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GREECE WINS FIRST GOLD WITH DIVING SHOCKER!


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Greece wins first gold with diving shocker

Andrew Dampf / Associated Press

Posted: 1 hour ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - There were knocks and flops, a clown and a very long frown.

And then there was a glorious surprise Monday night at the Olympic diving center, igniting a party complete with song and dance: the Greeks won the first gold medal of their hometown Olympics with an unexpected victory in synchronized diving. :nw:

When it was all over, the winning duo in synchronized 3-meter springboard, Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis, took extra effort to stress the importance of their feat in the wake of a doping scandal involving two Greek sprinters.

"I still can't believe it," Siranidis said. "It feels like a fairy tale. It's hard for me to speak."

Fairy tale? No. Miracle? Not quite, but Siranidis and partner Thomas Bimis only ignited the festivities after a series of twists and turns that ended badly for their opposition.

First, the favored Chinese team blew a 12-point lead by scoring zero on a disastrous final dive when Wang Kenan entered the water in a total flop. Next, Russians Dmitry Sautin and Alexander Dobroskok botched their attempt when Sautin knocked the diving board on his way down, followed by a terrible landing from the American pair that had entered the final round in second place.

Add the Greek pair's killer final dive - a well-executed inward 3 1-2 somersault tuck - and the celebration was on. :tup:

"We hope this is just the start, and there are more medals," Bimis said.

He welcomed a fan intruder who climbed up onto an adjacent board and dove into the water before Germany's penultimate dive. The man wore a T-shirt promoting a Web site and a tutu with extra-large clown shoes on his feet. :lol:

"I consider that a good omen because it also happened in the football final in Portugal," :lol: Bimis said of his country's surprise European championship victory last month. "This is a traditional Greek celebration like after the Euro final." B)

Greece earned a final-round score of 83.64 and finished with 353.34 points. Andreas Wels and Tobias Schellenberg of Germany won the silver medal with 350.01, while Robert Newbery and Steven Barnett of Australia earned the bronze with 349.59.

When the results became official, traditional Greek music echoed through the venue and the dancing started. :tup: Siranidis and Bimis jumped onto a practice board, and after a slight slip - the first time they stumbled all night - they waved a Greek flag up and down and encouraged the raucous local fans.

"We are a nation with heart," :) Greek coach Peter Firigos said.

Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis said that the victory "proved that Greek sports has depth and future."

The Greek media has been wrapped up in the controversy involving sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou for missing a doping test and an ensuing motorcycle wreck that left the duo hospitalized.

"I would like to remind you that the Olympic Games don't only refer to athletics," Bimis said. "There are 30 events and aquatics is not only swimming, we're also special here.

"I hope we can stop discussing this unfortunate event where we don't know what exactly happened."

The celebration continued right up to the Greek national anthem and medal presentation, with chants of "Hellas" - as the country is called in Greek - and more dancing as the music slowed down.

China's final-round landing was so bad that the dive earned no points and dropped Wang and Peng Bo into last place. It was a sharp turnaround from the first three synchronized events, each of which was won by China.

The American brothers Justin and Troy Dumais came in sixth, and the Russian pair of Sautin and Dobroskok finished seventh.

Bimis wondered if the other teams' travails were due to "all the pressure from the Greek fans."

Newbery called it "a bizarre final round."

"I think we're both dumbfounded by the way the competition turned out," he said, sitting next to his fellow Aussie, Barnett. "Isn't it special that those guys got up in front of their home crowd and won a gold medal."

Earlier, Lao Lishi and Li Ting of China easily won the women's 10-meter platform competition.

With a total of 352.14 points, Lao and Li added to their title from the world championships in Barcelona last year. Natalia Goncharova and Yulia Koltunova of Russia got the silver with 340.92, and Blythe Hartley and Emilie Heymans of Canada took the bronze at 327.78.

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2665092

:gr:

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I saw it on tv earlier today. Very nice. Congrats to Greece!!! :gr: :tup:

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Greeks secure first gold

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2...ing/3571516.stm

Greece won their first medal of the Athens Games with a surprise win in an astonishing men's synchronised 3m springboard final.

The Olympic diving hall erupted into Greek song and dance for winning pair Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis.

The duo came from last place after a spectator jumped in the pool, sparking mistakes by the Chinese and Americans.

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Eixe plaka pou ta paidia DAGKONANE ta metallia na doun ama einai xrisa :lol: And the other thing they said on tv was "KANOUME KATADISI... OXI MBOUKALES KAI PSARONTOUFEKO!! KATADISI SIXRONISMENI, APO KEI PSILA!! AFTO EINAI TO ATHLIMA MAS" :lol: LOL!! I like them cos they seem nice and humble. :)

Ola "OUT OF THE BLUE" ta kanoume fetos :lol: Mia to Evropaiko... tora afto edo kai to judo simera... asta na pane :lol:

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