Milena Kontou
Bronze Medal, August 2, 2024, Rowing, Lightweight Double Sculls. Paris 2024
Shortly after Antonis Papakonstantinou and Petros Gaidatzis won the bronze medal in the men’s lightweight double sculls, Zoe Fitsiou and Milena Kontou also claimed bronze in the women’s event of the same discipline. In their first participation in the Olympic Games, they earned Greece’s fourth medal in Paris and the sixth Olympic medal in Greek rowing history.
Zoe Fitsiou and Milena Kontou initially battled with the New Zealand crew, moving from 4th to 3rd place, which they successfully achieved. They were also close to securing the silver medal, but in the final meters, Romania’s Gianina Elena van Groningen and Ionela Livia Cozmiuc withstood the pressure from the Greek crew, finishing second with a time of 6:48.78. Zoe Fitsiou and Milena Kontou finished third with a time of 6:49.28.
They said..
“It was an incredible race. We were in great physical and mental shape, and we were very well-prepared for this race; we knew exactly what we were aiming to achieve. The first 1,000 meters don’t always matter as much because, as we’ve seen many times in rowing, it’s the second 1,000 meters that really counts. That’s where you see who has done the most training and who has the strongest will because that’s when fatigue sets in. We had the willpower, we had the strength, and we pushed ourselves beyond our limits, and that’s how we managed to bring home this medal.”
August 2, 2024
