Chalkia was born near the city of
Larissa on 2 February 1979.
2004 Olympics At the
2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens Chalkia participated in the
women's 400 m hurdles. During the semifinals she set a new Olympic record in the event, which was the sixth fastest time ever. In the final she finished in 52.82 seconds, winning the gold medal more than half a second ahead of second-placed
Ionela Târlea and bronze medallist
Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova.
2008 Olympics On 16 August 2008, during the
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing it was announced that she had tested positive for the
banned substance methyltrienolone. Chalkia denied she had taken any banned substance, and asked for her 'B' sample to be tested, which also tested positive the next day. On 26 November 2008, the
Greek Athletics Federation announced that she would serve a two year ban from the sport effective from August when Chalkia was expelled from the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Doping conviction In 2015, a Greek court convicted Chalkia of intentional doping and handed her a seven month jail sentence, suspended pending an appeal; this appeal was successful as on 19 February 2016, Chalkia was unanimously acquitted by the Athens Court of Appeal of all charges for the intentional use of banned substances. The court ruled that the former champion had fallen victim to a circuit of adulterated drugs, and also acquitted her trainer Giorgos Panagiotopoulos, who was facing charges of intentionally supplying banned substances. ==Personal bests==