Triple jumper expelled from Olympics for racist tweets
Paraskevi Papachristou of Greece competes in the women’s triple jump during the London Grand Prix, Diamond League, athletics meeting at Crystal Palace in London August 5, 2011.
Paraskevi Papachristou, Greece’s Olympic triple jumper, was removed from the 2012 London Olympics after tweeting what was seen by many as a racist slur, Reuters reported.
The tweet: "With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!"
The Greek Olympic mission announced that Papachristou would no longer compete in the games.
"She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out," Isidoros Kouvelos said, according to Reuters. "She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes," she said, according to Reuters.
Papachristou apologized on her Facebook page:
"I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights. My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values," she wrote, according to Reuters.
According to cbcsports, Papachristou's Twitter account (@papaxristoutj) "contains several retweets and postings of YouTube videos promoting the views of Golden Dawn, a formerly marginal extreme right party that entered the Greek Parliament in the recent two national elections — in May and June this year by polling almost 7 per cent of the vote."
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