From Olympic records to Olympiacos FC winning the Europa Conference League, 2024 has been a year of victory and accomplishment for Greek and Greek Australian athletes.
Now, as the year comes to an end, The Greek Herald has shared its best Greek sporting moments of 2024.
15. Peta Trimis helps secure back-to-back wins for CommBank Young Matildas
Australia defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 in their second AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024™ group match at JAR Stadium, Tashkent.
First half goals from midfielder Daniela Galic and forward Peta Trimis set up the CommBank Young Matildas for a comfortable victory over the stoic hosts.
14. George Karlaftis secures back-to-back Super Bowl wins with Kansas City Chiefs
Greek-born George Karlaftis won his second Super Bowl in as many seasons in February 2024 as a defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs staged a comeback to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime, securing their third Super Bowl victory in five years.
13. Australian ice skaters secure first Grand Prix medal
Promising young duo Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore made history by winning Australia’s first grand prix medal at Skate Canada, securing a bronze medal in Halifax.
The pair, aged 18 and 22 respectively, finished behind the reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.
12. Oakleigh Cannons FC crowned champions of the 2024 Greek Community Cup
In a breath-taking climax to three weeks of exhilarating football, Oakleigh Cannons FC emerged victorious over Kingston City FC in a closely contested match, securing a 2-1 win and clinching the coveted Greek Community Cup 2024.
The atmosphere was electric as fans from across the Greek community came together to support their respective teams, creating an ambiance of passion and fervour at the football court.
11. Thanasi Kokkinakis makes tennis history in two-day Wimbledon epic
Thanasi Kokkinakis saved four match points to win a five-set thriller against 17th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon this year.
In a rollercoaster match spanning two days because of rain delays, the 28-year-old set tennis history by becoming the eighth man in this year’s draw to come back from two sets down in a 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Auger-Aliassime.
It was the most two sets to love comebacks in the first round at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
10. Emmanouil Karalis makes history as first Greek pole vaulter to clear six metres
Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis became the first Greek pole vaulter to have jumped higher than six metres on Sunday, August 25 at the Wanda Diamond League competition in Silesia, Poland.
9. Evangelia Platanioti wins Greece’s first-ever artistic swimming gold medal
Evangelia Platanioti, a 29-year-old Greek athlete, made history, claiming Greece’s first-ever artistic swimming gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
She received a gold medal for her solo technical program, as well as scoring 272.9633 points overall, receiving 101.6500 points in the artistic part, and 171.3133 in the execution.
8. Greece secures 13 medals including three golds at Paris Paralympics
Greece concluded a successful Paralympics in Paris, walking away with 13 medals – including three golds – achieved by its delegation of 37 athletes.
The medal tally consisted of three gold, three silver and seven bronze medals.
7. Four Greek Australian athletes selected for Australia’s Olympic Team
The Australian Olympic Team featured 460 athletes to represent Australia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in 33 sports. Among the 460 athletes were four Australians of Greek heritage. They were: Peter Boukouvalas (Archery), Zoe Poulis (Artistic Swimming), Mark Nicolaidis (Beach Volleyball), and Emmanouela Frroku (Gymnastics).
6. Cricket world goes nuts for Sam Konstas after stunning Boxing Day Test debut
Teenage cricket debutant Sam Konstas stole the show at the Boxing Day Test with a scintillating innings that electrified the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, December 26.
Konstas raced to a 50 off 52 balls, the third-fastest by an Australian Test debutant, trailing only Adam Gilchrist and Ashton Agar.
5. South Melbourne FC’s successful year
This year, South Melbourne FC were crowned Dockerty Cup champions and were named Premiers of the National Premier League Victoria 2024. Their win completed a triumph of 26 rounds at the top of the NPL Victoria standings with 60 points (19 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses).
South Melbourne also progressed to the semi-finals of the Australia Cup, playing against Macarthur FC. In the end, Macarthur FC advanced to the Australian Cup final thanks to a questionable penalty that only the referee saw, following a dive by a Macarthur forward near the end of the match.
4. Football Australia unveils new format and start date for National Second Tier
Football Australia this year confirmed the launch of the National Second Tier (NST) competition, marking a significant step forward in its commitment to elevating the domestic club football landscape in Australia.
Following a series of workshops and consultation sessions with the eight NST Foundation Clubs, Football Australia confirmed that it will kick-off the NST in October 2025, showcasing the best of Australian club football in a contemporary and sustainable competition format.
3. The Greek Herald Cup: A spectacle of Greek dancing, music and football rivalry
Chants of ‘O-LYM-PIC, O-LYM-PIC’ and ‘Let’s go Hellas’ echoed loudly across Netstrata Jubilee Stadium at Kogarah, Sydney on Saturday, January 13 as close to 3,000 football fans packed the stadium for the inaugural The Greek Herald Cup.
The atmosphere was electric with live music, Greek dancing performances, and a football extravaganza as two iconic Greek heritage football clubs, Sydney Olympic FC and South Melbourne FC, came face to face in the historic clash. Ultimately, Sydney Olympic came out victorious.
2. Olympiacos FC make history as champions of Europa Conference League
Olympiacos FC made history as the first Greek club to win the Europa Conference League. They defeated Italy’s AFC Fiorentina 1- 0 during the final on Wednesday, 29 May 2024.
Olympiacos FC fans around Australia rejoiced as the football club made history. The Greek Herald’s sports editor Takis Triadafillou visited a pub in the Sydney suburb of Mascot to watch the match on a big screen surrounded by other Olympiacos fans. When the victory was claimed, Mr Triadafillou said Mascot “shook” with the cheers of those gathered.
1. Team Hellas at the Paris Olympic Games
Greece made history numerous times at this year’s Paris Olympic Games.
Take for example Miltiadis Tentoglou, who leapt to a sensational gold medal in the men’s long jump final on August 6, jumping 8.48 metres. Tentoglou’s win made him the second jumper to win consecutive gold medals in his event, after the legendary Carl Lewis who had four in a row from 1984 to 1996.
Greece’s basketball team also made history, heading to their first Olympics in 16 years. The qualification also marked the first time in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career that he appeared at the Olympics.
In swimming, Apostolos Christou made Greek history at the Paris Olympics, winning the silver medal in the men’s backstroke final. Christou’s win was Greece’s first-ever Olympic medal in pool swimming.
The Greek finished in second place with a time of 1:54.82, setting a new national record.
