Less than six months after making history at the European Athletics Championships, Antigoni Ntrismpioti has arrived in Australia for her first competitive race in 2023.
The celebrated racewalker is expected to touch down in Melbourne today (Friday) late at night.
It follows her training camp period in Canberra, during which she had no problem testing her skills, breaking her personal record with a time of 43:51.98 in a 10km training race.
Ntrismpioti made history in August 2022, winning two gold medals in race walking at the European Championships in Munich.
She was crowned champion of the 20km race, just four days after winning first place in the 35km event.
The 38-year-old ‘golden girl’ from Karditsa is the first Greek female athlete to achieve a double title at a single championship.
And she did so with a strategic set of moves.
“The other girls were accelerating and then slowing down. I retained a steady pace, stayed patient and then being rested I could pick up my pace,” she said, describing her strategy in the second 20km, race where she only accelerated around the 17th kilometre, climbing from tenth to first.
Ntrismpioti has been training in Canberra since late December 2022 and will compete in Melbourne at the Chemist Warehouse Australian 20km Race Walk Championships on 12 February.
The track athlete, who has already qualified for the 2023 World Athletic Championships taking place in Budapest in August, will remain in Melbourne till late February.