Alexi Pappas Will Represent Greece After Gaining Dual Citizenship
Alexi Pappas Will Represent Greece After Gaining Dual Citizenship
Oregon Track Club’s Alexi Pappas will now represent Greece in all international competition, the 25-year-old announced today on GoTrackTownUSA.com.“I don’t
Oregon Track Club’s Alexi Pappas will now represent Greece in all international competition, the 25-year-old announced today on GoTrackTownUSA.com.
“I don’t know exactly what lies ahead, but I do know that this step will open the door for new levels of athletic success and will expand my ability to inspire other runners in the USA, Greece and beyond,” Pappas writes in the post.
The former Dartmouth and Oregon All-American gained dual citizenship back in December, and could don the Greek uniform as soon as next month’s IAAF World Championships in Portland, should she hit the 9:00 qualification standard in the next few weeks.
Her 32:02 10,000m PR from last May will send her to this summer’s Rio Olympic Games, as it’s under the 32:15 IAAF standard. Pappas should be in line to break the 32:18 Greek national record, which has stood since 2002, this upcoming season.
Pappas says the process was set in motion in 2014 when she met IAAF Communications Manager Yannis Nikolaou, who “took the time to discuss with me the amazing opportunity I might have to compete in the Hellenic uniform,” Pappas said.
“Gaining Greek citizenship had always been an option for me, but I was missing the guidance which I now have,” she said in a separate press release.
Pappas’ grandmother emigrated from Greece to the US in 1953, and young Alexi was very involved in her Greek heritage growing up. Upon hearing the news that her granddaughter would represent her native land competitively, Pappas’ grandmother was moved to tears.
“I hope to make all my Greece-based relatives in Rhodes, one of the most famous and beautiful Greek islands, very proud, and I will definitely visit them this summer,” Pappas said in the release.
“I don’t know exactly what lies ahead, but I do know that this step will open the door for new levels of athletic success and will expand my ability to inspire other runners in the USA, Greece and beyond,” Pappas writes in the post.
the greek goddess has arrivedhttps://t.co/OxIEVtEtXp pic.twitter.com/ywOvs6kSP5
— Alexi Pappas (@AlexiPappas) February 26, 2016
The former Dartmouth and Oregon All-American gained dual citizenship back in December, and could don the Greek uniform as soon as next month’s IAAF World Championships in Portland, should she hit the 9:00 qualification standard in the next few weeks.
Her 32:02 10,000m PR from last May will send her to this summer’s Rio Olympic Games, as it’s under the 32:15 IAAF standard. Pappas should be in line to break the 32:18 Greek national record, which has stood since 2002, this upcoming season.
Pappas says the process was set in motion in 2014 when she met IAAF Communications Manager Yannis Nikolaou, who “took the time to discuss with me the amazing opportunity I might have to compete in the Hellenic uniform,” Pappas said.
“Gaining Greek citizenship had always been an option for me, but I was missing the guidance which I now have,” she said in a separate press release.
Pappas’ grandmother emigrated from Greece to the US in 1953, and young Alexi was very involved in her Greek heritage growing up. Upon hearing the news that her granddaughter would represent her native land competitively, Pappas’ grandmother was moved to tears.
“I hope to make all my Greece-based relatives in Rhodes, one of the most famous and beautiful Greek islands, very proud, and I will definitely visit them this summer,” Pappas said in the release.