Ioanna Chatzioannou
Bronze medal, September 19, 2000, Ioanna Chatzioannou cat. 63kg. Sydney 2000
Ioanna Chatzioannou believed a few months before Sydney that she would win one of the three medals in the 63kg category. However, an injury to her hip put her in doubt, and it took a tremendous effort by her coach, Christos Iakovou, to convince her that she could achieve this distinction. From the beginning of the competition, in the snatch, it was clear that the first two places were already determined and would belong to Chinese Xsiaomin Chen and Russian Valentina Popova, who went ahead with 15 and 10 kg from the Greek champion, respectively. In fact, the first one set a new world record with 112.5 kg. So, as the situation showed, the athlete remaining for the medal was Saipin Detsaeng from Thailand, who had two and a half kilos advantage in the snatch, but was unstable in the Jerk and heavier than Chatzioannou in the bodyweight. Iacovou was aiming for a draw and all his tactics were focused on Detsaeng’s pressure.
The snatch ended with 97.5kg for Ioanna and the first attempt in the Jerk was successful with 117.5kg. The Thai athlete quickly answered with 120kg and the medal left Greece by five kilos. “Go on stage, lift 125kg and you will get the medal” Iacovou said to her. Ioanna forgot the pain , lifted 125kg and then watched her opponent fail at 125kg and 127.5kg. The bronze medal went to Greece after Ioanna lifted 560 grams less bodyweight. The rankings Chen (China) 242.5 Popova (Russia) 235 Chatziioannou (Greece) 222.5 Detsaeng (Thailand) 222.5 Kim (North Korea) 205 Phillips (Australia) 190 Perez (Spain) 187.5 Koppel (Argentina) 182.5 Tawai (Fiji) 165.
They said..
“My coaches believed in me more than I believed in myself. They lifted me psychologically, forcing me to forget the pain. In my attempt at 125 kg, I felt I could lift it. I had five valid attempts despite my injury, and that’s huge for an athlete. Iakovou told me that with so many problems, God will have mercy and give me something good. I didn’t believe him, but he was right in the end. I saw the Thai athlete’s last attempt on the monitor and went crazy with fear.”
September 19, 2000
