| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 2 January 1982 Preveza, Greece | ||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||
| Country |  Greece | ||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||
| Event | 20 km walk | ||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||
| Personal best | 1:29.12 | ||||||||
Medal record
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Athanasia Tsoumeleka (Greek: Αθανασία Τσουμελέκα, [aθanaˈsia tsumeˈleka]; born 2 January 1982 in Preveza, Greece) is a Greek race walker, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She was named the Greek Female Athlete of the Year for 2004.
Until 2003 Tsoumeleka was a largely unknown athlete, and she only finished seventh at the World Championships that year.[1] To everybody's great surprise, she won the Olympic gold medal race held in her own country ahead of Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova (silver) and Australia's Jane Saville (bronze).[1]
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, she finished 9th in 20 km walk. After the end of the Games, a urine sample she had given on 6 August tested positive for erythropoietin, when subjected to a new test for CERA.[2] Tsoumeleka expressed doubts about the validity of the procedure, and then announced her immediate retirement from the sport.[2] On 29 April 2009 it was announced that Tsoumeleka had tested positive for CERA in a test on a blood sample provided during the 2008 Olympics.[3] Her "B" sample also tested positive for CERA.[4] On 18 November 2009 the International Olympic Committee decided to disqualify Tsoumeleka from the Women's 20 km Walk event of the 2008 Olympic Games where she placed 9th.[5]
- ^ a b "Gold and silver lining". ekathimerini. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Ex-Olympic champion tests positive for EPO". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 17 January 2009.
- ^ Grohmann, Karolos (29 April 2009). "Beijing 1,500 gold medallist tests positive". Reuters.
- ^ Wilson, Stephen (8 July 2009). "Backup samples positive for 5 Olympians". Associated Press.
- ^ IOC Disciplinary Commission Decision (18 November 2009) "IOC source: IOC sanctions five athletes who competed in Beijing" International Olympic Committee