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Greece Voula Papachristou lands in the sand after her jump at the Womens Triple Jump final at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki Finland in this file photo dated Friday
June 29, 2012. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the team taking part in the upcoming London Olympic Games over comments she made on twitter making fun of African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party. "The track and field athlete Paraskevi (Voula) Papachristou is placed outside the Olympic Team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement," a statement by the Hellenic Olympic Committee says.
Papachristou, 23, was removed from the Greek Olympic team on Wednesday after causing uproar with the tweet about the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens. She wrote "With so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat homemade food." She subsequently deleted the message. Golden Dawn, which took advantage of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in Greece to surprisingly win seats in the country's parliament, objected to her being removed. "The only racism in Greece is the racism against the Greeks," Golden Dawn said on its website. "Anybody who says even a word against illegal immigrants is held up to public ridicule. "It would be more honest to pass a law condemning everybody who has different views to death by stoning." Several other smaller parties and politicians also criticised the Olympic team's decision, saying it was excessive.
June 29, 2012. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the team taking part in the upcoming London Olympic Games over comments she made on twitter making fun of African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party. "The track and field athlete Paraskevi (Voula) Papachristou is placed outside the Olympic Team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement," a statement by the Hellenic Olympic Committee says.
Papachristou, 23, was removed from the Greek Olympic team on Wednesday after causing uproar with the tweet about the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens. She wrote "With so many Africans in Greece, at least the mosquitoes of West Nile will eat homemade food." She subsequently deleted the message. Golden Dawn, which took advantage of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in Greece to surprisingly win seats in the country's parliament, objected to her being removed. "The only racism in Greece is the racism against the Greeks," Golden Dawn said on its website. "Anybody who says even a word against illegal immigrants is held up to public ridicule. "It would be more honest to pass a law condemning everybody who has different views to death by stoning." Several other smaller parties and politicians also criticised the Olympic team's decision, saying it was excessive.