Miltos Tentoglou with the gold medal in his hands and Emmanouil Karalis with the bronze tried to lighten the mood upon the emotional climate caused by the fires in Attica.
The rest of the members of the Greek Olympic squad have made their return from Paris, among them being gold medallist Miltos Tentoglou and bronze medallists Emmanouil Karalis and Dauren Kurugliev.
The returning athletes also consisted of other notable names like Katerina Stefanidi (the gold medallist from Rio 2016), Antigoni Drisbioti, Elina Tzengko, Stamatia Scarvelis, and Ariadni Adamopoulou.
The group also saw the return of the men’s and women’s national water polo teams, the artistic swimming duo and Alkis Kynigakis.
The Olympians were joined by the President of the Hellenic Athletics Federation (Σύνδεσμος Ελληνικών Γυμναστικών Αθλητικών Σωματείων), Sofia Sakorafa, along with other coaches and officials of the athletes and the HAF, as well as family and friends of the athletes.
Miltos Tentoglou and Emmanouil Karalis tried to raise the spirits of everyone with the gold and bronze medals respectively held in their hands amid the tension caused by the fires in Attica.
Tentoglou, now a two-time Olympic gold medallist long jumper, declared from the runway immediately after setting foot in Greece that he is happy to be back home, but is concerned with the situation they found Athens in.
“We arrived…finding Greece in a bad state. The country is in bad shape. And we just arrived…we do not know exactly what is going on. I hope everything is fine,” he said.
He heaped praise on the entire Olympic team for their efforts, regardless of the medals, though took a moment to reflect on his own success.
“Personally, I am very happy with what I have achieved. It is hard to win let alone win a second time. I am really proud of myself and I thank all the Greeks for their support.”
The bronze medallist pole vaulter, Karalis, stressed that they were all ok but were worried at the sight of the dark clouds caused by the fire smoke as they came into Athens.
“We hope all is well. We are all quite upset about what is happening in the country. We hope that everything will be fine, that the fires will go out so that we can all get on with our lives again,” Karalis said.
Addressing his maiden Olympic medal, the pole vaulter expressed his immense satisfaction and already put his sights on the next Games in Los Angeles.
The HAF President admitted their concern with the fires in Greece, saying their hearts and souls are with their fellow citizens who are going through terrible times now.
“I believe that the athletes and their successes are a consolation in this cruel thing that is happening to our fellow citizens,” Sakorafa said.
“I hope this evil ends quickly so that we can celebrate the successes of our athletes in an appropriate manner,” she added while commending all the Olympians, the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the state for their efforts.
Fellow athletes and friends raised Dauren Kurugliev in their arms and rushed to “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport to welcome him.
The team was met at the airport by the HAF’s general secretary Giorgos Giatroudakis, members of the HAF board members Konstantina Retsina and Yiannis Bollas and EPYA member Loula Karantza, with the athletes and their coaches receiving a bag of sweet and savory treats.
The Olympic team was congratulated by young and old at the airport, with Tentoglou and Karalis being photographed with their fans.
The planned press conference scheduled was cancelled, owing to the devastating fires affecting a large part of Attica along with other regions of the country.
*With AMNA
