Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece takes the 20km Walk gold medal (© Getty Images)
Having a baby doesn’t seem to have harmed Paula Radcliffe’s quest for Olympic glory – and another new mother also eyes the ultimate prize.
Although in the case of Athanasia Tsoumeleka, the Greek walker already has a gold medal after conquering the Athens heat four years ago, unlike the British star who literally fell by the wayside in the women’s Marathon.
Little has been heard of Tsoumeleka since her surprise Olympic 20k Race Walk gold medal.
It was even a surprise to the then 22-year-old, who only thought first place was a possibility after finding herself at the front with 3k to go.
But now she wants a second bite of the cherry after giving birth to a daughter in November, 2006.
She and husband-coach Nikos Dimitriadis begin the build-up for Beijing with a foray into the IAAF Race Walking Challenge starting with Rio Maior on 5 April.
Tsoumeleka has also logged entries for the Sesto San Giovanni Challenge, the World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, and La Coruna in June.
She is currently training in South Africa and reports she’s in far better shape than any of her 2007 efforts, the best of which was a 1:33:58 in the sixth race in Krakow, nearly four minutes outside her Olympic winning time.
She also had a dabble in the World Championships in Osaka last August, but maternal distractions restricted her training base, and she called it a day at 16k while holding on to 11th.
She said: “It is true that I have gotten used to the idea of being a mother. The presence of a baby in my life is such an intense thing, that I could not get used to it particularly fast.”
But Tsoumeleka obviously believes lightning can strike twice, and her intense current training has led her to believe she’s going to make it hard for others to take away her Olympic title.
She said: “If everything works well, I will be ready for something good by then. I believe in myself. But I don’t forget that it’s not the easiest thing in the world to be for a second time Olympic champion.”
Papayianni has her own medal ambitions
The walker who followed Tsoumeleka into the Athens stadium on that hot August morning albeit a minute later, is, however, one of those intent on putting a different Greek on top of the podium.
And Athina Papayianni, from the same small town as her gold-winning team-mate, deserves something if only for sheer willpower following a torrid winter.
Hospitalised for four days after contracting pneumonia in November, Papayianni is now intent on playing catch-up before making a belated debut in the Challenge Series at La Coruna.
But the 27-year-old is determined to make up for her mother’s disappointment back in Athens.
Hearing that a Greek walker was leading the Olympic 20km, Evangelia Papayianni believed it to be her daughter, only to see Tsoumeleka striding on to a hero’s reception.
After changing her coach, Papayianni is like Tsoumeleka, getting back to her best.
She said: “I’m now doing more speed work, at least one more session a week than previously. But I will still have to race sparingly for the time being in order to be at my best for Beijing.”
“La Coruna is always a good race, and that will give me a good idea of how well my training has gone.”
Papayianni’s eventual goal is a medal of ‘some sort or another’.
She believes quitting before she has a tangible reward for 10 years of dedication would be a disappointment – and not just to her mother.
She added: “I was sixth in the World Championships in 2005. So I knew then there were possibilities.”
If all goes well in the Challenge for the two Greeks, it might mean a nation that had never won a walking medal of any sort until four years ago could have not one, but reasons to light up the Parthenon later this year.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF
