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On 5th. August 1992, Patoulidou was celebrating for having qualified for
the
final in the 100 m hurdles by improving her personal best from 12.96
(set in the qualifying round) to 12.88 seconds in the semi-finals. This
success
made her the first Greek woman ever to reach a track final at an Olympic Games.
However, the following day one of the biggest upsets in the history of the
Olympic Games was to take place. The clear favourite of the 100 m
hurdles final, Gail Devers of the United States, made a mistake and
tripped on the last hurdle. Patoulidou took advantage and lunged her
body forward for the finishing line.
Having crossed the line in 12.64
seconds (a Greek national record), Patoulidou
immediately threw her hands in the air celebrating what she thought was a
silver medal. When she watched the replay of the race on the stadium's
big screen she realised that she had won the race, Patoulidou signaled that she was number one (as pictured above).
In her first
interview to the Greek journalists minutes after the race, Patoulidou
dedicated her medal to her home country by saying “For Greece, dammit!”,
a catchphrase that is still in use.
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