Despina Zapounidou ( el, Δέσποινα Ζαπουνίδου; born 5 October 1985 in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

. She competed in the 20 kilometres event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She holds two

Greek records Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: 1:37:40.59 hours for the 20,000 m track walk and 12:35.16 minutes for the 3000 m indoor walk. As a junior athlete, she was 12th in the 10,000 m track walk at the

2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Grosseto, Italy on 12–18 July. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1261 athletes from 168 count ...

and fifth in the 10 km road walk at the

2004 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2004 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held on 1 and 2 May 2004 in the streets of Naumburg, Germany. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results was given for the IAAF. Complete results were published. Me ...

. She entered the senior 20 km event at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2008 Race Walking Cup but failed to finish on both occasions. She also failed to finish at the 2005 Universiade and the

2013 European Race Walking Cup The 2013 European Race Walking Cup was held in Dudince, Slovakia, on 19 May 2013. Complete results were published. Detailed report were given. Medal winners were published on the Athletics Weekly website, Medallists Results Men's 20 km ...

Competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapounidou, Despina 1985 births Living people Athletes from Thessaloniki Greek female racewalkers Olympic athletes for Greece Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics