Sofia Sakorafa
.jpg) Sofia Sakorafa with her husband | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Athletics | ||
Competitor for  Greece
| ||
| European Championships | ||
| Bronze | 1982 Athens | Javelin |
| Mediterranean Games | ||
| Gold | 1979 Split | Javelin |
| Bronze | 1987 Latakia | Javelin |
Sofia Sakorafa (Greek: Σοφία Σακοράφα, born 29 April 1957) is a politician and a former javelin thrower from Greece. She was born in Trikala.
Athletics
Sakorafa broke the world record on 16 September 1982 with a throw of 74.20 metres. That mark stood as a Greek record until the new javelin was introduced in 1999. She won the bronze medal at the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens.
She started competing in athletics at age fifteen as a member of Trikala Gymnastic Club. In total, Sakorafa – often pushed by her antagonism with Anna Verouli – broke the Greek record for the javelin seventeen times. She competed in the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics.
Politics
Sakorafa has worked as a physical education teacher and besides athletics, she also served as a political activist and has espoused several causes in her lifetime including world peace, women's rights, and Palestinian rights.
She has served on the City Councils of Athens and Maroussi. She was elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament under the banner of PASOK three times (in the elections of 2000, 2007 and 2009). She had failed to win a seat in the parliament in the 2004 elections.
On 6 May 2010 she refused to vote in favour of the of austerity measures and the loan agreement between the Greek government and the IMF/EU. As a result she was expelled from PASOK and served as an independent member of the parliament until 2012.
She participated in the 2012 legislative elections as a member of SYRIZA and was elected, first in votes, in the second prefecture of Athens.In 2014 she elected Member of European Parliament with GUE-NGL.
2004 Olympics
Sakorafa stirred controversy in 2004 when she became a Palestinian citizen and applied a few months before the Olympic Games for a berth on the Palestinian Olympic team at the age of 47. She made her debut representing Palestine in Chania, Crete, on 28 June 2004 - her performance was 47.23 metres. Despite the fact that her gesture to participate as a Palestinian was symbolic, the IAAF ruled her ineligible for the 2004 Summer Olympics.[1]
References
- ↑ "Olympics: IOC Blocks Greek Javelin Champion's Olympic Comeback for Palestine", Agence France-Presse, 11 August 2004
External links
- Personal profile of Sofia Sakorafa in the European Parliament's database of members
This article incorporates text from the article Sofia_Sakorafa on Phantis.com, which is licensed under the GFDL ().
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by.svg.png){kind=small} Antoaneta Todorova |
Women's Javelin Best Year Performance 1983 |
Succeeded by Tiina Lillak |
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