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Athletics: Hrysopiyi Devetzi speaks with HellenicAthletes.com
By Chris Galakoutis
| Saturday, January 6 2007 7:43:41 AM |
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Hrysopiyi Devetzi is Greece’s premier triple jumper and one of the shining stars of Greek athletics. The 31-year-old athlete broke through in a big way onto the world stage at Athens 2004, where she won a silver medal in front of a roaring home town crowd.
Since that time Ms. Devetzi (see Bio) has amassed an impressive collection in her trophy case, and last month was chosen Greece's premier woman athlete of the year by Greek press for a second year in a row.
Yet as she tells us below, one particular piece of hardware has, to date, been quite elusive.
Ms. Devetzi spoke to us about that and other issues, and also talked about her goals for the next couple of years. Those goals might be helped along in a very big way by a very motivating piece of jewelry; one that might very well help propel her to reach new heights.
Q&A
1- Where did you grow up and did you pick up athletics as a young child?
HD- I grew up in Alexandroupoli up in the north of Greece. I started at the age of 4 with gymnastics.
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I got my first medal when I was 8. At the age of 13 I picked up athletics.
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2- Did you always favor the jumps, or did you also attempt other events earlier in your career?
HD- I started with 600m then 200m hurdles then Pentathlon and finally long jump and triple jump.
3- What club do you compete for?
HD- I compete for Olympiakos, great club that does care for its athletes.
4- 2004 was an incredible year for Greece, with the Olympics in Athens. When that moment arrived, how did you feel as you prepared for your first triple-jump?
HD- Yes, it was really great that summer; I was so excited almost ecstatic I’d dare say. The feeling you get hearing 70000 people cheering and clapping for you is simply indescribable; I felt like I was on the top of the world!
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| 5- You set your PB of 15.32 m in the Athens preliminary round, and then went on to win silver with a jump of 15.25 m. Did the crowd play a role for you that day or had you completely tuned everything out?
HD- As I said, the crowd was wonderful and they really gave me power to jump so well and I have to thank all of them for that.
6- Tell us a little about your off-season preparations, and will you be competing indoors this winter?
HD- I got plenty of rest, I just started my preparation for the next season and I want to be ready for Osaka the World Championship; that means that I will not compete indoors this year.
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