Elina Tzengo lived up to the expectations she had «raised» with her performance in Thursday’s (August 18), winning Greece’s fourth gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Munich (2nd: Antigoni Drisbioti, 1st: Miltos Tentoglou) and its fifth overall (including Katerina Stefanidi’s silver).
In tonight’s javelin final, Giorgos Botskariov’s athlete threw the javelin 65.81 meters. on her second attempt, breaking her personal best and «securing» the gold medal in her first-ever appearance at the European Athletics Championships!
Jengo’s determination was evident from her first throw, which measured 60.82 m, and she went on to «nail» her second throw at 65.81 m. The athlete did not attempt her third throw, nor her fifth, while her fourth throw measured 59.40 m and her sixth 64.57 m.
It should be noted that Tzengo became the third Greek woman to be crowned European champion in the javelin throw, following Anna Verouli (1989, Athens) and Mirela Maniani (2002, Munich).
«Here’s to dreams coming true!» This quote from Elina Tzengo sums up all her emotions just moments after she was crowned European champion in the javelin throw. The 20-year-old Greek athlete emphasized in her remarks to the ERT camera:
«I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say. I’m glad the tradition in javelin is continuing. I don’t know what to say. I was really hoping for this in this competition; I’ve been patient all year. I knew I’d throw that far, and I did it.”.
For me, it was a dream to compete alongside Spotakova. I get goosebumps just seeing her—she’s my idol. I grew up watching her on TV, and I used to say that one day I’d compete alongside her. Now that dream is coming true. I’m so happy.
I was really happy with my first shot—it was steady, and I knew it would definitely put me in the top eight. After that, I relaxed and told myself I’d give it my all—and that’s exactly what I did. I was screaming and shouting when I made that 65-point shot. I’d been thinking about it the whole time—I’m so happy.
All the kids on the Greek delegation gave me positive energy. Even at the hotel, they told me they would welcome me with wine and champagne. They believed I would win even more than I did myself—that gave me a huge boost.».
