OR Antigone Drisbiotis He has learned to work with pressure. Try constantly for the best, but also to enjoy chasing the top. The impasses, many times in her career, gave her the solution. A solution that would be a wall for others and the reason to abandon the effort.
This year had quite a few dead ends for Greek. So much that even to the end participation in the top event seemed difficult. However, the solution for the Greek woman was somewhere there. To the opportunity he had to grab to go below. And so he did. After dozens of treatments in Greece And abroad, during the endless hours in pools and special rehabilitation chambers managed to reach the sixth world of her career.
Several years since her first participation in World Championship – In the distant 2013 – and having won medals in between and recorded well, Drisbiotis returned to Tokyo In the city where it all started in 2021.
Since last Wednesday he is in the Halves for the final stage of her training and the Saturday 13 September It will take a starting position at 35km. walk. The athlete has the qualification at 20km. Walk, however, will decide along the way if he will fight
Sixth, how do you remember your first world in 2013?
“2013 was my first world. It was the first time in my life at such a level. I hadn’t gone to small categories. I was 28 years old and very excited, as a young child. Too happy. I hadn’t dreamed of it nor was it in my plans to go to a worldwide and to be such a level athlete. The race was excellent. All I wanted was to end. I still didn’t know if I would do it again. I remember Moscow, it was a great experience. Nice team, big. The team hugged me and made me feel a member. Even today I have been keeping friendships since then. This is the most important. “
-What event do you remember more vigorously after her?
“Each event has its own memory. In 2017 in London I had experienced in between European and the Olympics. I had been tied more with the team and I was more competitive. I never thought I could get higher. Even with 20th place I was satisfied. “
-When did you stop satisfying a 20th place?
“When I started working more, after the 2020 Olympics. The quarantine forced me to devote completely to training, as I was very active and I had to do something. At the same time I changed a coach and worked more disciplined. At the Tokyo Olympics I realized that in order to succeed you have to work more. “
-Is it easier to find motivation in 20 or 30?
“At 20 you can get talent, passion and competition, and a little work. I had the maturity and said, “What do I need to do to succeed?” In the past I didn’t think I could achieve so much. And I still haven’t believed how important I have succeeded. At 30 it takes conscious work and maturity. I found the motivation later and the experience helped me a lot. “
-How do you see your great success today?
“I still don’t believe it. I live the moments, but I see them from the outside and I say, “Am I there?” It is incredible and maturity helps me appreciate them more. I worked for all this very hard and as time goes on, all this work doesn’t seem so hard to me, even though I’m exhausted physically and mentally. When I come home I say, “This day is over, let’s go to the next.” I see it step by step, day by day. The successes didn’t change me, maybe they made me more closed, to clarify which people to give and to whom not. I was taught a lot of things, they marked me. “
-Do you have someone you really remember as a teammate or a roommate?
“I have been living together with many athletes. In general I am calm and I do not bother in the room, so many teammates wanted to stay with me and that gave me joy. I can’t stand out and I like that we were all together and we can talk. Although I wasn’t a good athlete, the good athletes hugged me. This is happening now. All the kids are the same. “
-Do you feel a bit like a “mother of the group”?
“Yes, because of age and character. I like to take care of and protect others. This is how younger kids see me. In 2017, Emmanuel was still a minor and wanted to come with us to the closing party that would take place for London. The national coach told him that if an adult accompanied him, he would go. Then he came and asked me to make his mom and take him together. And I did it, and since then we have created a nice relationship and I remember the incident as a nice memory. “
-What advice would you give young people who make their first participation?
“To enjoy it. The result may not come immediately, but they have time ahead of them. To live the experience, because as the years go by, the margins are narrowing. Enjoy it, enjoy and give themselves the best result. They may not succeed, they are small and new and can do it again. They narrow the margins as you go up and the door is ready to open to leave. However, even though I am at this door and not at the beginning in the end, I am very happy, I am happy every moment I am in such an event.
I have no stress anymore, as I used to say, “How will I endure and how will it come out?” Maybe this has made me feel more secure, because in the races we get to know each other with other athletes. We are girlfriends, and not just the group. You have probably demobilized the rest of the athletes. I respect and love them. I know maybe I will be in their competitor and be able to be straight. To fight straight, nothing is unlikely. We’ve seen it before, we’ve said it before, everything is in the game. So I’m no longer worried. “
-One you mentioned this door, what thoughts are you doing?
“I think every day where I open it, I close it there. I am happy every time. I go step by step and see. The body follows my mind. “
-How did you deal with your female injuries?
“Well, I left November to prepare in Colombia, to avoid some personal issues. I did it so I could solve them. The problems drive me away and I want to go away. Doing it does not mean that I do not solve them, I just take the time I need. So I always did, from a young child. I try to give my mind and soul somewhere else than to absorb me what concerns me. My preparation started very nicely, only to have the problem for a year and a half. I felt a pain in the biceps and the buttock. From there I leave, in January I go to Australia, I enter my group normally. Workout is going very well. I have begun to recover my psychology and my confidence that I am a competitor to my group again and that I can fight for the high. When the first race came to Australia I had some pains, I wasn’t ready yet.
From there I went to Adelaide to the National Championship, on the 12th kilometer I felt a strong sting on the biceps and stopped so I could do the races in China and Japan. I went back to my base and changed training only with durability and not at speeds. From there I left for China with the belief that I would not fight so I could hold on to the 35km in Japan. In China my coach told me that I wouldn’t come in, but I came in to do the training I had that day. I suddenly felt that I was competitive. I had resting and I was in excellent condition. I didn’t believe in my watch. I was in pain at the 19th kilometer. I didn’t abandon it there.
I stayed in Japan for 14 days. The training was going very well until, in a day with uphill, I got a stroke again. After some treatments I managed to get into the 35km race after the 18th kilometer the pains began. I managed to hold on until the 26th. I couldn’t continue as much as I wanted this fight. I tried for 500 m to continue, but it was not possible. It didn’t make sense what I did, I just wanted so much so as not to give up. I returned to Greece and lost four weeks of training.
I then tried to catch the walk Cup with the aim of the 35 km walking threshold. That was the goal we set with my coach, Brent Valaz. With the training I had I could qualify. Five days before the race I woke up with severe pain on my sides and thought I had cooling. The tests eventually showed bone edema in the spine and so I lost the European Wood Cup. It was a phase of great frustration. Started a month with successive treatments. In 27 days I started training. I had 25 days ahead of me for the only race I had the opportunity to make the limit. And I did. I was so passionate about doing this fight that I went to Dublin, followed my pace, kept a tempo and succeeded. On August 2, I left Switzerland for 25 days. On the 13th of the month I came back with the same pain. The bone had come back. However I am here today with some little pain. “
-Is it all about this with your participation in the event?
“I appreciate every moment. I am here and I am pleased to be again in a big final. I definitely have my goals and I know where I can be with the preparation I have done. But because I don’t know how I will be in the race and if I will hurt again with so many problems, I can’t hope for very tall things. To have the belief. However, I do not leave, I do not give. I came here to fight and I will. I have learned to grab life from the hair and not wait. I like to be squeezed and not having any other choice. It immediately gives me the answer. The impasses also give me the solution. I am afraid when there is no deadlock. When you tell me “you have no choice” is my best. So I’ll get in and do my best. ”
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
