With a big smile she greeted Antigone Drysbiotis double for 35 and 20 kilometers on foot. With today’s victory in the 20 km race, she again won gold in just four days at the European Championships in Munich.

Literally yesterday (19.08) she made a decision… to go all 20 km, and in fact it was she who persevered the most and managed to dispel all the doubts of her coach, Napoleon Kefalopoulos.

Finish of Antigonus Drysbiotis in the pouring rain and celebration with the Greek flag#TeamHellas🇬🇷#ntrsmpioti#GOLD pic.twitter.com/Y3uexrSFmr

— Hellenic Olympic Committee (@HellenicOlympic) August 20, 2022

Thus, the 38-year-old athlete became the first Greek among men and women to win a double in the history of athletics in any event.

Ntrisbioti was in tears of joy and emotion on the podium during the award ceremony.

After the award, the “golden” girl of the day said to the ERT camera: “Incredible! I do not know what to say. I knew that I was all right. I believed in fast racing and asked. I might as well set a national record. I took the lead and went to finish because I knew I could. The girls picked up the pace and fell. I was stable. I took my time, I was patient, I was stable and then I could load because I was rested. I was waiting for them. I love racing in the rain. I knew how my day went. In the sun, everything is more difficult. Today I stole some of the trainer’s instructions. I was ahead and wanted to win. On the second day, I felt good and felt that I could be in the top ten. This was the goal. When I saw that I could be in the top seven, I felt good and rested. When I saw that the girls were getting tired, I gave it my all. I needed the Greeks who came. Both I and my coach had doubts about the descent. I felt good at 60%. I did not think that I would get into the medals. It’s hard to manage. See your emotions and manage them. Then everything else. I didn’t run alone today, I ran after everyone who was next to me and believed in me.”

As for the future, Drisbioti, 38, commented: “We have goals, first the World Cup and then the Olympics. We will achieve this, it is part of our goals.”

Of the Greeks who support her, she said: “It was in my power to run even and win. I thank them.”

🥇 There are no words for the huge Antigone Drysbiotis. Second gold medal at the age of 38 at the European Athletics Championships, this time in the 20 km. generally. thank you for everything @adigoni.drisbioti#TeamHellas🇬🇷#ntrsmpioti#Athletics#Munich2022#European Champion pic.twitter.com/swVdNXckSj

— Hellenic Olympic Committee (@HellenicOlympic) August 20, 2022

“She owes me champagne in Paris,” says her trainer.

“We didn’t expect gold. We thought he would be in the top five. But Antigone believed, and that was enough. Today the whole piece was in her hands, she knew her strengths. Her soul won, not her body. Antigone is a rare athlete. In training, we do combined things. Two hard workouts close to each other in time. Now we have to manage the awareness, which is… the adversary. Antigone won’t run away and is entitled to the beer she likes and I ordered it for her. She owes me champagne in Paris in two years,” Drisbioti coach Napoleon Kefalopoulos told ERT after the award.

“I stayed to watch”

Earlier, speaking to the camera of the German organizers, a few minutes after winning the double, Antigoni Drisbiotis said: “At 35 km I was ahead from the start, and today I preferred to watch and then overtake. I expected that in the top three I would have rivals from Poland (s.s. Katarzyna Zeblo) and Spanish women (s.s. Maria Perez, holder of an annulled European record). I didn’t know if I could do well today because I didn’t have time to rest after the 35km race, but the race went very well.”

And he added: “At 35 km the race was slower. Today I knew that I had very strong opponents, and I stayed to watch. I expected the Pole and the Spaniard to be ahead. I didn’t think I could ride that well, but I felt really good in the race.”

The joy of his fellow athlete

More excited about Drysbiotis’ feat than her own 12th place, Christina Papadopoulou. What did you do again? – the first thing she asked in bewilderment of a fellow athlete.

Subsequently, Papadopoulou stated: “We approached the race very conservatively. I really enjoyed the match. I tried to hunt as best I could. I am very pleased with the 12th place. But when I saw Antigone in the title role, I got an emotional charge. What did Antigone do? When I saw her go to the second gold medal, I had more motivation to try my best in the race.”

According to ERT, APE-MPE