Palestine represented by Sakorafa

The desire was still there. So were flashes of her world record form.

Just the old distance was gone.

No matter. Sofia Sakorafa got in her javelin throws and will be going to the Olympics. This time, however, the 47-year-old Greek mother will be wearing the colors of the Palestinians and the cause she has adopted.

“Sport is a political movement,” said Sakorafa, explaining her decision to return to the javelin runway after 17 years. “It isn’t a mere social event … Sport stands for ideas and ideals that, perhaps, other movements don’t have the strength or ability to convey.”

Nationality has become an increasingly flexible standard in international competitions.

Olympic organizers in Athens have hunted for world-class athletes with even a sliver of Greek. Qatar raised its sports profile by putting up cash for top athletes willing to compete for the tiny Gulf nation.

In May, the International Olympic Committee gave permission for nationality changes for Sakorafa and 15 others.

Her case, though, stands out.

Sakorafa had her Olympic moment in Moscow in 1980. Then she set a women’s world mark at the 1982 European championships with 243 feet, 5 inches and held the record for nine months. She remains a sports hero in Greece.

Her midlife return is all about trying to grab a bit more of the Olympic stage for the five-member Palestinian team, which should get a lavish welcome by the strongly pro-Palestinian Greeks.

During a visit in May to the West Bank, Sakorafa said competing under the Palestinian flag would be her “life dream.”

“My goal is to compete for the Palestinians and for peace. That’s all. And that’s what I want to convey to the world, not the competitive aspect,” she said. “Sakorafa can no longer throw a javelin as she did before.”

That was evident May 24 at a small meet in Hania on the island of Crete — the same field where she set the world mark 22 years ago. Her record toss then was so unexpected that officials did not have a scale to weigh the javelin as required to confirm the result. They finally found one at a nearby maternity ward.

This time, Sakorafa — in her first appearance representing the Palestinians — came in fourth with 154 feet, 11 inches. That’s not even in the neighborhood of the current women’s record of 234-8, using the new style javelin with its center of gravity moved forward to shorten the flight distance.

“I’m sure everyone realizes a 47-year-old woman who hasn’t competed for 17 years doesn’t have any ambitions of setting records or winning medals,” she said. “But I want to be a worthy competitor. I’m not just going to throw without trying. I will just do my best.”

Such simple aspirations could have a strong appeal in Athens with the stain of doping spreading through athletics. Sakorafa knows it well. In her time, the secretive East Bloc athletic programs were suspected of rampant abuse of performance-boosting drugs. But it was everywhere, she claimed.

“It existed then as it does today,” she said. “Athletes have always been predisposed to try to steal — if you will — victory, records and benefits. Doping exists. That’s a fact. We have to fight it in some way.”

Her idea: Ban lucrative sponsorship and other financial rewards in major sports.

“Look, if someone said they’d offer $5 billion to jump off the fifth floor, don’t you think many people would do it without considering the consequences?” she explained. “That’s what’s happening in sports. The athlete never thinks about the consequences of doping. It’s all about the money.”