Stefanidis is present at the press conference for the Filothei Women Gala

Along with the “golden” Olympic pole vaulter, Katerina Stefanidis, on the panel of the press conference for the Filothei Women Gala next Wednesday at “Stelios Kyriakidis”, there were also the high hurdles champion, Elisavet Pesiridou, and the high hurdles champion, Tatiana Gusin.

“I’m very happy to be here for another year, the 12th. I’m glad to be healthy. It’s still quite early in the season, since we have the Worlds at the end of August, but maybe the good performances will come early. We are more than three months away from the World Cup and since I am not 20 years old anymore we cannot stay in Top shape for three months. Here is a start and little by little we will ‘build’ for the World Championship”, the 33-year-old star said initially and added that:

“I will come here with two rows of poles and, depending on how I will be and the conditions in the stadium, because we don’t know how the wind will be, we will see which one I will compete with. This time we have time, we are not pressured, so we will not be pressured to perform from now on. So the racing poles will come out organically and, so, I won’t say about any performance because I might be off in the prediction.”

In fact, Stefanidi left open the possibility of taking on a role in the organization of the Filothei Women Gala. “It is something that I have discussed with Yiannis Koutsogiannopoulos, but not for now.”

In turn, the height champion said: “I am very happy to compete in Gala, it is my favorite Greek meeting. The first time I competed here was in 2011, when Mr. Koutsogiannopoulos let me compete with athletes I dreamed of. In other words, we enter the process early on, and I thank him very much for that.

After almost five years, this is the first month I have had no pain at all. I can’t wait to race here, it always has music and people and it’s a perfect combination. If I can do close to 1.90, I’ll be happy.”

Finally, the 100 meter hurdles champion emphasized that: “Every year is like the first time. We are equally eager to compete here. For us, it is not a gala, but a celebration of women that day, a very big celebration.

In our competition the races are always very competitive and I think it is still the beginning of the season for us. I expect that we will see good performances, but also surprises”.

The organizer of the meeting, Yiannis Koutsogiannopoulos, emphasized that: “It is a great honor for us to have Katerina Stefanidis in our ranks, who has been participating in the Filothei Women Gala for many years now, since she is, of course, also an athlete of our club (AO Filotheis) . This year, together with the ‘golden’ Olympic champion, we have other top athletes such as the ‘bronze’ winner at the recent European Championships in Munich, Angelina Topic, as well as the champion of the long jump, Milica Gardasevic”.

The Mayor of Filothei-Psychikou, Dimitris Galanis, emphasized that: “We are happy to welcome the international meeting Filothei Women Gala again this year, we have reached the 24th year in a row. It is a special honor that Katerina Stefanidis is near us, but also all the leading Greek and foreign champions, who come from all parts of the world.

The Municipality is always helpful in the effort, while it is our honor and our special pleasure that a women’s event takes place here and shows a very strong element of female nature. We are waiting for you at the beautiful stadium of Filothei”.

The president of the AO Filotheis association, Apostolos Konstantinidis, said: “I would like to congratulate our organizers for continuing their presence for the 24th time, but also to thank our supporters, the Municipality of Filotheis-Psychikou, SEGAS and AXUM who he stands by us. As in the meeting and the jumping events, so let us all make jumps in all areas of our lives.”