GYMNASTS from Greece

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Greek Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous Greek Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ioannis Mitropoulos (1874 - 2000)

With an HPI of 51.76, Ioannis Mitropoulos is the most famous Greek Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Ioannis Mitropoulos (Greek: Ιωάννης Μητρόπουλος; 1874 – after 1896) was a Greek gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Mitropoulos competed in both the individual and team events of the parallel bars, and the individual rings event. In the rings event, he gave Greece its first gold medal in gymnastics. He did not win a medal in the individual parallel bars event, though his ranking is unknown. In the team event, Mitropoulos was a member of the Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos team that placed third of the three teams in the event, giving him a bronze medal.

2. Petros Persakis (1879 - 1952)

With an HPI of 50.02, Petros Persakis is the 2nd most famous Greek Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Petros Persakis (Greek: Πέτρος Περσάκης; born 1879 in Athens) was a Greek gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Persakis competed in the individual rings and team parallel bars events. He placed third in the rings event. In the team parallel bars, Persakis was a member of the Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos team that placed second of the three teams in the event, giving him a silver medal.

3. Thomas Xenakis (1875 - 1942)

With an HPI of 49.27, Thomas Xenakis is the 3rd most famous Greek Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Thomas Xenakis (Greek: Θωμάς Ξενάκης; March 30, 1875 – July 7, 1942) was a Greek gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was born in Naxos and died in Orange, California, United States. Xenakis competed in the rope climbing event. He and countryman Nikolaos Andriakopoulos were the only two out of the five entrants to climb all the way to the top of the 14 metre rope. Xenakis' time is unknown, though it was slower than 23.4 seconds, which was Andriakopoulos's winning time. He won his second silver medal as a member of the Greek gymnastics team in the parallel bars event.

4. Dimosthenis Tampakos (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 32.94, Dimosthenis Tampakos is the 4th most famous Greek Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Dimosthenis Tampakos (Greek: Δημοσθένης Ταμπάκος, born 12 November 1976 in Thessaloniki) is a Greek gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. He won gold in the men's rings at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a score of 9.862. He had also won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In 2003 he tied for first place with Yordan Yovchev at the World Championships. He also won twice the gold medal at the European Championships in 2000 (Bremen) and in 2004 (Ljubljana).

5. Eleftherios Petrounias (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 32.33, Eleftherios Petrounias is the 5th most famous Greek Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Eleftherios "Lefteris" Petrounias (Greek: Ελευθέριος "Λευτέρης" Πετρούνιας, IPA: [elefˈθeri.oz lefˈteris peˈtruɲas]; born 30 November 1990) is a Greek artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World champion (2015, 2017, 2018) and a nine-time (2011, 2015–18, 2021–24) European medalist on the still rings (seven gold and two bronze). He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.