Athens, Greece

Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou has been kicked out of the Olympic team for mocking African immigrants on her Twitter account.

In a statement, the Hellenic Olympic Committee said it placed Papachristou "outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic Movement."

Papachristou was preparing for her first Olympic stint when she tweeted in Greek "with so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!"

Her tweet, referring to the reported influx of West Nile mosquitoes in Athens, became an immediate hot topic issue and many Greeks called for her dismissal from the Olympic team.

She also retweeted messages from the extreme right Golden Dawn party, which has criticized Greek's prime minister and his stance on immigration.

Papachristou later apologized for her action, saying she didn't mean to insult anyone and her joke was "unfortunate and tasteless."

"I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights," Papachristou said.

"My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races," she added.

Papachristou also apologized to fellow athletes, the national team, her coach and family who may have been insulted by her actions.

The Democratic Left, a party in Greece's coalition government was the first to call for Papachristou's expulsion, stressing that she definitely "cannot represent the country in London because of her miserable jokes".

The incident has prompted the British Olympic Association to remind team leaders of its 542-member Olympic squad the importance of being respectful and tasteful in social media sites.

Just days before the Olympics Games begins and a Greek triple jumper is pulled from the national team for posting a racist tweet

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