Charalambos Picolis finished first at the 39th Authentic. Marathon from Athens, and the first place in the women’s category was taken by Vasiliki Konstantinopoulou.

Third last year was GAS O Ilissos Pitsolis, who triumphed with a stunning counter-attack in the final kilometers, cutting the tape in 2:23.44. The great winner of the Panhellenic Championship, in the greatest moment of his career, declared after the finish: “I dedicate the victory to my son, who will be born in a few weeks.” He added: “I really don’t believe what happened. I was shocked to enter Kallimarmaro first. I was constantly told that I was being demoted from the first place, but I did not understand what was happening. I cried three times in my life. One in 2019 when I finished third in Kallimarmaro, then when I found out my wife was pregnant and now when I won the marathon.”

Picolis stood at the finish line and waited for Konstantinos Gelauzos (PAO). The great form of the marathon in our country in recent years, the winner of last year with a race record of 2:16.49, the champion of Greece four times in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021), an athlete outstanding without borders, he finished in 2:24.45 and Pitsolis rushed to embrace him.

“When I passed Gelauso, I couldn’t believe it. How do we do it? He is the best Greek marathon runner,” said the great winner, who also hugged the third Konstantinos Stamoulis (GAS Agriniou, 2:25.37), who noted that “I am new to the marathon. The temperature really bothered me. It was hot. I didn’t thank him for the match. From one moment my only goal was to finish.”

For his part, Gelauzos stressed: “The weather made our task very difficult, it’s true. I competed in Berlin (breaking the record) and didn’t have as much time to rest as I should have. But I’m happy because I did my best. I would like to congratulate Charalambos on his victory. Eventually, I ran out of strength.”

The first woman to enter the Panathinaikos Stadium was Vasiliki Konstantinopoulou of AKP Naples. The Greek runner enjoyed warm applause from the crowd as she cut the ribbon for the first time in her career and won the Athens Marathon. 26-year-old Antonisa Stoikou, who became panhellenic marathon champion for the first time, finished in 2:46:01. With this performance, she managed to improve her personal best, which was 2:51:32.

Katerina Asimakopoulou (AO Mykonos) finished second and will again be on the podium of the Athens Authentic Marathon. The experienced runner finished in 2:50.25. Urania Rebouli of AGES Kamiros 2009 returned to the competition and climbed to the podium after winning the women’s bronze medal in a time of 2:50:42.

Vasiliki Konstantinopoulou, the winner, said: “I was very happy, I couldn’t believe it. I kept looking back and saying that I can’t be the first. I looked left and right and said that it couldn’t be, something had happened. The truth is that I planned to go faster, but I saw the heat and decided to go conservatively. It worked out well. I said after the 40th kilometer that I don’t care, I just want to finish. I was in pain, cramps. But as soon as I saw the descent, I gained strength, and the world gave me strength. It was a great feeling when I walked in and people also clapped and cheered for them. That was incredible. This is my second time participating in the Athens Marathon. Last year I was third in the Panhellenic Championship.”

Katerina Asimakopulu said: “Second place is haunting me! I was sincerely delighted to see that Vasiliki finished first. She is truly admirable. Congratulations to all girls. As for me, the heat got to me, I had to stop after about 10 km, I got stomach pains, I was able and came back, and at 26 km it got to me again and I stopped again, but I kept going. For me, it was an episodic fight. People helped me a lot. I want to thank Petrutsos for helping me along the way.”

For her part, Rania Rebouli stressed: “This is something unprecedented. I got used to it and I am very glad, because I wanted to be in the medals and I did it. This is a good start to my return. I dedicate the medal to my little daughter Anezina, my parents and everyone who supported me and believed that I would turn around and run again. My marathon started in Kallimarmaro in 2014 and again in Kallimarmaro in 2022. I want to succeed, I want to be the Rania that I was four years ago. Also, it has been five years since I participated in the Panhellenic Championship, the last time I won was in 2017. Along the way, people helped and made us feel like we belonged, even if some people didn’t know us. The moment when I approached and entered the stadium was very emotional. The crowd was large, cheering and helping all the runners. I wish everyone a good finish, because the weather conditions were not easy. They were heavy, I am personally dehydrated, I felt like I had given over 100% of my strength and I am happy and continue to be in good health.”

^{Source: RES-IPE}