Greece wins first medal in Paris 2024 Paralympics

Athens: Christina Gentzou won the first medal for Greece in the Paris 2024 Paralympics after defeating China’s Yinan Yao 14-4 in a Tae Kwon Do competition.

The two athletes competed for the bronze medal in the 65 kg (K44) category with the Greek contender winning at the end, putting her name in the Paralympics winners record.

Gentzou’s Tae Kwon Do victory put Greece on the medal table. Brazil’s Ana Karolina Silva de Moura received the gold medal in the same category, defeating French contestant Djelika Diallo (silver).

Greece’s President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou congratulated the Paralympics bronze medal winner with a post on X (formerly Twitter):

“Wholehearted congratulations to Christina Gentzou who won, at the Paris Paralympic Games, the bronze medal in the 65kg category (K44) in tae kwon do, the first medal won by our country in this particular sport and in the event.”

Christina Gentzou, the Greek para taekwondo practitioner, was born July 26, 2005. She represents Greece at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics.

The athlete represented Greece at the 2024 European Taekwondo Championships, where she won a gold medal.

On Saturday, Greece competes for another medal in the Paris Paralympics in five sports. Sotiris Galogavros competes in shooting, in the qualifying round of the 10m air rifle SH1. The event takes place at Châteauroux.

Next is Elena Papastamatiou at the Grand Palais for the knockout rounds in taekwondo, with her first opponent in the +65kg K44 category being Patricia Kyeremaa from Ghana.

In La Défense Arena, Greek swimmers Dimitris Karypidis and Nikos Kontou will participate in the 50m backstroke S1, while Areti Aravela Spiridou will compete in the 50m backstroke S2.

The first Greek appearance in Athletics will be that of Lida Manthopoulou running in the 100m T38. The 19-year-old sprinter will compete at Stade de France. She aims to qualify for the final. Later, Thanasis Konstantinidis, Lazaros Stefanidis, and Dimitris Zisis will compete in the F32 shot put.

In the South Arena of Paris, Anna Denta will play against Newrka Kaloupe (Peru) in the Boccia BC3 category. Grigoris Polychronidis will face Mateus Carvalho (Brazil) in the BC3 category as well. Chrysi Morfi Metzou will compete against Noor Matt Salim (Malaysia) in the BC4 category.

Greece has sent a delegation of 37 athletes to compete across ten different sports in this year’s Paris Paralympics. Flag bearers Manolis Stefanoudakis and Theodora Paschalidou are two Paralympian champions who aim to bring medals home to Greece once again.