After waiting 19 years for her first major championship medal - a gold in the 35km race walk on Tuesday (16), Antigoni Ntrismpioti made it two titles in the space of five days as she battled her way to a stunning double in the 20km in the Saturday morning rain in the heart of Munich’s Old Town at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships.
The 38-year-old Greek, who fits in her training around waitressing duty at her family’s restaurant, often pounding the streets of Karditsa after midnight, confirmed her belated graduation to world class as she judged her tactics to perfection, as she had in the 35km race.
On three occasions Ntrismpioti had to dig deep into herself after being dropped - slipping back to 12th place at some point in the race - but if her rivals thought her victory on Tuesday completely satisfied her and she were making a decisive toll, unfortunately, they would were to be sadly mistaken.
As the race progressed, Ntrismpioti - who was the only female walker to contest both events in Munich - grew in strength, pulling clear of Poland's double world silver medalist, Katarzyna Zdzieblo, with three kilometers remaining to win and then obtaining the victory by 17 second advantage in 1:29:03, the new personal best.
Having started her international career way back in 2003, placing a lowly 16th in the European U20 Race Walking Cup, the diminutive Ntrismpioti has finally emerged as a big global force - with eighth place in the 20km race at last year’s Olympic Games and fourth place over 35km at the World Championships in Eugene last month - and now as a double European champion.
Four years ago in Berlin, she suffered a painful double loss rather than gain, falling in the rain and breaking two teeth en route to 13th place in the 20km race.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Ntrismpioti. “It was only in the last quarter of the race that I thought I could be in the medals, but not definitely winning.
“Before that, I was just trying to assess the form of the other girls, trying to work out in what place I might finish. I didn’t think this would happen.”
A season this season studded with the new personal best that Ntrismpioti has obtained over different distances to underline the considerable increase in the technical and chronometric level.
The start was on June 23 at the Municipal Stadium in Karpenisi (GRE) when on the 5.000m track she stopped the clock in 21:06.4 manual, third world performance of the season behind Jemima Montag (AUS - 20:17.35) and Maria Perez (ESP - 20:28.14).
The continuation took place a month later (July 22) when in the Autzen Complex in Eugene in Oregon, obtaining 4th place at the 35km World Championships, she stopped the clock in 2:41:58 which among other things is also the national record of Greece. But in January at the Greek championships in Megara she had set a time of 2:47:48 in her first 35km of the season, which last Tuesday she almost replicated in 2:47:00 to win the European title.
The icing on the cake on Saturday (20 August) on the Odeonplatz course with the third personal best, the perhaps unexpected one, after two 35km and one 20km over 29 days, stopping the clock in the 20km in 1:29:03.
Our personal friend, head coach of Greece, Napoleon Kefalopoulos, made the right choices. Well done !
We close with her progressions in the 20km and 35km over the years.
20km
| | Performance | Place | Date |
| 2004 | 1:47:15 | Athina (GRE) | 12 JUN 2004 |
| 2012 | 1:38:04 | Alytus (LTU) | 01 JUN 2012 |
| 2013 | 1:33:42 | Luzhniki Stadion, Moskva (RUS) | 13 AUG 2013 |
| 2014 | 1:35:38 | Megara (GRE) | 23 MAR 2014 |
| 2015 | 1:33:51 | Lugano (SUI) | 15 MAR 2015 |
| 2016 | 1:30:56 | Alytus (LTU) | 10 JUN 2016 |
| 2017 | 1:32:03 | Olympic Stadium, London (GBR) | 13 AUG 2017 |
| 2018 | 1:32:16 | Olympiastadion, Berlin (GER) | 11 AUG 2018 |
| 2019 | 1:33:22 | Alytus (LTU) | 19 MAY 2019 |
| 2020 | 1:30:25 | Ivano-Frankivsk (UKR) | 14 MAR 2020 |
| 2021 | 1:31:24 | Odori Park, Sapporo (JPN) | 06 AUG 2021 |
| 2022 | 1:29:03 | Odeonplatz, München (GER) | 20 AUG 2022 |
35km
| | Performance | Place | Date |
| 2021 | 2:49:55 | Poděbrady (CZE) | 16 MAY 2021 |
| 2022 | 2:41:58 | Autzen Complex, Eugene, OR (USA) | 22 JUL 2022 |