Tampakos brings Olympic gold for Greece on men's rings
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-23 08:50

Greek Dimosthenis Tampakos, the silver medalist on rings at the Sydney Olympics, brought an Olympic gold for his motherland on Sunday night.

Tampakos, 28, the champion on rings in the 2003 Anaheim worlds, became the first gymnast to perform on the rings tonight. Among the deafening cheers from the home crowd, Tampakos scored 9.862 points, the highest in all the five apparatus finals tonight.

Tampakos, a specialist on rings, also got the bronze in 1999 Tianjin worlds and the gold in 2000 Bremen European Championships. He tied for the gold on rings with Russian Alexander Safoshkin in the 2004 European Championships.

Tampakos said, "I thank God who helped live what I am living. It is something unique to share such a moment with so many people."

"It was a very tough competition. It was the first time that so many athletes got over 9.800 points. We must congratulate all of them. They are all very good gymnasts."

Alekos Ioakeimidis, Tampakos' coach, said, "I was not worried. Dimosthenis made a very good performance and I expected a judging around 9.90. All the opponents were very strong, but I was confident."

Jordan Jovtchev from Belarus, who finished third on the floor exercise and rings at the Sydney Olympics, followed Tampakos to the mat and clinched the sliver medal with 9.850 points.

Jovtchev, another favorite for the rings title, had also shared the 2003 world championships title on two events: the floor exercise with Paul Hamm from the United States, and the rings with Tampakos.

The bronze medal on the rings tonight went to Italian Yuri Chechi, the event's champion at the Atlanta Olympics and five worlds (1993 Birmingham, 1994 Brisbane, 1995 Sabae, 1996 San Juan and 1997 Lausanne).

Chechi, ever called "the lord of the rings", scored 9.812 points tonight. He intends to retire after the Athens Olympics.

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