tall, and as we were tall in ancient times now we stand tall again. It should not surprise people that we are first. We must be proud,' Halkia said. Moments after 'rocket' Halkia won the country's sixth gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles, the electrified 70,000-strong crowd burst into a thunderous, rhythmic chant which disrupted the start of the men's 200m semifinals for nearly 10 minutes: 'KEN- TE~RIS... KEN- TE-RIS...' The ostensibly disgraced name of the race's most conspicuous Greek absence, Sydney Olympics gold medallist and world champion Costas Kenteris was given a defiant, prolonged ovation, comparable only to the venerating farewell for three-time Olympic weightlifting gold-medallist Pyrros Dimas as he collected the last (bronze) medal of his own, untarnished sports career. Kenteris was disqualified from the Athens Games after dodging an unscheduled test for doping together with fellow Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou on the eve of the opening ceremony on August 13, There was success on August 26 outside track and field as well. Defending Olympic champion Nikos Kaklamanakis finally prevailed over the elements, but not over his Israeli friend and adversary, to win silver in the men's Mistral surfboard earlier in the morning. Gal Fridman made history by winning Israel's first Olympic gold medal in this dramatic event.

Dimitris Yannopoulos

Click here to return to the Series main page