has remained aloof from the podium at the men’s and women’s levels, and our yachtsmen excelled only in the younger age categories.

Spiridula Spaneas

Unrest inside the fields, “shadows” outside

Football 2022 ended with an unprecedented crescendo as the first time a new world champion appeared at the World Cup, which took place from November 20 to December 18, under mixed circumstances but with undoubtedly great interest.

It was the World Cup in Qatar, the first in an Arab country, and even in a state that never participated in the World Cups and had no football traditions – well, it didn’t even have a championship until two or three decades. back.

This was the Winter World Championship (for the Northern Hemisphere) as it was the first time it was held outside of the traditional summer dates.

It was a World Cup for Arab teams: Morocco had an unprecedented success, reaching the top four for the first time, Saudi Arabia beat eventual champions Argentina – the only team to do so this year – and Tunisia beat eventual finalists France.

It was also the World Cup… endless delays, with group stage matches that didn’t want to end, culminating in knockouts.

For many, it was also an infamous World Cup, as more than 6,000 foreign workers are estimated to have been victims of the inhumane conditions allegedly imposed on them in preparation for and holding the World Cup in the emirate.

It was also a World Cup of silent reaction, with Iranian national teams reflecting the divisions of society in their country, without numerous protests against foreign workers, several Europeans finally donned the bandages to protest against discrimination in Qatar, and the German national team defiantly shut down. lowered her mouth in a group photo.

It was the farewell elite world championship after a number of football greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Luka Modric and many others gave (apart from the unlikely surprise) their last performance on this big stage.

It was a disappointing World Cup for Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Uruguay, Portugal and Spain.

It was the World Cup, a pride for Japan and a hope for England, who, although not very far ahead, filled their friends with positive images and hopes for the future.

It was the world championship of some local coaches who saw their star in their national teams, such as the Argentine Lionel Scaloni, the Croatian Zlatko Dalic, the Japanese Hajime Moriyasu and, of course, the Moroccan Walid Degragi.

It was also, to some extent, the world championship of Kylian Mbappe, the top scorer, although a hat-trick in the final was not enough to crown French champions again.

However, first of all it was the world championship of Lionel Messi and Argentina. The course of the “albicelesta”, which began with the defeat against Saudi Arabia and lasted … 40 waves, with anxiety even for leaving the group, a tense exit to the last eight against Australia, a draw in the 101st minute of Holland, a penalty shoot-out, and then a parade in the semi-final with Croatia is a Hollywood movie.

Like any good movie, it had to have a powerful ending. And it was, by all accounts, the best World Cup final of all time, as after 2-2 in the 90th minute and 3-3 in extra time with France, penalties finally gave Istoria the crown it owes to our country’s best player. century.

George Georgakopoulos

Another failure, but not a disaster

The return of Giannis Antetokounmpo, for the first time since the World Cup in China in 2019, has caused a wave of excitement and hope for our team ahead of EuroBasket 2022. The “official favourite” has been far from different in major competitions over the years. and Greek Freak gladly came from the magical world of the NBA to get her back on the road to success. Now mature, with a championship ring and two NBA MVP titles, Giannis was the undisputed leader of an effort that began with high expectations but faltered one step short of a medal.

The presence of two other top stars and “marked” scorers from the NBA added to the huge interest. The focus was on Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and the challenge was clear: which of the three NBA superstars could lead their national team to the top? The fate was difficult for all three. Although they all finished top of their respective groups, Jokić’s Serbia, Dončić’s Slovenia and Antetokounmpo’s Greece failed to reach the semi-finals.

Our team finally took 5th place with a record of 6 wins and one loss, this time painful to Germany. The exclusion did not cause much shock, and now a big bet has been made … on the 2023 World Cup, where the team of D. Itoudis must prove that the experience has become a lesson. Giannis Antetokounmpo was in the top five at EuroBasket, but he would certainly trade that distinction for a podium spot. At the top level was a rejuvenated Spain that beat France in the final, while Germany beat Poland in the minor final to take the bronze medal.

Christos Kontos