Barcelona 1992
On 5 August 1992, Patoulidou was celebrating for having qualifed for the final in the 100 m hurdles by improving her personal best from 12.96 (set in the qualifying round) to 12.88 seconds in the semi-finals. This success made her the first Greek woman ever to reach a track final in the Olympic Games, a great feat in its own right.
One day later, however, one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Olympic Games was to take place. The clear favourite of the 100 m hurdles final, Gail Devers of the United States, made a mistake and tripped on the last hurdle. Patoulidou took advantage and lunged her body forward for the finishing line. Having crossed the line in 12.64 seconds (a Greek national record that still stands), Patoulidou immediately threw her hands in the air celebrating what she thought was a silver medal. When she watched the replay of the race on the stadium's big screen and realised that she had won the race, Patoulidou fell to her knees and put her hands over her face in astonishment. In her first interview to the Greek journalists minutes after the race, Patoulidou dedicated her medal to her home country by saying “For Greece, dammit!”, a catchphrase that is still in use.
The official results:
- Paraskevi Patoulidou (GRE) - 12.64
- LaVonna Martin (USA) - 12.69
- Yordanka Donkova (BUL) - 12.70
- Lynda Tolbert-Goode (USA) - 12.75
- Gail Devers (USA) - 12.75
- Aliuska Lopez (CUB) - 12.87
- Natalya Kolovanova (CIS) - 13.01
- Odalys Adams (CUB) - 13.57
Read more about this topic: Voula Patoulidou