Greek lawyer unwittingly qualified for Rio 2016 marathon

Most athletes train day and night for their entire lives to reach the pinnacle of amateur sport: the Olympic Games.

But not many fall into it almost entirely by mistake. That's precisely what happened to Greek lawyer, and marathon runner, Michalis Kalomiris.

In May of this year, the 30-year-old attorney was perusing a website that listed every Greek track and field athlete who would be representing the nation in Brazil. It was there that he stumbled upon his own name.

Kalomiris, who works for an Athens legal firm and trains before and after work in a nearby suburb, qualified for Rio 2016 by running a 2:29.30 at the 2015 Rome Marathon.

Though his time was 10 minutes too slow for automatic qualification - regulations stipulate you must clock in at (or under) two hours and 19 minutes to reach the games - a technicality granted him a ticket to Brazil.

The International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) says athletes can still qualify for the Olympics if they record a top-10 finish at a Gold Label race. Kalomiris finished 8th in Rome, which is just such an event.

"I would like to think that this story makes everyone involved in running believe more in themselves and keep up the effort," Kalomiris told Greek publication Ekathimerini.

The Rio marathon, slated for Aug. 21, will see Kalomiris joined by just one compatriot, Christoforos Merousis; the women's marathon will include three Greek runners.

He doesn't expect to reach the podium - the fastest qualifier for the race, Kenyan star Eliud Kipchoge, is coming off a 2:03:05 finish in April's London Marathon. That was the second-fastest time in history.

For Kalomiris, though, it's "the dream of participation" that matters.