Fani Chalkia ( el, Φανή Χαλκιά, , born February 2, 1979), also transliterated as Halkia or Khalkia, is a retired

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. Chalkia was born in

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

, and represented

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. She won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the women's 400m hurdles 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), ...

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 ...

. During the semifinals Chalkia set an Olympic record of 52.77 seconds. On August 16, 2008, during the

2008 Summer Olympics 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 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

it was announced that she tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone. Chalkia denied she had taken any banned substance, and asked for her 'B' sample to be tested, which also tested positive the next day. On November 26, 2008, the Greek Athletics Federation announced that she would serve a two year ban from the sport effective from August when Chalkia was expelled from the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2015, a Greek court convicted Chalkia of intentional doping and handed her a seven month jail sentence, suspended pending an appeal; this appeal was successful as on February 19, 2016, Chalkia was unanimously acquitted by the Athens Court of Appeal of all charges for the intentional use of banned substances. The court ruled that the former champion had fallen victim to a circuit of adulterated drugs, and also acquitted her trainer Giorgos Panagiotopoulos, who was facing charges of intentionally supplying banned substances.

Personal bests

Honours

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people Greek female hurdlers Greek female sprinters Athletes from Larissa Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Greece Olympic gold medalists for Greece Doping cases in athletics Greek sportspeople in doping cases European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympiacos Athletics athletes Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{greece-athletics-bio-stub