Athanasia Tsoumeleka (, ; born 2 January 1982 in Preveza, Greece) is a Greek race walker, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She was named the Greek Female Athlete of the Year for 2004.
Tsoumeleka gained notoriety in 2003 by placing seventh at the World Championships that year. She won the Olympic gold medal race held in her home country, beating Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova (silver medalist) and Australia's Jane Saville (bronze medalist).
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, she finished 9th in 20 km walk. After the end of the Games, a urine sample she gave on August 6th tested positive for erythropoietin when subjected to a new test for CERA. Tsoumeleka expressed doubts about the validity of the procedure, and then announced her immediate retirement from the sport. On 29 April 2009 it was announced that Tsoumeleka had tested positive for CERA in a test on a blood sample provided during the 2008 Olympics. Her "B" sample also tested positive for CERA. On 18 November 2009 the International Olympic Committee decided to disqualify Tsoumeleka from the Women's 20 km Walk event of the 2008 Olympic Games where she placed 9th.IOC Disciplinary Commission Decision (18 November 2009) "IOC source: IOC sanctions five athletes who competed in Beijing" International Olympic Committee
Achievements Representing 2000World Junior ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile4th10,000m47:10.962002European Championships Munich, Germany9th20 km1:31:25 SB2003European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland 1st20 km1:33:55World Championships Paris, France7th20 km1:29:34 NR2004Olympic GamesAthens, Greece 1st20 km1:29.12 PB2005World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland —20 kmDSQ2008World Race Walking Cup Cheboksary, Russia14th20 km1:30:40Olympic GamesBeijing, PR ChinaDSQ20 km1:27:54
References
External links