Look at the weather first. The humidity that prevailed on the day of the race left no room for risky actions. He had to follow more conservative tactics in order not to run out of energy at some point. She and her coach strategized, initially expecting the pace to be at least five to six seconds slower per kilometer than her pace at the World Championships in Oregon a few weeks earlier, where she finished fourth. Walker Antigone Drysbiotis she was confident in her feet, appreciated her rivals and expected to one day be on the podium. “When you’re at a high level, at some point it’s your turn,” he says.

A matter of patience

Long distance racing, especially when winning major events is at stake, often becomes a game of patience. Athletes must restrain their impetuousness, take their time and not overestimate their strength, no matter how confident they are in their physical condition. If they get carried away early, fresh feet can quickly become hard on pencils. It is also a skill that requires restraint and discipline and is mastered by persistent practice. Thinking in advance how a 35 km race might go European Championship in Munich., Drysbioti expected that not a single athlete would leave the front, everyone would remain in the same group at the start. “As I fear, so do they” says “K”. Her tactic was to stay close to the 32-year-old Spaniard Raquel Gonzalez, whom she singled out as her main rival. By kilometer 24, she made a substitution and continued the race alone, ahead to the finish line, although the original plan was to fight back at kilometer 28 to take as little risk as possible. “She felt good, did not lose her health at all, the experience of an athlete speaks many times,” says her coach Napoleon Kefalopoulos. Drysbioti won the gold medal and her biggest honor came at 38 years old.

Championship

Walker Antigoni Drysbiotis was confident in her feet, measured her rivals and expected to one day be on the podium.

“Few can live to old age and play in the championships. He needs the support of the state, family, friends,” he says. her telephone connection with “K” from Munich. “I may have been physically able to handle it, but in my case, it’s not all dreams.” Her training program includes 600 kilometers per month, about 150-160 per week. It is not much different from that of marathon runners. It includes discontinuous sections as well as long continuous sections that can reach 30 or 40 kilometers. He usually trains not in a stadium, but in a side street of the Karditsa ring road where he lives, or on a one-kilometer-long circular track in a park. Away from Athens, he does not have the daily supervision of a coach or the company of other athletes. However, he tries to compensate for these shortcomings. Usually in long episodes, she will be accompanied by someone, either one of her three sisters on a bicycle, or her husband, or several friends.

He wakes up early in the morning for the first training session, at 12.00 he goes to work as a waitress in the family tsipuradiki “To stacks yew Kyra-Yotas”. At 6:00 pm, she puts her shoes back on whenever she has a double workout and then goes back to family business late into the night. She is a TEFAA graduate and is pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Peloponnese, specializing in organization and management of activities for people with disabilities. Her schedule seems suffocating, with no place to rest.

Demanding Competition

Walking is a responsible event. In addition to the distance, the athlete must have the correct technique in order to perform better and not be disqualified by the judges who closely monitor each race. The sequence of steps must be performed in such a way that there is no visible loss of contact of both feet with the ground. The front leg should be straight, not bent at the knee, from first contact with the ground to a vertical position. “This event requires strength and more flexibility in the joints than a marathon,” says Drysbioti coach Napoleon Kefalopoulos. “Technology becomes second nature, otherwise you will miss the train,” he adds.

The 38-year-old athlete does not constantly focus on technique, after so many grueling kilometers she has learned it, everything happens automatically. “Large distances are a mind game,” he says.

“Patience, high mileage, work like an ant, self-control”

There was a long pause in the sports career of Antigoni Drysbiotis. She abstained from competition and training for almost seven years, until at the age of 27, on the advice of a friend, she decided to take up walking again. Match after match, he improved, one difference after another, and the last two years became the culmination. In 2021, she placed eighth in the 20k at the Tokyo Olympics, then fourth in Oregon this year, and first in Munich in the 35k. After the Olympics, she almost lost her Olympic scholarship due to age restrictions. She responded with a public statement and the Hellenic Olympic Committee changed the provision accordingly. “Walking, like any sport for long distances, requires a special mindset, endurance and great perseverance,” says her trainer. Napoleon Kefalopoulos. “You must persevere even when everything is not in your favor, because, in the end, the time for justification will come. As it happened with Antigone, who at the age of 38 fulfilled her dreams.”

Character elements

The elements of character referred to by her coach are seen in their athletes as well as in other colleagues. “If someone is reactive, nervous, they have tantrums, they can’t handle a marathon or long kilometers,” says Giorgos Zorzos, distance coach at GAS Ilissos, K. “The character of an athlete must be helpful, patient, reserved, capable of withstanding isolation or loneliness. Distances require work, work like an ant.” He recalls that in the past decades, the approach of most long-distance runners in our country was monotonous training mainly in the stadium. Gradually, after receiving performances from abroad, they broke this routine of consecutive rounds of tartan, looking for routes outside the stadium, although they were hard to find in a city like Athens. On Sundays, Zorzos climbs with his athletes to Imitos, one of the most important meeting places for amateur runners along with the National Garden of Athens.

OUR Nikos Polias, a former marathon champion, notes that most people don’t realize the hard work a runner or walker goes through to achieve this distinction. He emphasizes that long distances require dedication and effort, nothing happens automatically and not suddenly from one moment to the next. “What distinguishes some people is that they are not discouraged by a bad result, they perceive it as part of the process and do not perceive it as a failure. This belief is crucial,” he says.

He explains that in long sprints, runners learn to cope with fatigue, to be patient in order to keep up with others on race day. They train to control their powers as well as their emotions. Of course, as he points out, they need to be motivated, to find a goal that will inspire them at a time when their energy reserves are depleted and they need to push a little more to take the last steps.

Concentration

“He wants to focus on the whole process,” says Polias. To an outside observer who may not have melted the soles of his boots for miles, it may seem strange that a person races for so long without a break. It is reasonable to wonder how time passes, how, in addition to physical exertion, a runner or walker controls his thoughts. Polias explains that timing is essentially lost at this point, and compares the athlete to a Formula 1 driver who has to be constantly on the lookout, shifting gears correctly, cornering as best as possible to avoid costly mistakes. “At this point, you are piloting a body that needs to last, get enough fuel, not get off the plane,” he says. “You are in control from start to finish.”

New battles and goals

The gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Munich did not mean the end of competitive duties for Antigoni Drisbiotis. She will likely enter and win another award on Saturday in the 20K, just to see in the days gone by how her body copes with the fatigue of her recent race. To cope with this busy year, he devoted a month and a half to strengthening before starting the main part of his race preparation. Three years ago, he had a problem with his biceps and did not want to risk a possible recurrence of the injury, so strengthening was deemed necessary. But how long will she continue to perform at such a high level, does she set herself an age limit in her sports career? Such as says “K”would also like to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, goals and motives have not run out of this difference.