Olympian Kicked Off Team For Racist Tweets Says She’s “Bitter and Upset”
Kulture Kritc reported Wednesday that triple jumper Voula Papachristou was kicked off Greece’s Olympic team following her comments on Twitter 
making fun of Africans, and expressing support for a far-right party. Now the banned athlete says she is “bitter and upset” about being kicked off the Olympic team.
Papachristou, @papaxristoutj on Twitter, originally raised eyebrows by retweeting Golden Dawn, an extreme right wing party that emerged in the Greek Parliament in the national elections.
Then she tweeted, “With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!” That tweet caused a backlash among people who felt Papachristou’s statements were at best insensitive, and at worst racist.
Papachristou issued a lackluster apology after the dust-up, saying ”That’s how I am. I laugh. I am not a CD to get stuck!!! And if I make mistakes, I don’t press the replay! I press Play and move on!!!” Later, she issued a much more earnest apology, but by then it was too late. The Greek Olympic committee announced on Wednesday that Papachristou had been ”placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement.”
When asked during an interview with Reuters how she was feeling after being expelled from the games, Papachristou said:
I have not slept at all and to be honest I am still trying to come to terms with what has happened. I am trying to stay calm otherwise I would lose control.
I am thankful to my coach and family and so many other people who have stuck by me…. After so many years of hurt and sacrifices to try and get to my first Olympics I am very bitter and upset. But what has upset me the most is the excessive reaction and speed of the disciplinary decision.
Some feel that Greece overreacted by kicking Papachristou off the team, do you agree? Should Greek officials have considered how long and hard she’s been working to make her way to the Olympics when deciding whether or not to kick her off the team? Should a few tweets undo everything that she’s worked to build all these years?
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She has learned a very valuable lesson, and she learned it young.
If she was intelligent, she would have never said anything so ignorant. She’s old enough to know better, she got exactly what her racist a*s deserves, maybe she’ll work hard and exercise keeping her d**n mouth shut and realize the social media isn’t always your friend, stupid idiot. Maybe she can sit home and watch some Africans get some gold medals haahaahaa!
She is an adult and should understand that you do not say everything you think and that such a public comment would not be well received when the world is watching.
The greece team did the right thing, she deserved to get kicked off, I am tired of whites feeling the can say any ignorant thing that comes to mind about the greatest people on this planet and get away with it.
yes they overreacted when they kicked her off the team. they should have taken their time and “drop kicked” her instead.
Racism is not words. Fact. When will people realize that anger at those who may not like you is well fruitless . Expression one true feelings is a way of letting you know to teach if i dont open my mouth you wont know there is a problem. We must express ourselves. It is communication. I cannot believe the ignorance trying yo lead the world right now. Its mental illness if you are angered by words. Look up definition of racism . Please. A good one. If you keep this lunacy up there will be a backlash. Please don’t fight fire with fire. Anger with anger. Its pathetic.
If she wanted to say something why not say it about the Greek. When you say it about another race just because you feel like it will not fly. Plus the country did not want her representing their country with that attitude. I would not want her representing me either. Keep all of that to your self. We are tired of hearing things like that. Say something nice like I am so happy to be able to meet with people from other countries. This way your hardwork would have paid off. Now mom and dad is upset.
The dumb chick talks as though it was alright for her to spew those hateful, disrespectful and racist comments about another group of people, without any consequences. It was either her Stupidity or Arrogance to think that she should remain with the olympic team—-what she has done is put a dark cloud over her team for creating such a scandal. She needs to go seek support from the Golden Dawn political party she’s afilliated with. She is pathetic representation for the country of Greece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that the right choice was made. And lets think outside the box. I do not care what culture she said that about. The fact is there are more than 200 different countries that compete in the Olympic games. We wouldn’t want that type of bad behavior from anyone. That can start a massive world war! This is the one place every country can go and represent their flags with honor. So again I say they made the best choice. I am so proud of them… Whoo hooo USA 2012.. The open was just amazing. Come on world we GOT to get better.. There is way too many people in this world to be so simple minded..
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The only thing she should be bitter about is opening her big fat mouth!!!! While she is intelligent she has no common sense and she is very arrogant…that’s why she is where she is today and I don’t feel sorry for her!
Public embarassment would have been enough–remember freedom of speech. Now that they have done this, they will be expected to do the same to others who say similar things. Keep in mind this lady never said “black”. Some Africans are white.
Freedom of speech is an American right. I guess the Greeks see it differently. She did represent her country well. Didn’t she say she hits play and not replay? She sounds like she’s stuck on bitter.
What the h**l does color have to do with it? Your comment just shows what a racist you are. Why do you assume that everything offensive is directed towards Blacks? Her a*s should have been kicked off regardless of what race of people she was referring too.
As a young athlete, she has made difficult choices to get her to the Olympics. As a young Golden Dawn advocate, she may have stated in a public forum what their back room jokes have mumbled for years even before her birth. She now knows with whom she has affiliated herself with and how much the mainstream community dislikes their ideals. However, if she chooses to remain with the extreme right and continue her condescending remarks, with the Greek Economy in shambles and the EU looking at Greece with a jaundiced eye, this is only the beginning of her social troubles. I would not hire her, even if she had metaled in these events. Racism is not an Olympic event, Ms. Papachristou!– funny how her name contains “Christ”
@ Harold, most people when they hear of “AFRICAN PEOPLE” first come to mind or those that are of dark hue……stop being so dam naive…………….smh
I agree totally with the decision. It does not matter what country she is from or the country she made racist derogatory remarks about. She was wrong, olympic decision was correct and hopefully she and others will learn a valuable lesson.
May be the DUMB RACIST WINCH, can feed her mosquito’s austerity when she get’s home!
I applaud Greece for not allowing her to stay, she has the nerve to makes a contradictory statement such as this,
“After so many years of hurt and sacrifices to try and get to my first Olympics I am very bitter and upset.”
If her investment was that great, she should’ve put some of that energy into a puny negative mind!
Thank You @Vanessa,
for that weak spin that Harold attempted to “White Wash”
his assessment with, no pun intended!
I’d SAY MORE ignorant VS. NAIVE!
There’s NO ROOM FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH WHEN YOU’RE REPRESENTING Ones COUNTRY!
Otherwise,
create your own flag and represent yourself & no one will say anything!!!
Yes, she should’ve been kicked off the team. They made a wise decision. I just hope I am alive in 1216 to see if she will return. That should be interesting.
someone like harold will NEVER understand what prejudice is like
We’ve all worked hard all these years. Trained ourselves to do a good job, be respectable, teach our children to respect themselves and others. It’s obvious she was never trained to do the same. Greece should be commended for excluding her from the games. There is a certain level of responsiblility and stature that each competetor should manintain as a representative of their country. The OIC has the responsiblity to see these olympic trade marks are kept in place at all times, not only the good of the games, but the spirit in which their held. It’s about world unity and the coming together of what each country deems to be their best. Being allowed to compete against others in the world does not give her the right to be disrespectful or insensitive to another race, color or creed. I feel her attitude and self awarded superiority has no legitimate place in the games. I’m sure many of the comments expressed on this post, won’t set well with her. No a tweet does not allow her to be dismissed from the team, the content of the tweet does. Since she obviously feels she has the right to express herself in this manner, she should have be dismissed. There are many nationalities represented in the games,
( including hers) and every athelete should be mindful and keep their personal opinions to themselves. Nonetheless, she’ll have to do what she does push forward and move on because no one here is going to apologize to her either.
This is pavlovs. Dogs article in action. Wow. She was right.
Brothers and sisters, you have shown by reading the comments how close to the skin your feelings are… What happened to freedom of speech?…I dont like what she said, what she said was not necessary and stupid. But it should not have taken her off the team. I’d rather her compete and have another competitor put her a*s out fair and square. Freedom to speak your mind, even if it is out of place and wrong. Too bad for the young woman. But again look how many people got so d**n mad over a stupid teens words. OK?
She got her just dessert. She’s a dumb girl. She can come back in 2016 and hopefully she’ll have learned some manners and have grown some brain power. She’s probably use to making such comments without any repercussions to bare. Too bad. She screwed it up for herself. Let dumb girl press the play button and move on.
I’m happy that she got dismissed. Every and any one who has hate and negativity to the point it becomes obvious you are racists c**p, should be dismissed, no matter who you are, what office you hold, who your parents are, or what country you’re from. It is truly sickening to continue hearing and seeing such blatant hatred. Some people treat animals and insects with more respect than they do their fellow human beings. They understand that a dog is a dog, whether it’s from China or Australia, Cuba or Brazil, so why is it so hard to understand that a HUMAN BEING is a person just like YOU! Maybe different on the outside, but all the same inside. Just absolutely incredible, that people treat people different than them with such disdain and hate! What God teaches that? What kind of parent teaches that? I love you all, no matter who you are, simply because we are in this together. The same blessings I pray for myself and my family, I do so for you and your family. I truly wish there was a way to make people see and respect what we have in common, instead of letting differences determine how we treat each other. Peace and Love to all…….
If this girl is racist it WAS TAUGHT TO HER. Any r****d knows attacking her for being taught this is, well retarded. I know the political agenda keeps you from being reasonable or sane. Or are you really insane? This is assinine stupidity of the highest order. Proof that the reactionary brain is a primitive reflex. No thought just anger and hate. Pavlovs dogs
I believe in freedom of speech just like all americans do.
this DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO INSULT ANYONE!!!
then yell “freedom of speech” I totally agree with sandy..
if she’s upset about being taken off the team.. she should
be upset with her mother and father who taught her to
be a racist in the first place… all that she heard “at the
dinner table” while growing up was wrong.. now she knows it.
passing the racism with green beans has cost her dearly..
she can thank her family for that.. YOU’RE TAUGHT TO BE
racist.. you’re not born that way..
Weaklings need approval of others. Self reliance is dignity to be above mere words. If one smite thee turn the other cheek. Words therefore are of no consequence.
Why you cry cause someone doesn’t like you? You have no soul or strength. This is pathetic.