Sofia Sakorafa

Sofia Sakorafa (, born 29 April 1957 in Trikala, Greece) is a Greek-Palestinian politician and former javelin thrower. She was a Member of the European Parliament for Greece as member of the political party MeRA25, having formerly sat for Syriza and before that served, from June 2012 to July 2014, as a Syriza Member of the Hellenic Parliament. She served as a deputy speaker in the Hellenic Parliament for the MeRA25 party. She is the president of Association hellénique d'athlétisme amateur (SEGAS).

Education

Sakorafa graduated in physical education from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Athletics

She started competing in athletics as a member of Trikala Gymnastic Club. She competed in the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics.

She won the bronze medal at the 1982 European Championships in Athens. In 1983, after winning the Balkan Games, she had achieved the third performance of the year with a throw of 72.28 m, but eventually had to withdraw from the World Championships in Helsinki, due to injury.

She was named the Greek Female Athlete of the Year for 1981 and co-Athlete of the Year with javelin thrower Anna Verouli for 1982.

Competition record

2004 Olympics

Sakorafa stirred controversy in 2004 when she became a Palestinian citizen and applied a few months before the Olympic Games for a berth on the Palestinian Olympic team at the age of 47. She made her debut representing Palestine in Chania, Crete, on 28 June 2004 - her performance was 47.23 metres. Despite the fact that her gesture to participate as a Palestinian was symbolic, the IAAF ruled her ineligible for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Professional career

Sakorafa worked in as a secondary teacher of physical education before working as a freelance. From 1994 to 1996, she served as an adviser to the sports minister and as Chairman of the Commission for Sport and Woman.

On 28 September 2015, Sakorafa left Syriza to sit as an Independent within the GUE/NGL grouping.

In December 2018 Sofia Sakorafa joined the Greek party MeRA25. On 26 May 2019, she lost reelection as a member of the European Parliament as member of MeRA25.