"The freedom to express yourself" is in the Greek civic code is what they are telling me but all that comes to mind is the time I ran into the Greek weighlifting team in Sydney. I went up to one of their strongest men. His head up - fitting the image of the champion he really was. The man from Elbasan was quick to lower his head like a mouse when I spoke to him in Albanian. His eyes wandering around hoping not to be heard by his Albanian hating team mates. He was barely whispering back and looking very uncomfortable.
What I want to know is, how the hell you go from Luan Shabani to Leonidas Sabanis? From a champion to a mouse? From an Albanian to a Greek?
Agim Xhelili is another weightlifter - "Jorgos Tzelilis" and his famous wife Mirela Manjani (at least her name wasn't regarded offensive enough to be changed to a greek version).
. . .
Remember the 10 year old Albanian migrant boy who topped the academic year for 2000 and again in 2001. He accidentally exposed Greece's true racist nature. He offended the entire country by topping his peers in academic results (in Greek). This caused national outrage because by default the top student in the country had to bear the flag at national day celebrations. The dilemma: How could a proud country like Greece allow an Albanian to carry a Greek flag?
I think that we should have been more vocal in revealing Greece's true colours.
I also don't buy the stories that Greece's training tradition and resources improved these athletes. More likely, their access to the most sophisticated of steroids did this. Greece's top athlete's train in hiding guarded by armies of personal guards. It would be impossible for a simpleton or a drug control officer (for that matter) to find or get access to them. They remain in hiding until a week or so before the comp and then when they are finally clean they volunteer to take drug tests. A huge scandal!
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=256894
What I want to know is, how the hell you go from Luan Shabani to Leonidas Sabanis? From a champion to a mouse? From an Albanian to a Greek?
Agim Xhelili is another weightlifter - "Jorgos Tzelilis" and his famous wife Mirela Manjani (at least her name wasn't regarded offensive enough to be changed to a greek version).
. . .
Remember the 10 year old Albanian migrant boy who topped the academic year for 2000 and again in 2001. He accidentally exposed Greece's true racist nature. He offended the entire country by topping his peers in academic results (in Greek). This caused national outrage because by default the top student in the country had to bear the flag at national day celebrations. The dilemma: How could a proud country like Greece allow an Albanian to carry a Greek flag?
I think that we should have been more vocal in revealing Greece's true colours.
I also don't buy the stories that Greece's training tradition and resources improved these athletes. More likely, their access to the most sophisticated of steroids did this. Greece's top athlete's train in hiding guarded by armies of personal guards. It would be impossible for a simpleton or a drug control officer (for that matter) to find or get access to them. They remain in hiding until a week or so before the comp and then when they are finally clean they volunteer to take drug tests. A huge scandal!
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=256894
