Alexia Smirli (also ''Alexia Smyrli'', gr, Αλεξία Σμυρλή; born 25 October 1983 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

) is a Greek sport shooter. She was selected as one of eleven shooters to represent the host nation

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, and had attained a top nine finish in a major international competition, spanning the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

series and the European Championships. Smirli trains under Russian-born head coach Anna Pelova for the national team, while shooting at Maroussi Paradise Athletics Club ( gr, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Παραδείσου Αμαρουσίου) on the outskirts of

. Smirli was named as part of the host nation's shooting team to compete in the women's 10 m air rifle at the

. She had registered a minimum qualifying score of 394 from her outside-final finish at the

meet in

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

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to fill in one of the Olympic berths reserved to the host nation, after the Hellenic Shooting Federation decided to exchange spots in her pet event with the unused quotas from the women's skeet. Smirli shot a decent 391 out of a possible 400 to tie for twenty-seventh place with four other markswomen in the qualifying round, failing to advance further to the final.

References

External links

*
Olympic Profile – In.gr
1983 births Living people Greek female sport shooters Olympic shooters for Greece Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Athens 21st-century Greek women {{Greece-sportshooting-bio-stub