Antigoni Drisbioti (Greek: Αντιγόνη Ντρισμπιώτη; born 21 March 1984[1]) is a Greek race walker, who is widely considered as the best Greek walker of all time.[2][3][4]

Antigoni Drisbioti
Personal information
Born (1984-03-21) 21 March 1984 (age 40)
Karditsa, Greece
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight50 kg (110 lb)
Sport
CountryGreece
SportAthletics
EventRace walking
Coached byBrent Vallance
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Greece
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Budapest 35 km walk
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Munich 20 km walk
Gold medal – first place 2022 Munich 35 km walk
Mediterranean Games
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Mersin 20 km walk

Drisbioti won gold medals in the 20 kilometres walk and 35 km race walk at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, the first golden double for Greece at the event.[5] She also won the bronze medal in the 35 km race walk at the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest.

In addition, Drisbioti finished fourth in the 35 km walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. In addition, she took bronze in the 20 km walk at the 2013 Mediterranean Games. She represented Greece at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Drisbioti is the Greek record holder for the 3000 m walk, 20 km walk and 35 km walk. She won eight national titles.

In Greece, she was named as the Greek Female Athlete of the Year for 2022 and 2023.[6]

Career

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Drisbioti was born in Karditsa (Greece), but her family soon had to move to the town of Atalanti for better working conditions. She lived there until the age of 8 before returning to Karditsa, where she completed high school.

Her family run a small taverna in the center of the town, where, according to her own statements in a television interview, she worked for many years alongside her training. She decided to practice walking as a sport as a freshman in high school and made her international debut at the age of 19 at the 2003 European Race Walking Cup held in Cheboksary, Russia.[7][8][1] But the same year, Drisbioti gave up her sporting career, started studying Sports Science and only began to train and dedicate herself to the sport again in 2011 aged 27.[8] She is married and lives in Karditsa.[9]

Drisbioti celebrated her first major success at age 29 at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin, Turkey, where she won the bronze medal in the 20 km race walk with a time of 1:41:53.[1]

She competed at the Summer Olympics for the first time in 2016 in Rio, finishing 15th in the 20 km walk. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she placed eighth in the event.[1]

At the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, the 38-year-old won the gold medal in the 35 km walk with a championship record of 2:47:00 after finishing fourth at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon the previous month in 2:41:58, a national record. With her second gold medal in Munich in the 20 km walk event in a personal best time of 1:29:03, she became the first Greek athlete to win two gold medals at a European Championships.[10][11]

On 10 July 2024, the Greek Olympic Committee designated her as the flag bearer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, along with the Greek professional basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo.[12]

Statistics

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International competitions

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Representing   Greece
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time
2003 European Race Walking Cup Cheboksary, Russia 16th 10 km walk U20 51:18
2012 Balkan Race Walking Championships Bucharest, Romania 20 km walk DQ
2013 European Race Walking Cup Dudince, Slovakia 26th 20 km walk 1:38:46
Mediterranean Games Mersin, Turkey 3rd 20 km walk 1:41:53
World Championships Moscow, Russia 28th 20 km walk 1:33:42 PB
2014 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 24th 20 km walk 1:35:54
2015 European Race Walking Cup Murcia, Spain 27th 20 km walk 1:35:00
2016 World Race Walking Team Championships Rome, Italy 39th 20 km walk 1:34:11
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 15th 20 km walk 1:32:32
2017 European Race Walking Cup Poděbrady, Czech Republic 20 km walk DNF
World Championships London, United Kingdom 24th 20 km walk 1:32:03
2018 European Championships Berlin, Germany 13th 20 km walk 1.32:16 SB
2019 Balkan Race Walking Championships Alexandroupolis, Greece 20 km walk DNF
European Race Walking Cup Alytus, Lithuania 9th 20 km walk 1:33:22
World Championships Doha, Qatar 22nd 20 km walk 1:38:56
2021 European Race Walking Team Championships Poděbrady, Czech Republic 1st 35 km walk 2:49:55 PB
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 8th 20 km walk 1:31:24 SB
2022 World Race Walking Team Championships Muscat, Oman 6th 20 km walk 1:34:54
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 4th 35 km walk 2:41:58 NR
European Championships Munich, Germany 1st 20 km walk 1:29:03 PB
1st 35 km walk 2:47:00 CR
2023 European Race Walking Team Championships Poděbrady, Czech Republic 1st 20 km walk 1:29:17
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 15th 20 km walk 1:30:19
3rd 35 km walk 2:43:22
2024 European Championships Rome, Italy 16th 20 km walk 1.33:38 SB
Olympic Games Paris, France 22nd 20 km walk 1:31:33 SB

National titles

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Antigoni NTRISMPIOTI – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Η Αντιγόνη Ντρισμπιώτη υποψήφια κορυφαία αθλήτρια για το 2022". ΣΕΓΑΣ – Το Επίσημο Site της Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Στίβου (in Greek). 16 September 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Πρωταθλήτρια Ευρώπης η Αντιγόνη Ντρισμπιώτη στα 35 χλμ βάδην". euronews (in Greek). 16 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  4. ^ Book, The (16 August 2022). "Η χρυσή πρωταθλήτρια Ευρώπης στο βάδην για τη σκληρή προπόνησή της μετά τη δουλειά στην οικογενειακή ταβέρνα – ΤΑ ΝΕΑ". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  5. ^ l, f (24 August 2022). "Ntrismpioti's waiting game yields double gold in Munich". European Athletics. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Bραβεία ΠΣΑΤ 2023: Τεντόγλου και Ντρισμπιώτη οι κορυφαίοι αθλητές για δεύτερη συνεχή χρονιά (PSAT Awards 2023: Tentoglou and Ntrismpioti Named Top Athletes for the Second Consecutive Year)". CNN.gr (in Greek). 21 December 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  7. ^ Roumeliotis, Bill (8 February 2023). "Antigoni Drisbioti: Support from Melbourne Greeks will help me achieve my Olympics dream". The Greek Herald. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b Καλόπλαστου, Μαριλένα (17 August 2022). "Αντιγόνη Ντρισμπιώτη, δεν ξέρω πώς θα τελειώσει η ιστορία της, αλλά δεν θα γράψει πουθενά «τα παράτησε»". gazzetta.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  9. ^ Πάτας, Βαγγέλης (16 August 2022). "Αντιγόνη Ντρισμπιώτη: Το πρωί τσιπουράδικο, τα μεσάνυχτα προπόνηση – Αθλήτρια ορισμός της συνέπειας!". newsbomb.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Greek lightning strikes twice as Ntrismpioti wins double gold in the race walk in Munich". European Athletics. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Τεράστια Ντρισμπιώτη: Χρυσή και στα 20χλμ. βάδην στο ευρωπαϊκό πρωτάθλημα στίβου". in.gr (in Greek). 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  12. ^ "GREECE'S FLAGBEARERS FOR PARIS OLYMPICS ANNOUNCED". Greek Olympic Committee. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
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Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for   Greece
París 2024
With: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Succeeded by
Incumbent