For the first time in two decades, Greece will be represented by an equestrian in the Olympics as show jumper Ioli Mytileneou secures her spot in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old locked up one of the only two spots available from the third group in the individual hurdles’ competition.
Having first come into the international scene at the 2021 Europeans, Mytileneou slowly worked her way up to this point.
She was born in Greece but moved to Belgium in 2016 when she was 18, to pursue horses as a full-time career.
Equestrians at the Olympics for Greece are far and few between, but one of these past riders to have represented also happens to be Mytileneou’s English-born mother, Hanna, who represented Greece in equestrian show jumping at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
This was the last time Greece participated in the sport, and Ioli will be following in the footsteps of her mother.
In an interview with Horse & Hound magazine last year, Mytileneou talked about growing up in a horse loving family.
“I am probably born into the most equestrian family in Greece,” she said.
“Most kids were on horses, but because Mum was English, she has that mentality of kids having ponies so she bought me a little pony, Maya, whom I’d jump in all the horse classes.”
When talking about leaving for Belgium all those years ago, she said it was “nice, but lonely.”
“Mum brought her horses over too and helped me settle in, but maybe made it harder to make friends as I didn’t feel the need to branch out socially.”
“It didn’t go badly, but not as well as I wanted it to.
“In Greece the sport is small, so in a speed class if you take one stride out, you win. In Belgium, however, every class is so competitive and I thought, ‘What if I can’t do it? I don’t have any other option.'”
Enjoying her education, Ioli actually switched her attention over from horses for a brief period, studying for three weeks at King’s College in London.
However, after attending a competition, she never returned to uni, which she at first thought would upset her businessman father, but he was “easy” with her decision.
Now she would be happier than ever to have made that decision.
She will become the eighth Greek representative ever, but only the third to have qualified -Eleni Drakatou did so in 1996, but did not compete, and Heidi Antikatzidis did in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
As of now, and since Antikatzidis in 2000, only the Mytileneou women have reached the Olympics, with Ioli the first in show jumping.
