The main photo above shows Fani Halkia, the 2004 Olympic champion,
during the heats of the women's 400m Hurdles at the 2006
European Championships in Gothenburg. She comfortably qualified
for the final and went on to win the silver medal in a time
of 54.02 behind Russia's Yevgeniya Isakova (far left of picture).
.
| |
|
Women's 400m. Hurdles Final.
European Athletics Championships 2006
|
| 1. Yevgeniya ISAKOVA |
|
RUS |
|
53.93 |
| 2. Fani HALKIA |
|
GRE |
|
54.02 |
| 3. Tetyana TERESCHUK-ANTIPOVA |
|
UKR |
|
54.55 |
| 4. Claudia MARX |
|
GER |
|
54.99 |
| 5. Natalya VANOVA |
|
RUS |
|
55.04 |
| 6. Anna JESIEN |
|
POL |
|
55.16 |
| 7. Tasha DANVERS-SMITH |
|
GBR |
|
55.56 |
| 8. Anastasiya RABCHENYUK |
|
UKR |
|
55.74 |
| |
Photos 25th. August 2004. © George Herringshaw.
The pictures above show Fani Halkia on her way to Gold in the final of the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The victory was all the more memorable for Fani as it came in front of her home fans. In the semi-final on the
22nd August Halkia had set a new Olympic record of 52.77, eclipsing the previous best of 52.82 set by
Jamaica's Deon Hemmings at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
| |
|
Womens 400m. Hurdles Final.
Olympic Games 2004.
|
| 1. Fani Halkia |
|
GRE |
|
52.82 |
| 2. Ionela Tirlea-Manolache |
|
ROM |
|
53.38 |
| 3. Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova |
|
UKR |
|
53.44 |
| 4. Sheena Johnson |
|
USA |
|
53.83 |
| 5. Jana Pittman |
|
AUS |
|
53.92 |
| 6. Yekaterina Bikert |
|
RUS |
|
54.18 |
| 7. Brenda Taylor |
|
USA |
|
54.97 |
| 8. Yuliya Pechenkina |
|
RUS |
|
55.79 |
| |
On August 16, 2008, during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing it was announced that she
tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone Chalkia denied she has taken
any banned substance, and asked for her 'B' sample to be tested, which also tested positive
the next day.
On December 12, 2008, the IAAF announced that she would be banned from the sport for two years.
ANNUAL PROGRESS.
2008 57.24 Kalamáta 04 JUN
2007 55.66 Osaka 27 AUG
2006 53.71 Athína 03 JUL
2004 52.77 Athína 22 AUG
2003 56.40 Thessaloníki 03 AUG
1998 62.50 Annecy 28 JUL
1997 59.17 Athína 28 JUN