Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou has been kicked out of the Olympics for racist Twitter post about Africans. The tweet, which has since been deleted, said “with so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat some homemade food”.
The 23-year-old’s dreams of winning Olympic gold has been dashed, as the Hellenic Olympic Committee decided to drop her from the squad for London, just days before the athlete was due to leave for London along with the 105-strong Greek squad.
“The triple jump athlete Paraskevi (Voula) Papachristou has been expelled from the Greek team of the London Olympics for comments contrary to the values and ideals of the Olympic movement,” a committee statement said.
Papachristou has since apologised for the tweet on her Twitter account (@papaxristoutj), saying, “I ask forgiveness from all my friends and fellow athletes if I embarrassed them.”
Her coach Giorgos Pomaski said he respected the decision of the Hellenic Committee but considered it too heavy-handed “for a cafeteria-type joke”.
Isidoros Kouvelos, head of Greece’s Olympic mission told Skai TV, “We are not just here to get medals, but to promote the Olympic ideals, to show our character”.
The Olympic Charter states, “any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging in the Olympic Movement.”
Papchristou could face a disciplinary panel for her actions.