Sofia Sakorafa ( el, Σοφία Σακοράφα, born 29 April 1957 in
Trikala
Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
, Greece) is a Greek-Palestinian politician and former
javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...
er. She was a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Commu ...
for
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 wit ...
as member of the political party
MeRA25, having formerly sat for
Syriza
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
and before that served, from June 2012 to July 2014, as a Syriza Member of the
Hellenic Parliament. She now serves as a deputy speaker in the
Hellenic Parliament for the
MeRA25 party.
She is the president of
Association hellénique d'athlétisme amateur
The Hellenic Athletics Federation (Greek: ; abbreviated SEGAS) is Greece's governing body for amateur sport.
SEGAS was created in 1897 and has been the principal organiser of many international sporting competitions held in Greece. The associatio ...
(SEGAS).
Education
Sakorafa graduated in physical education from the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
.
Athletics
She started competing in athletics at age fifteen as a member of Trikala Gymnastic Club. In total, Sakorafa – often pushed by her antagonism with
Anna Verouli
Anna Verouli ( el, Άννα Βερούλη, born November 13, 1956) is a retired Greek javelin thrower. She was born in Kavala.
She won the gold medal at the 1982 European Athletics Championships, and a bronze medal at the 1983 World Champion ...
– broke the Greek record for the javelin seventeen times. She competed in the 1976 and
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
.
She won the bronze medal at the
1982 European Championships in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
. A few days later, on 26 September 1982, at the Greek national championships in
Chania
Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion.
The mun ...
, Sakorafa broke the
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...
with a throw of 74.20 metres. That mark stood as a Greek record until the new javelin was introduced in 1999.
In 1983, after winning the Balkan Games, she had achieved the third performance of the year with a throw of
72.28 m, but eventually had to withdraw from the World Championships in Helsinki, due to injury.
Competition record
2004 Olympics
Sakorafa stirred controversy in 2004 when she became a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
citizen and applied a few months before the Olympic Games for a berth on the
Palestinian Olympic team at the age of 47. She made her debut representing Palestine in Chania, Crete, on 28 June 2004 - her performance was 47.23 metres. Despite the fact that her gesture to participate as a Palestinian was symbolic, the
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...
ruled her ineligible for the
2004 Summer Olympics.
Professional career
Sakorafa worked in as a secondary teacher of physical education before working as a freelance. From 1994 to 1996, she served as an adviser to the sports minister and as Chairman of the Commission for Sport and Woman.
Political career
She has served on the City Councils of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
, from 1994 to 1998, and
Maroussi, from 1998 to 2006. She was elected as a member of the
Hellenic Parliament under the banner of
PASOK
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
three times (in the elections of 2000, 2007 and 2009).
She failed to win a seat in parliament following the 2004 elections.
On 6 May 2010 she refused to vote in favour of the austerity measures and the loan agreement between the Greek government and the IMF/EU. As a result, she was expelled from PASOK and served as an independent member of the parliament until 2012.
She participated in the 2012 legislative elections as a member of
Syriza
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
and was elected in
Athens B. In the
Shadow Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, she had responsibility for the interior.
She resigned from the Hellenic Parliament in May 2014 in order to contest the European Parliament election.
In the 2014 European Parliament elections, she was elected as a
Member of European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
for Greece, representing Syriza. She is a member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the
Committee on Petitions The Committee on Petitions (PETI) is a permanent committee of the European Parliament to offer a petition process including a web portal to create and admit petitions. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Dolors Montserrat, member of the ...
and is a substitute for the
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Since 16 October 2014, she has been the chair of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America, having previously been a member. She is therefore also a member of the
Conference of Delegation Chairs.
On 28 September 2015, Sakorafa left Syriza and currently sits as an Independent within the
GUE/NGL grouping.
She resigned from Syriza over disagreements with the leadership over the introduction of further austerity measures in Greece. She said: "It's clear that I cannot support any government nor any policies that involve measures that harm the people."
In December 2018 Sofia Sakorafa joined the Greek party
MeRA25. On 26 May 2019, she narrowly lost reelection as a member of the European Parliament as member of
MeRA25.
References
External links
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*http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-4190090_ITM
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakorafa, Sofia
1957 births
Living people
Wikipedia articles licensed under the GNU Free Document License
Greek sportsperson-politicians
Greek female javelin throwers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Trikala
Olympic athletes of Greece
People from Trikala
Greek MPs 2007–2009
Greek MPs 2009–2012
Greek MPs 2012 (May)
European Athletics Championships medalists
Syriza MEPs
MEPs for Greece 2014–2019
21st-century women MEPs for Greece
Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece
Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece
Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Mediterranean Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Mediterranean Games
Greek MPs 2019–2023
Naturalized citizens of the State of Palestine