And the Bronze Medal Goes to... Greece!!! Bravo Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou!!! GINETAI!

 Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou

Bronze Medallists - Women's Lightweight Double Sculls 

London 2012

  GINETAI!!!

Despite the economic doom and gloom fantastic news from London 2012 this afternoon!
A well-deserved bronze medal for Team Greece at the Olympics in the Women's Lightweight Double Sculls for World Champions Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou,  giving us all another shot in the arm after the bronze from Ilias Iliadis  in the first week!

It was an amazing race... we watched with bated breath as Christina and Alexandra fought to the end for a medal. 

For a while there they were coming 2nd....

but an extra push from Team China at literally the last second put

Alexandra Tsiavou and Christina Giazitzidou an oar away from the silver!

Yay, we did it!!! Ta kataferame!

Thrilled! 

Moments to remember -  Η Γαλανόλευκη

The Greek Flag flies proudly with the British and Chinese flags

Proud and happy Olympians!
Well done to all of you!

Μπράβο κοριτσάρες μας! 

 Γ Ι Ν Ε Τ Α Ι...


Bravo Alexandra, Bravo Christina!

You made all of us in the Global Greek World 
very proud today - 
check out the post on our Facebook Page for all the likes and comments! 

The Olympic Games: Greece's Legacy to the World

Later this evening, the Olympic Flame will light up London's Olympic Stadium, heralding the beginning of the Olympic Games, just one of Greece's significant and enduring legacies to the world. 

The Olympic Games, embodying centuries of culture, ideals and values bequeathed to us by our noble ancestors... embodying the values of the brotherhood of peoples, peace, friendship, and fair play - ideals and values which have survived wars, disasters, turmoil and tribulations, to be handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years...

The lighting of the Olympic Flame heralds the beginning of  the greatest celebration of sport and youth that takes place every four years on our planet... The Olympic Games

This flame, ignited by the rays of the sun by the high-priestess in Olympia, after invoking the God Apollo, was carried across Greece, from Castellorizo to Xanthi, to Crete, from village to  village and town to town, and handed over to the London 2012 Olympics Organisers in May.

The highly symbolic, and somehow appropriately rainy, handover took place at Athens’ Panathenian Stadium – the stadium built for the homecoming of the first modern-day Olympics in 1896. 

In Ancient Greece, the Olympic Flame commemorated the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus and was kept burning throughout the Olympic Games...

When the Games came home to Greece in 2004 there were many who doubted we would succeed - the British, Australian and American Press among the worst critics – but succeed, we did, and what’s more we did it brilliantly, with organisation and class, proving once and for all, the power we Greeks have when we are united, the power we have when we work together as one!   

As Greece’s Olympic flame lights up the skies of London tonight, and is kept burning throughout the Olympics, let its meaning of life, light, purity, freedom, peace and friendship spread around the world, uniting us all as people.

As Greeks, as Hellenes, let’s celebrate our unique heritage and the great things our ancestors gave the world! 

Let’s hold our heads up high, leave the pettiness to those who would be petty and stand proud of that heritage!

Citizens of London, 

Citizens of England, 

Citizens of the World…. 

As we watch the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony tonight,
 let's remember to pay tribute to Greece.

Enjoy the Olympics -  they are Greece's enduring legacy to the world!

The photos are from the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony 

at Athens Panathenian Stadium

'Kallimarmaro'

Photo of the Day: Greece's Answer to British PM David Cameron

Closing England's borders to Greeks?

Start by deporting one of the most famous, 

the Caryatid held hostage at the British Museum.

One resourceful Greek's answer to David Cameron's 'Greek' comments 

set the social media on fire this week. 

This picture got shared more than 2300 times from our Facebook Page post alone

Author Unknown:We don't know who he or she is but we'd love to!

Earlier this week, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, despite the position he holds, displayed a remarkable and unbelievable lack of diplomacy along with a deplorable lack of knowledge of history, solidarity and EU laws thus earning himself and his nation an offical reprimand from the Greek government who summoned British Ambassador Dr David Landsman for explanations.

Making incendiary statements designed to appease his right wing element and the euro sceptics, David Cameron who as PM of a country in the EU, singles out the Greeks as his major problem, when the UK has so many millions of immigrants from every corner of the world - legal or otherwise - that tap its resourcesm, hoping that by so doing he will keep Britain 'safe'.

Every country needs to protect itself but by making one of those countries the focus, it implies a racism which is not at all appropriate or seemly for a fellow EU member, and particularly hypocritical considering Britain is not even in the Eurozone.

In fact, it is worth questioning why he persists in making comments that relate to Greece  leaving the Eurozone, when the Greek people quite clearly voted against such a move on June 17?

In so doing he picked a major fight with Greece, the 'racist' comments on closing the UK's borders, specifically to immigrating Greeks but of course any other Europeans who would leave the Eurozone or the EU, not sitting very well with the people of Greece.

Nick Malkoutzis, editor of the English language Kathimerini was quick to respond with his article 'Why are you afraid of the Greeks, Mr Cameron?'

Such comments came from the Prime Minister of a country which enjoys so many  benefits because of the Greeks - the stolen Parthenon Sculptures which have people flocking to the British Museum, huge investments in property, a very lucrative Greek Shipping centre, bank deposits of many wealthy Greeks, and the hefty fees paid by thousands of Greek students at UK  universities are but a few of the 'Greek fringe benefits'. Even Queen Elizabeth, the reigning monarch has just celebrated 60 years on  the throne with a 'Greek' at her side (Prince Philip is Prince Philip of Greece for those who don't know).

Coming just weeks before the London Olympics begin and as the Olympic Flame, the symbol of peace and friendship, is carried by young and old from one end of the UK to the other, David Cameron's comments were insensitive to say the least! We wonder just how he plans to open the Games later this month? By condemning Greece, the country which gave them to the world?

Whilst we don't think he actually said he was going to deport Greeks, he did speak about closing the borders to Greeks and he got his answer very quickly indeed: the stolen Caryatid being held 'hostage' in the British Museum spoke out loudly and along with our exiled Caryatid, so did every single Greek in every corner of our Global Greek World, seizing the opportunity to drive home once again the issue of repatriating the Parthenon Sculptures.

The British PM is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, we know...

The UK, incredibly, is in a recession during an Olympic Year! Bank scandals have broken out one after the other, and now a rate fixing scandal explodes at Barclays.

Being Prime Minister of a country however implies an ability to lead and take decisions that will steer the country out of any crisis. Bypassing EU treaties  and making empty populist threats against a fellow EU member (whose people incidentally are not exactly breaking down your doors to get in),  in order to take your people's minds off their domestic troubles, well frankly, that has nothing to do with real leadership and has everything to do with short sightedness and a complete lack of global perspective and insight.

Sir Winston Churchill must be turning in his grave.

Live From Olympia Tomorrow: London 2012 Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony

Photo Source: Sakis Kostaris
From Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony for Vancouver 2010

Photo Source: Sakis Kostaris
From Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony for Vancouver 2010

Watch the Olympic Flame lighting ceremony from Olympia here live on May 10 from 10.00 CET onwards!

 or click here for live Streaming by Ustream

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brings Spyros Louis' Marathon Cup Back Home to Greece - Let's Bring the World to Greece for the Marathon!

 Breal's Silver Cup presented to the winner of the first  

Marathon race in the 1896 Olympics, 

 Spyros Louis

Photo Source: Christies

'Bréal’s Silver Cup will be shared with the public and serve as a reminder of our history, heritage and resilient spirit. Our hope is that the cup inspires and rekindles Greek pride, just as Louis’ victory did on the last day of what would become the Modern Olympic Games.'

Andreas C. Dracopoulos, co-President and Member of the Board at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, announcing the Foundation's successful bid for the cup presented to the winner of the first  Marathon race in the 1896 Olympics, the legendary Spyros Louis. 

 Spyros Louis

from Marousi's water carrier to Marathon Gold Medallist

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Inspired by the tale of Phidippides' legendary 42 kilometre run from Marathon to Athens to announce the Athenian victory in the epic Battle of Marathon, French philologist Michel Breal suggested the race's inclusion in the first Modern Olympics in 1896 and donated the prize named for him.

The cup was sold at auction, yesterday 18 April 2012, by Christies, as the 100 day countdown began for the London Olympics.

With a value estimated between 120,000 and 160,000 pounds, and in a heated bidding competition which included Spyros Louis' hometown, the City of Marousi, backed by a 300,000 Latsis Foundation pledge, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation secured the cup's return to Greece with a bid of 541,000 pounds, breaking the world record price for an item of Olympic memorabilia.

We were particularly interested in Associate Professor of History at Haverford College and distinguished Olympic historian, Alexander Kitroeff's analysis of the significance and symbolism of the cup, in this statement on the Niarchos Foundation site :

“The significance and value of the silver cup won by the Greek runner Spyros Louis and kept in his family’s possession since then is far greater than almost any other Olympic memorabilia dating from those first modern Olympics held in Athens. 

The cup symbolizes the idea behind running a marathon race and including it in the Olympic program, thus creating a race whose cultural significance grew exponentially throughout the twentieth century. 

The person who came up with this idea was the French linguist, philologist and philhellene Michel Bréal a member of the French Institute, at a sports conference convened in 1894 by the founder of the modern Olympics, the baron Pierre de Coubertin. 

The conference launched the modern Olympics. Bréal proposed the race that was based on the legend of Pheidippides and his famous run from Marathon to Athens in 490BC even though the run was not part of the Ancient Olympic sports. Bréal also offered a silver trophy to whomever would win such a race. Coubertin embraced the idea of the race and the cup – even though it represented an exception because the plan was to award winners only medals and olive branch wreaths. The cup included an inscription in Greek.

The additional significance of the cup is of course that it was won by a Greek, and Coubertin and others are on record stating that Louis’ victory on the final day of the Games unleashed a wave of Greek pride and helped in establishing modern Greece’s embrace of the Olympics.

Finally, the fact that the family managed to preserve the cup through more than a century of tumultuous events including several wars and foreign occupation of Greece symbolizes the importance that Greeks attach to their ancient heritage and the Olympic Games.”


The cup will be shared with the Greek people at a temporary location to be named by the Foundation until its  permanent display at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center upon its completion in 2015.

Our congratulations to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for taking the initiative to bring this significant part of Greece's Modern History back home - a home it left after Spyros Louis, the winner's grandson, recently took the difficult decision to sell it, to ensure the financial security of his children and only after he tried to get the relevant Greek authorities to purchase it, without luck.

We would like to take the opportunity presented by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's initiative to reiterate something we said on the occasion of the Classic Marathon which takes place each year in Athens. 

In 2010, Greece celebrated the 2500th anniversary of the original Marathon and there was a tremendous turnout for it.

Here is a golden opportunity for Greece to celebrate and promote its magnificent history by reinstating the Athens Classic Marathon as the one and only Marathon. The Marathon that every marathon runner should aspire to run in.  

Let's all work to spread the word around the world.

Let's get the world to Greece for the Original Marathon each year.

20,000 this year, 30,000 next year!

Spread the word, become a part of history!

 The Athens Classic Marathon is the Marathon of Marathons! 

No matter how many Marathons you've run, you haven't run a real Marathon until you've run the original!

Alexis Mantheakis - Pilgrimage for the Repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles

Dull is the eye that will not weep to see  Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed  By British hands, which it had best behoved  To guard those relics ne’er to be restored.  Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,  And once again thy hapless bosom gored, And snatched thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorred!

Lord Byron on the Parthenon Marbles from his epic 'Childe Harold'

With this particularly appropriate quote from his epic poem 'Childe Harold', wherein one of the greatest Philhellenes ever, Lord Byron, reproaches his countrymen, the British, for their pillaging of the Parthenon Marbles while they were supposed to be protecting them, Alexis Mantheakis introduces us to his pilgrimage for the Repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles. 

Judging that it is now time for action since all Greece's efforts using diplomacy and tact appear to have been largely ignored by the British, and with his finger on the pulse of technology, Alexis has moved dynamically and with vision. He has created a movement for action, a cause, on the social networking site, Facebook, with the intention of intensifying the pressure on the British Museum and the British Government, for the Repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles, in view of the upcoming Olympic Games to be held in London in 2012.

This cause has gained tremendous momentum since it started on Facebook a short time ago, already numbering more than 50 000 members and growing daily!

For those not on Facebook, the site you can visit to read more is

Stop Britain's Illegal Possession of the Parthenon Marbles!

Political analyst and former press spokesman for Athena Onassis-Roussel and her family, Alexis Mantheakis is one of our Global Greek writers, a Greek-Something born in East Africa of Greek parents, and now lives in Greece. To find out more about Alexis and his work, visit his blog - Greek Political Issues.