Fani Chalkia

Fani Chalkia

Personal information
Native name	Φανή Χαλκιά
Born	(1979-02-02) 2 February 1979 Larissa, Greece
Sport
Country	Greece
Sport	Athletics
Event	400 metres hurdles
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1st
Personal best	52.77 sec
Medal record Olympic Games Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 400 m hurdles European Championships Silver medal – second place 2006 Gothenburg 400 m hurdles

Fani Chalkia (Greek: Φανή Χαλκιά, [faˈni xalˈca], born 2 February 1979), also transliterated as Halkia or Khalkia, is a retired Greek hurdler. She won an Olympic gold medal in the women's 400 m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Chalkia was born near the city of Larissa on 2 February 1979.

2004 Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Chalkia participated in the women's 400 m hurdles. During the semifinals she set a new Olympic record in the event, which was the sixth fastest time ever. In the final she finished in 52.82 seconds, winning the gold medal more than half a second ahead of second-placed Ionela Târlea and bronze medallist Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova.

2008 Olympics

On 16 August 2008, during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing it was announced that she had 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 26 November 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.

Doping conviction

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 19 February 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

Date	Event	Venue	Performance
22 August 2004	400 meters hurdles	Athens, Greece	52.77 s (OR)
12 September 2004	400 meters	Berlin, Germany	50.56 s (NR)
6 March 2004	400 meters (indoor)	Budapest, Hungary	51.68 s (NR)
24 June 2007	200 meters	Munich, Germany	23.30 s

External links

• Fani Chalkia at World Athletics
• Fani Chalkia at Olympedia
• Fani Chalkia at Olympics.com
• Fani Chalkia at the Hellenic Olympic Committee