Eleni Kosti ( gr, Ελένη Κωστή; born November 6, 1985) is a Greek former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. She represented her 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 ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008), and also won a bronze medal as part of the freestyle relay team at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Kosti trained throughout her swimming career for Olympiakos sports league 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 ...

under the tutelage of her coach Markos Mantaloufas. Kosti made her Olympic debut as part of the relay team in the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle with Zoi Dimoschaki, Martha Matsa and favorite Nery Mantey Niangkouara, when Greece hosted the historic modern Games for the second time in

. She swam the anchor leg on the outside lane in heat two, but her team was disqualified due to an early relay takeoff by Matsa. In 2005, Kosti helped her Greek teammates Dimoschaki and 2000 Olympians

Aikaterini Bliamou Aikaterini ("Katerina") Bliamou (; born 15 October 1982 in Central Macedonia) is a former female backstroke and freestyle swimmer from Greece. She won a bronze medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games, and represented her native country at the 2000 ...

and Zampia Melachroinou atone from their Olympic disqualification in

to relish for a bronze-medal victory with a 400-metre freestyle relay final time of 3:49.70 at the Mediterranean Games in

. On her second Olympics in

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, Kosti swam the individual freestyle double with only two days in between. Leading up to the Games, she cleared FINA B-standard entry times of 56.30 (100 m freestyle) at Nioveia Grand Prix in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, and topped the field with 2:00.97 (200 m freestyle) at the Greek national trials in

. On the third night of the competition, she closed out the field to last place and forty-fourth overall in heat three of the 200 m freestyle, finishing with a time of 2:04.55. Two days later, in the

100 m freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

, Kosti escaped from the bottom of the field to finish heat three in seventh position and thirty-seventh overall with a time of 56.44, edging out Slovenia's

Nina Sovinek Nina Sovinek (born 26 May 1985) is a Slovenian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Slovenia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also served as a member of the Slovenian Olympic Swimming Club ( sl, Plavalni ...

by almost a full second.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
1985 births Living people Greek female swimmers Olympic swimmers for Greece Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Greek female freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Lamia (city) Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece Swimmers at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming 20th-century Greek women 21st-century Greek women {{Greece-swimming-bio-stub