Anna Polatou took up rhythmic gymnastics in 1988 and was on the Greek national team from 1997-2000. As a member of the so-called “Greek Golden Team”, Polatou won the group event bronze at the 2000 Olympics, golds in group (5 clubs) event and group (3 ribbons and 2 hoops) event and silver in group all-around event at the 1999 World Championships and golds in all three group events (all-around, 5 clubs, and 3 ribbons and 2 hoops) at the 1999 European Championships. Polatou retired from competition in 2001 and later worked as a rhythmic gymnastics coach, but died rather young in May 2014, when she lost control of her car on a slippery road and collided with a farm truck on the 45th kilometer of highway Pyrgos-Patras near Varda. Polatou died instantly at the scene.
Greece