Famous Athletes from Greece

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Updated June 15, 2019 31.2K views883 items

List of famous athletes from Greece, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Greece has seen some very talented athletes over the years, many of who have gone on to represent their country in the Olympics. These are some of the best Greek athletes of all time, so if you're a native of Greece and are aspiring to compete in sports professionally then these are people you should look up to. If you're searching for a particular popular athlete from Greece then you can use the "search" box to find who you're looking for.

Stylianos Vasileiou and Stavros Tsoukalas are a great starting point for your to rank your favorites on this list

This list answers the questions, "Who are the greatest Greek athletes?" and "Which athletes are from Greece?"

You can click on the names of these legendary athletes of Greece in order to get more information about each one.
Ranked by
  • Loukas Vyntra

    Loukas Vyntra

    Greece national football team
    • Birthplace: Město Albrechtice, Czech Republic
    • Nationality: Czech Republic, Greece, Czechoslovakia
    • Position: Defender
    Loukas Vyntra (Greek: Λουκάς Βύντρα; born 5 February 1981) is a Greek professional footballer who plays in Greek in Super League 1 for Lamia mainly a central defender, he can also play as a right back, left back, or a defensive midfielder.
  • Mirela Maniani
    Mirela Maniani (Greek: Μιρέλα Μανιάνι, [miˈrela maˈɲani];, 21 December 1976) is a retired Greek track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Prior to 1997, she represented Albania.
  • Dimitrios Papadopoulos
    • Birthplace: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
    • Nationality: Greece
    • Position: Forward
    Dimitrios Papadopoulos (Greek: Δημήτριος Παπαδόπουλος) or Dimitris Papadopoulos (Δημήτρης Παπαδόπουλος) can refer to: Demetrios I of Constantinople (Demetrios Papadopoulos, 1914-1991), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1972-1991 Dimitris Papadopoulos (basketball) (born 1966), Greek basketball player Dimitris Papadopoulos (born 1981), Greek football player Dimitrios Papadopoulos (general) (1889–1893), Greek Army general Dimitris Papadopoulos (basketball coach)
  • Peja Stojaković

    Peja Stojaković

    Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings
    • Birthplace: Slavonska Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
    • Nationality: Serbian
    • Position: Small forward
    Predrag Stojaković (born June 9, 1977), known by his nickname Peja, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant general manager and director of player personnel and development of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 10 (2.08 m), Stojaković played mostly at the small forward position. He won the NBA Three-Point Contest two times, and was the first European-born player to win one of the All-Star Weekend competitions. Stojaković made 1,760 three-point field goals in his career which ranked 10th all-time at the point of his retirement. Stojaković currently ranks 23rd in this category.
  • Eleni Daniilidou
    Eleni Daniilidou (Greek: Ελένη Δανιηλίδου; [eleˈni ðaniˈiliðu]; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered as one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. In 2003, she reached the mixed-doubles final of the Australian Open, making her the first Greek player to have reached a Grand Slam final. Her highest singles ranking is world No. 14, making her the only female tennis player from Greece to have reached the top 20. No male tennis player had achieved this until Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the 15th place on August 13, 2018. By beating Justine Henin in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first player to defeat a reigning French Open champion in the first round of Wimbledon.
  • Hrysopiyí Devetzí
    Hrysopiyi "Piyi" Devetzi (Greek: Χρυσοπηγή Δεβετζή, [xrisopiˈʝi ðeveˈdzi], born January 2, 1976) is a retired Greek athlete who competed in the triple jump and long jump. Devetzi was born in Alexandroupoli. She won the triple jump silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics with 15.25 and the triple jump bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics with 15.23. At the 2004 Summer Olympics semifinal she set a Greek record of 15.32 metres. This performance ranked her in the fourth place of all time triple jumpers, after the world record holder, Inessa Kravets, her greatest rival Tatyana Lebedeva and the twice-olympic gold medalist Françoise Mbango Etone. She won another silver medal at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, losing the gold at the last jump by Tatyana Lebedeva. The same story was repeated at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, in which "Piyi" lost the 1st place at the sixth jump by Yargelis Savigne. Devetzi was known for often jumping longer in qualification rounds than in finals, as at the 2004 Olympics, and also for her lack of gold so far at major championships, despite being one of the world's leading female triple jumpers.