Despite not winning any medals yet, Day 3 at the Paris Olympics was still quite eventful for Greece.

The nation set a new best in swimming, its two top ranked tennis players are through to their respective final 16 and a Greek duo are through to the semi-final in rowing. However controversy has overshadowed the fencing event.

The Greek report of Day Three (29/7) in detail:

Swimming

Perhaps the biggest news was Apostolos Christou missing out on a medal for a mere two-hundredths of a second, finishing fourth in the men’s 100 meters backstroke.

Just missing out on a podium finish, Christou’s 52.41 seconds was the best ever result achieved by a Greek swimmer in the pool.

“I was upset, because (the medal) was so close…Maybe I got stuck in my turn. I had no strength to go any faster,” Christou told state broadcaster ERT after the race. He added that he expected a medal.

Christou will be 31 at the next Olympics, at Los Angeles in 2028, where he hopes to try again, despite the advanced age for a swimmer. “Maybe I’ll take a short break,” he said.

Despite setting an individual and Pan-Hellenic record last month in Belgrade, Dimitris Markos was far from his best in the 800m qualifiers, finishing 26th.

He had a good first 400m but fell far behind to clock a time of 8:01.37.

Rowing

Antonis Papakonstantinou and Petros Gaidatzis qualified for the semi-final of the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls yesterday.

The Greek rowing duo finished in first place in the first repeat series as they covered the 2km of the course in 6:39.46.

They took the lead after the first 500 meters and gradually increased their gap from second placed Frenchmen, Hugo Berry and Ferdinand Ludwig, who finished 6:50.98.

Fencing

Controversy has come out of an Olympics Fencing match on Monday when France’s Manon Apithy-Brunet narrowly beat Greece’s Theodora Gkountoura 15-13.

Brunet would go on to win the gold medal.

The outcome of the match sparked uproar on Greek social media, with many Greek fans and TV viewers claiming that the referee displayed bias against Gkountoura. They also claim the referee favoured the French fencer.

The Greek fencer, currently No 7 in the ranking of the International Fencing Federation broke into tears after the match.

“It’s not sadness, it’s just emotions,” she told ERT.

“My medal isn’t here. My medal is being seen every day during my training.”

Tennis

Top ranked Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas showcased his dominance with a commanding win over Brit Dan Evans 6-1,6-2. He will face Argentinian Sebastian Baez in the round of 16.

Maria Sakkari also had a dominant win in her second-round match, defeating China’s Yue Yuan 6-2, 6-1, and will face Marta Kostyuk in the third round.

The world No 8 has made it through to the final 16 for a second consecutive Olympics event.

While the two top Greek tennis stars are shining in singles action, they didn’t fair well in mixed doubles as the two lost to Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs.