Fani Psatha ( gr, Φανή Ψαθά; born February 2, 1976, in

Psachna Psachna ( el, Ψαχνά) is a small Greek town in Euboea, 16 km north of Chalcis. It is built in a small plain in the central-west part of the island. Psachna is the seat of Dirfys-Messapia municipality and the seat of Messapia regional unit. Th ...

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...

) is a retired amateur Greek freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's flyweight category. Psatha has produced a full set of three career medals in different color, including her prestigious gold from the

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

in Almería, Spain, and also finished tenth in the 48-kg division 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 ...

, when

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 ...

hosted 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), ...

. Psatha trained throughout her sporting career for Psachna Evia Wrestling Club in

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, under her personal coach Ioannis Tabounidis. Psatha qualified for the Greek squad, as a 28-year-old, in the inaugural 48 kg class at the

. Earlier in the process, she placed fourth from the

2003 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, United States, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France. Medal table Team ranking Medal su ...

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but managed to fill up an entry by the International Federation of Association Wrestling and the

Hellenic Olympic Committee The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) ( el, Ελληνική Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή) is the governing Olympic body of Greece. It is the second oldest National Olympic Committee in the world (after the French Olympic Committee), it o ...

, as Greece received an automatic berth for being the host nation. Psatha began the preliminary competition early by pinning Tunisia's

Fadhila Louati Fadhila Louati ( ar, فضيلة لواتي; born March 3, 1979, in Tunis) is a retired amateur Tunisian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's flyweight category. Considered one of the nation's top wrestlers in her decade, Louati has yi ...

with only forty seconds left in front of the boisterous home crowd inside

Ano Liossia Olympic Hall Ano Liosia Olympic Hall is a multi-purpose and multi-sport indoor arena that is located in Ano Liosia, a suburb of Athens, Greece. The arena was mainly used to host various martial arts tournaments but from 2021 its used by AEK B.C. for its home g ...

. She lost her succeeding match 3–5 in overtime to Tajikistan's

Lidiya Karamchakova Lidiya Karamchakova (russian: Лидия Карамчакова; born February 17, 1968, in Abakan, Russian SFSR) is a retired amateur Russian-Tajikistani freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's flyweight category. Karamchakova's wrestlin ...

, and was immediately halted by Ukraine's

Irini Merleni Iryna Oleksiyivna Merleni ( uk, Ірина Олексіївна Мерлені), née Melnyk (), married name Mykulchyn () (born 8 February 1982) is a Ukrainian wrestler, who competed in the – 48 kg weight class at the 2004 Summer Ol ...

at the one-minute mark due to a 10–point superiority rule. Psatha placed third in the preliminary competition and tenth overall; She did not advance to the quarterfinals. At the

in Almería, Spain, Psatha overcame her Olympic setback to edge France's Anne Deluntsch off the mat for the gold medal in the same class.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Psatha, Fani 1976 births Living people People from Euboea (regional unit) Greek female sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Greece Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling European Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from Central Greece