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Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
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Handball
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Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team scores more goals wins. Modern handball is played on a court 40 by 20 metres, the goals are surrounded by a 6-meter zone where only the defending goalkeeper is allowed, goals must be scored by throwing the ball from outside the zone or while diving into it. The sport is played indoors, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field handball and Czech handball. The game is fast and high-scoring, professional teams now typically score between 20 and 35 goals each, though lower scores were not uncommon until a few decades ago, body contact is permitted by the defenders trying to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. The game was codified at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe, the modern set of rules was published in 1917 in Germany, and had several revisions since. The first international games were played under rules for men in 1925. Mens handball was first played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin as outdoors, and the time at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich as indoors. Womens team handball was added at the 1976 Summer Olympics, the International Handball Federation was formed in 1946 and, as of 2016, has 197 member federations. The sport is most popular in the countries of continental Europe, in the womens world championships, only two non-European countries have won the title, South Korea and Brazil. The game also enjoys popularity in the Far East, North Africa, There is evidence of ancient Roman women playing a version of handball called expulsim ludere. There are records of games in medieval France, and among the Inuit in Greenland. By the 19th century, there existed similar games of håndbold from Denmark, házená in the Czech Republic, handbol in Ukraine, the team handball game of today was codified at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe—primarily in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The first written set of team handball rules was published in 1906 by the Danish gym teacher, lieutenant and Olympic medalist Holger Nielsen from Ordrup grammar school, north of Copenhagen. The modern set of rules was published on 29 October 1917 by Max Heiser, Karl Schelenz, after 1919 these rules were improved by Karl Schelenz. The first international games were played under rules, between Germany and Belgium by men in 1925 and between Germany and Austria by women in 1930. In 1926, the Congress of the International Amateur Athletics Federation nominated a committee to draw up rules for field handball. The International Amateur Handball Federation was formed in 1928 and later the International Handball Federation was formed in 1946, Mens field handball was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin
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Parquetry
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Parquet is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as wood veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring, parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring pattern is herringbone, the word derives from the Old French parchet, literally meaning a small enclosed space. Such parquets en losange were noted by the Swedish architect Daniel Cronström at Versailles, while not technically a wood, bamboo is also a popular material for modern floors. Parquet floors were formerly usually adhered with hot bitumen, today modern cold adhesives are usually used. Wood floors may be brushed clean, and mopped when necessary, upright vacuum cleaners can scratch and wear the surface, as grit particles become embedded in the spinning brushes. Parquet floors are long lasting and require little or no maintenance. Bitumen-glued blocks require use of hot bitumen or a cold bitumen emulsion. Parquet floors are found in bedrooms and hallways. They are considered better than regular floor tiles since they feel warmer underfoot, however they do little to absorb sounds such as walking, vacuum cleaning and television, which can cause problems in multi-occupancy dwellings. One of the most famous parquet floors is the one used by the Boston Celtics of the NBA, the floor remained intact and in use until it was cut up and sold as souvenirs in 1999, after the 1998 demolition of Boston Garden. The Celtics today play on a parquet floor inside TD Garden that combines old, similar square-paneled parquet floors were made for the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Of the four, only the Magic continue to use a square-paneled parquet floor, the Nets debuted their parquet at the Meadowlands Arena in 1988, and continued to use the floor until 1997. The said floor remained in use with the Seton Hall basketball team until 2007, the Nuggets used a parquet floor from 1990 to 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena, while the Timberwolves played on the parquet from 1996 to 2008 at the Target Center. In 1995, the Toronto Raptors debuted with a herringbone parquet, the Nets revived the use of the herringbone upon moving to the Barclays Center in 2012. While the Charlotte Hornets unveiled a parquet-like floor at the Time Warner Cable Arena for the 2014–15 season, it is not considered a true parquet floor. Instead, it simulated the pattern of the parquet by alternately painting light and dark trapezoid sections through the use of varnish, forming a beehive pattern that is synonymous with the franchise
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Athens Olympic Sports Complex
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The Athens Olympic Park, is a sport facilities complex located at Marousi, northeast Athens, Greece. The complex consists of five major venues as well as other sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens has hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1991, the most significant event the Athens Olympic Sports Complex has hosted, was the Olympic Games. OACA was the venue for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The complex was revamped for the games under a design produced by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and it is currently used as the home ground of AEK Athens F. C. one of the biggest football clubs in Greece. The Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and it is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the suburb of Maroussi. The arena was used for gymnastics and trampolining and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the games. On May 18 and 20,2006, the Olympic Indoor Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex can be reached by Metro, by suburban train, or by direct bus lines [A7,602,550. The table below illustrates how the Athens Olympic Sports Complex facilities are used today,2004 Summer Olympics official report, pp.201,207,227,231,242,273,303,324,329,346,409. Media related to Athens Olympic Sports Complex at Wikimedia Commons Official site Olympic Indoor hall info and pictures at stadia. gr
6.
2004 Summer Paralympics
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3,806 athletes from 136 National Paralympic Committees competed. 519 medal events were held in 19 sports, four new events were introduced to the Paralympics in Athens, 5-a-side football for the blind, quads wheelchair tennis, and a womens competition in sitting volleyball and in the judo. A total of 1567 medals were awarded during the Athens games,519 gold,516 silver, china topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of medals earned by a nation. Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won five golds and set three records in wheelchair racing, while Swedish shooter Jonas Jacobsson took four gold medals. Frances Béatrice Hess won her nineteenth and twentieth Paralympic gold medals in swimming, swimmer Trischa Zorn of the United States won just one medal, a bronze, but it was her 55th ever Paralympic medal. She retained her position as the most successful Paralympian of all times, the opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 17,2004. The show started with children passing on knowledge and raising their lights to the sky and this was a reference to Hippocrates, who transferred knowledge to the children. A26 meters tall olive tree symbolising life stood in the middle of the arena, the opening ceremony also featured a performance with human drama, with light and with music, in an allegory about obstacles and limits. The Parade of Delegations was accompanied by the music of French composers Yves Stepping, the music told the legend of Hephaestos, god of fire and son of Zeus and Hera. An athlete from Turkmenistan propelled himself around the stadium by doing somersaults, Greece, the home team, received a strong cheer. After that, fireworks erupted at the stadium, there were 150 local support staff involved and 400 volunteers. The children were from ages 8 to 17, coming from Australia, France, Spain, Greece, the Games were officially declared opened by Greek president Costis Stephanopoulos and Philip Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee. They were accompanied by the head of the organizing committee Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who told the athletes, many of you will leave Athens with medals, but all of you will leave as champions. Phil Craven quoted Democritus in his speech, Two thousand years ago and this holds true for all athletes, but especially for Paralympians. Recognising and cultivating your unique abilities and mastering challenges – you set standards and give expression for people, young and old. The Paralympic flame was lit by Greek athlete Georgios Toptsis, the closing ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 28,2004. The artistic and entertainment part of the ceremony will not take place, flags were flown at half mast and a minutes silence was observed
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Greek Basket League
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The Greek Basket League, often referred to as the Greek Basketball League, Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship, is the first tier professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA, under the authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The league is known as the Stoiximan. gr Greek Basket League for sponsorship reasons. It consists of 14 teams and runs from October to June, with teams playing 26 games each during the season. The first official Greek Basketball Championship was held in the 1927–28 season, the league first held a playoff round in the 1986–87 season. The league has always ranked as one of the top 3-5 level national domestic leagues in European basketball. For further information, see historical European national basketball league rankings, Basketball first came to Greece in the year 1910. By the 1927–28 season, the first official Greek basketball championship began, the league was originally organized by the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association. There have been four different official championship eras, the first era was the Panhellenic Championship, which lasted from the 1927–28 to 1962–63 seasons, when the champions of every regional district played each other to decide the Greek Champion. The second era started in the 1963–64 season, when the A National Category, in 1969, the Hellenic Basketball Federation took over the duties of overseeing the competition, and did so until the year 1992. The 1988–89 season, marked the first time that Greek Basket League teams were allowed to have foreign players on their rosters. The fourth era of the began in the 1992–93 season. The league was renamed to Greek Basket League, starting with the 2010–11 season. It currently ranks among the best national domestic leagues in the world, such as Liga ACB in Spain, VTB United League, and BSL in Turkey. It has always considered one of the top 3-5 European national domestic leagues under the historical European national basketball league rankings. Also, Aris Thessaloniki, led by Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, and Slobodan Lefteris Subotić, was the dominant Greek club, the first five aforementioned clubs, are also the most widely supported by fans in Greece. Despite the championship having been contested 76 times, only nine different clubs have won it so far, the dominating club has always been Panathinaikos, having claimed the championship 34 times. Since the foundation of the Alpha National Category in the 1963–64 season, the main elements of the logo were changed in 2013
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AEK B.C.
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The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. AEK was the first-ever Greek basketball team, not only to reach a European Cup Final, on April 4,1968, AEK defeated Slavia VŠ Praha by a score of 89-82, in Athens in front of 80,000 fans. They have won the Greek Basket League 8 times, and the Greek Basketball Cup 3 times, the large Greek population of Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. These were amongst a dozen Greek-backed clubs that dominated the landscape of the city in the years preceding World War I. After the war, with the influx of mainly French and English soldiers to Constantinople, many of the city participated in regular competition. Taxim, Pera, and Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in not only football, but of athletics, cycling, boxing, of the clubs in the city though, football was dominated by Enosis Tataoulon and Hermes. Hermes, one of the popular clubs, was formed in 1875. Forced by the Kemalist regime to change its name to Pera Club in 1923, many of its athletes fled to Greece and settled in Athens, the basketball team of AEK is actually the most successful among A. E. Ks athletic departments. The obvious reason is the successes in general of the Greek basketball, under Konstantinos Karamanlis guidance, AEK won the clubs first Greek championship in 1958. Kostas Dimopoulos, one of the creators of AEK club and footballer of the years, had the idea of creation also a basketball team. His efforts quickly were matched by others who loved with passion this nice sport and he took over, then, the leadership of the department and together with the brothers Simeonidi, Eumenis Athanasiadis and others made the first team. In the beginning they took part in matches with a good impression. After, AEK won the first championship played in Athens, that was organized by the YMCA in 1924, in 1929 the Greek basketball Championship was not conducted and AEK did not played anywhere. In 1930 basketball section was not declared in no organization with the efforts of Kostas Dimopoulos. The section remained in obscurity for years, however in 1949 reappeared. In 1953 AEK took part for the time in the Greek basketball Championship after 1928. In the Championship of 1955 AEK did a run, however missed the final by Panellinios. In 1958 AEK B. C. with player-coach Konstantinos Karamanlis conquered the first Greek Championship defeating Panellinios in final 67-54, postwar, was also founded and worked for a short time and a section of womens basketball
9.
Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics
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For the 2004 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-five sports venues were used. Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 that included such as Panathinaiko Stadium. A change in democracy in 1975 resulted in Greeces admission into the European Economic Community in 1979. Athens first bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics as part of the 100th anniversary of the Modern Olympics, seven years later, Athens won the right to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the time of the award, 75% of competition and 92% of training venues were available though a construction and renovation program was taken to get the venues ready for the games. Accessibility and environmental issues were taken account in venue design. The marathon course used was the one used for the 1896 Games though it was 2.195 km longer to the marathon not being standardized until 1924. Canoe slaloms venue at Ellinikon was the first using saltwater, having it pumped in from the Aegean Sea, after the Olympics, Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre was converted into a police training center while two other venues were converted into entertainment centers. Greece served as home of the Ancient Olympic Games that ran from 776 B. C. to 393 A. D. in Olympia, following the effort of Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Olympic Games, the first modern Olympics took place at Athens in 1896. The main stadium, Panathinaiko, served as host of the athletic, gymnastic, weightlifting, the city of Marathon served the start point for the sport of the same name and the starting and finishing point of cyclings Individual road race. Between the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Greece underwent a series of events that created political instability in the country, by the 1950s, Greece reemerged as an economic model though a coup détat in April 1967 forced the country into a military junta that lasted until 1974. It would take a back to democracy in 1975 and an entrance into the European Economic Community in 1979 set Greece back to growth. Athens first bid for the Summer Olympics took place in 1986 for the 1996 Olympics and they lost out to eventual winner Atlanta, Georgia in the United States at a 1990 International Olympic Committee meeting in Tokyo. Olympic Stadium in Athens served as host for the European Athletics Championships in 1982 and this venue also served as host for the Mediterranean Games in 1991. In 1995, Athens submitted a bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics which it was awarded in September 1997, a month earlier, Olympic Stadium hosted the World Championships in Athletics. At the time of the bid in 1997, the venues to be used for the 2004 Games were available for 75% of the competition, venue locations were settled between 1998 and 2003. Construction funding started in 1998 with laws passing in 1999 and 2000 to assist this along, a total of 37 contracts were issued for venue construction and renovation involving three different governmental ministries. Monthly reports were issues to the Athens Organizing Committee on venue project status, design drawings were completed by December 2002
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O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall
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It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern sports arenas in all of Europe. The arena also contains a training facility, since 2016, it is named after the well-known Greek basketball player Nikos Galis. Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall is notable for its distinctive A-frame roof that features four huge pillars, each of which is 35 meters tall, according to the Greek Ministry of Sports, it is the largest indoor sporting arena of its kind in the world. The arena is constructed in a unique way so that an abundant amount of natural light comes into the arena during the day. The arena seats up to 17,600 for gymnastics events and it seats up to 18,989 for basketball games, which includes 18,500 regular seats for the fans,300 seats for the media members, and 189 seats for VIPs. A large scale arena renovation was completed in 2004, for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the arena was then renovated again in 2016. The arena was used for gymnastics and trampolining, and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Renovation of the building for the Olympics was completed on June 30,2004, the Indoor Hall is the regular home court for the Greek Basket League professional basketball clubs Panathinaikos Athens and AEK Athens. It is also the home court of the Greek National Basketball Team. On December 9,2007, FIBA announced that the Olympic Indoor Hall was selected as the host of the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament. At the qualifying tournament, hosts and favorites Greece, along with the German and Croatian national basketball teams, qualified for the final 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament. On May 18 and 20,2006, the Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, there were 15,000 seats available for spectators, both for the semifinal and the grand final. gr
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Badminton Theater
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The Badminton Theater is a venue utilized for the staging of medium- and large-scale multiplex events. Situated inside the park of Goudi in Athens, Greece. As of 2012, conferences, meetings, presentations and corporate events are held at the venue due to the construction of additional facilities. The venue was built and used for the sport of Badminton during the 2004 Olympic Games. As the venue became further established, the facility was available for leasing, with the management utilizing a public tender process. ABCD acquired the premises for a 20-year timeframe, and subsequently embarked on radical reform, the building was eventually converted into a versatile facility, suitable for medium- and large-scale events. The remodeling work began in the summer of 2006 and was completed in 2007, the post-industrial style of the exterior and the venues large open spaces were the only things that remained intact. The interior was rebuilt to create a modern auditorium, capable of seating 2,430 people, surrounded by foyers. The Badminton Theater has been used in major international theater, dance and television productions. The main areas of Badminton Theater are
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
