The 39th Athens Marathon ‘The Authentic’ took place on Saturday (Greece time) and ended with several outstanding moments at the finish line.
Overall, more than 15,000 athletes from around the world participated but Greece managed to reclaim the sceptre this year.
The fastest Greek woman, that won the race is 26-year-old Konstantinoupoulou. She finished 1st among females and 44th overall in the 2022 Athens Authentic Marathon with a 2 hour 46 minute and 1 second time.
Konstantinopoulou of APK Neapolis has also gone down in history as one of the top twenty athletes in the history of the Athens Marathon course.
Interestingly, this is the 26-year-old’s second Marathon run and what makes her story even more remarkable is that two years ago, straight after the birth of her first child, she was diagnosed with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. MTC, has affected her body’s C-cells causing her a multitude of related health issues and severe energy depletion.
“Initially, when I got the diagnosis, I felt like my feet were cut off, but I looked into my child’s eyes and thought to myself: You’re fighting this and you’re winning,” Konstantinopoulou said.
The fastest man for 2022 is Charalampos Pitsolis, who finished the race at 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 44 seconds.
Pitsolis broke both his own record and his fellow Greek predecessor’s, Konstantinos Gkelaouzos who came second this year in 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 45 seconds.
Gkelaouzos has been Greece’s national champion and national indoor champion three times.
Greek Australian Anastasia Marinakou returned to Greece to set a personal best record in the 10,000 km OPAP Marathon and reclaim her potential.
Marinakou finished the race in 33 minutes and 38 seconds even though she was competing against the odds having suffered an injury.
“The people gave me wings. Finishing in this stadium is a unique moment. To be honest, I didn’t expect to score this performance as I had an injury over the past few days. But during the race I realised that I was in very good condition. I’m very happy,” Marinakou said.
Finally, 91-year-old Stelios Prassas became the oldest athlete to finish the 39th Authentic Athens Marathon.
Even though he was the last runner at the finish line at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens he walked towards the cut-off line with his children and grandchildren sending a message to everyone watching.
“Sport gives joy, life and health,” he said as he broke yet another record.
