- Greece has expelled a female track athlete from its Olympic team for a post on Twitter mocking African immigrants and for expressing support for a far-right political party.
Greece expels Olympic athlete over racist tweet - CBC SportsGreece has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the country's team at the London Olympics over her comments on Twitter mocking A...- Triple jumper Voula Papachristou posted this on Sunday.
- The tweet translates as:
"With so many Africans in Greece.. At least the West Nile mosquitoes .. will eat homemade food!!!"
The attempted humour was a reference to recent reports of mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus appearing in Athens.
The post was met with a flood of criticism on Twitter. Papachristou's initial reaction was to dismiss it. - "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!!!"
Her tweets received wider attention when they were translated. People began to pressure her sponsors, as well. 
Greek disgrace: olympic athlete @papaxristoutj, apparently supporter of extreme right fascist group, tweets racist "joke" #fail #sendherhome
Olympic games is also about multi-ethnicity and global solidarity. Nazi supporter Greek team member @papaxristoutj has no part in this.
Very good job @SamsungHellas & @Samsung, sponsoring the RACIST athlet @papaxristoutj - Great choice, bravo!... #London2012 #Olympics
Dear @ProcterGamble do you agree with the hate speech of your ambassador @papaxristoutj Are you certain you want to be associated with her?- Papachristou posted an apology to Twitter early Wednesday morning.
- "I apologize if I inadvertently offended people! I have no mingling with politics!!! I am only an athlete!!
She posted another apology a few hours later, in Greek and in English, using the TwitLonger online tool. 
I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal (cont) tl.gd/ih3mcp- "I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.
"My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races.
"I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family." - In earlier posts on her Twitter feed, Papachristou posted a picture of herself with other Greek Olympic athletes.
- She also retweeted posts from Golden Dawn, a far-right wing Greek political party, and its spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris. Kasidiaris received international attention in June when he appeared on a Greek news program with two female left-wing politicians. During a debate, he threw water at one of the women and smacked the other three times across the face.
Greek far-right spokesman slaps politician on live TV - World - CBC NewsGreece's election campaign turned ugly Thursday on live TV: The spokesman of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party, after trading insults o...- She also linked to a video of herself winning gold in triple jump at the European Under-23 Track and Field Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
- Giulio AmeglioVery interesting history. Sport is not out of policy. 2012-07-26T17:04:01.160Z
George OfwonaSay no to RACISTS...2012-07-25T22:55:26.842Z- George OfwonaSay No to RACISTS ...2012-07-25T22:52:21.705Z
