"I have not slept at all and to be honest I haven't come to terms with what has happened," Voula Papachristou said in an interview with Reuters, a day after her expulsion off the Greek Olympic team for a racist comment on Twitter.

The 23 year-old champion stressed how resentful and upset she was by the punishment and called it excessive reactions. "I try to stay calm, otherwise I will lose control. I praise my coach and my family who stood by me". "After so many years of sacrifice to get to my first Olympics it has left me bitter and I am very confused. What has bothered me the most is the over-reactions and the speed with which the disciplinary decision was taken."

"I don't know if they are making an example of me through my own profile. But I believe they used their maximum disciplinary power over me. They went straight to the last stage, excluding me from a promising group", said the Greek athlete.

When asked to comment on the claim that her posts connected her to the "Golden Dawn" political party, she straight forwardly denied this, saying "I have never interfered in politics. As I noted in my apology, this was a bad joke that was shared by many and I did not consider that my repost would cause a problem."

"I never wanted to challenge, question or offend anyone, and this is not the way I think and function", she continued, prior to the outburst of the conditions experienced by athletes in Greece: "We have no support from the state. There are many people who do not know how it is, such as unacceptable conditions under which we have to train. For example, we have no heating, we don't even have hot water to shower in the winter and do not have air conditioning in the summer, and are stuck in poor training facilities, with deteriorating equipment."

Finally, the Greek champion sent greetings and well wishes to the Greek delegation and said: "The only thing I know is that I'm struggling in the most positive way and this is illustrated by the record of my career so far. I think I have a good, kind and strong character. I will get over all this and will give proof in my future performances. I have only this to say, "I wish the best to all my fellow Greek athletes, I hope everyone can give their best and show that the Greek spirit has no limits."