Antigoni Drisbioti (; born 21 March 1984) is a Greek race walker, who is widely considered as the best Greek walker of all time.
Drisbioti won gold medals in the 20 kilometres walk and 35 km race walk at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, the first golden double for Greece at the event. She also won the bronze medal in the 35 km race walk at the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest. In 2026, at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Drisbioti finished fourth in the women's marathon race walk in a personal-best time of 3:22:16.
In addition, Drisbioti finished fourth in the 35 km walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. In addition, she took bronze in the 20 km walk at the 2013 Mediterranean Games. She represented Greece at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In Greece, she was named as the Greek Female Athlete of the Year for 2022 and 2023. Drisbioti is the current Greek record holder for the 3000 m walk, 20 km walk and 35 km walk, while she has won eight national titles.
Early life and career Drisbioti was born in Karditsa (Greece), but her family soon had to move to the town of Atalanti for better working conditions. She lived there until the age of 8 before returning to Karditsa, where she completed high school.
Her family run a small taverna in the center of the town, where, according to her own statements in a television interview, she worked for many years during her training. She decided to take up walking as a sport as a freshman in high school and made her international debut at the age of 19 at the 2003 European Race Walking Cup held in Cheboksary, Russia. But the same year, Drisbioti gave up her sporting career, started studying Sports Science and only began to train and dedicate herself to the sport again in 2011 aged 27.
Drisbioti celebrated her first major success at age 29 at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin, Turkey, where she won the bronze medal in the 20 km race walk with a time of 1:41:53.
She competed at the Summer Olympics for the first time in 2016 in Rio, finishing 15th in the 20 km walk. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she placed eighth in the event.
At the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, the 38-year-old won the gold medal in the 35 km walk with a championship record of 2:47:00 after finishing fourth at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon the previous month in 2:41:58, a national record. With her second gold medal in Munich in the 20 km walk event in a personal best time of 1:29:03, she became the first Greek athlete to win two gold medals at a European Championships.
On 10 July 2024, the Greek Olympic Committee designated her as the flag bearer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, along with the Greek professional basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Personal life She is married and lives in Karditsa.
Honours - Statistics International competitions 2003European Race Walking CupCheboksary, Russia16th10 km walk U2051:182012Balkan Race Walking ChampionshipsBucharest, Romania–20 km walk2013European Race Walking CupDudince, Slovakia26th20 km walk1:38:46Mediterranean GamesMersin, Turkey3rd20 km walk1:41:53World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia28th20 km walk1:33:42 2014European ChampionshipsZürich, Switzerland24th20 km walk1:35:542015European Race Walking CupMurcia, Spain27th20 km walk1:35:002016World Race Walking Team ChampionshipsRome, Italy39th20 km walk1:34:11Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil15th20 km walk1:32:322017European Race Walking CupPoděbrady, Czech Republic–20 km walkDNFWorld ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom24th 20 km walk1:32:032018European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany13th20 km walk1.32:16 2019Balkan Race Walking ChampionshipsAlexandroupolis, Greece–20 km walkDNFEuropean Race Walking CupAlytus, Lithuania9th20 km walk1:33:22World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar22nd20 km walk1:38:562021European Race Walking Team ChampionshipsPoděbrady, Czech Republic1st35 km walk2:49:55 Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan8th20 km walk1:31:24 2022World Race Walking Team ChampionshipsMuscat, Oman6th20 km walk1:34:54World ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States4th35 km walk2:41:58 European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany1st20 km walk1:29:03 1st35 km walk2:47:00 CR2023European Race Walking Team ChampionshipsPoděbrady, Czech Republic1st20 km walk1:29:17World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary15th20 km walk1:30:193rd35 km walk2:43:222024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy16th20 km walk1.33:38 Olympic GamesParis, France22nd20 km walk1:31:33 SB2025World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan16th20 km walk1:29:492026European ChampionshipsBirmingham, UK4thMarathon race walk3:22:16 NR
National titles Greek Athletics Championships 20 kilometres race walk (3): 2018, 2020, 2023 35 kilometres race walk (2): 2021, 2022 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships 3000 metres race walk (3): 2020, 2021, 2023
References
External links
Antigoni Drisbioti at All-Athletics http://sportsfeed.gr/panellinio-kleistou-me-no1-fetos-ston-kosmo/