Katerina Stefanidi (

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 ...

: Κατερίνα Στεφανίδη; born 4 February 1990) is a Greek

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

er. She won the gold medal at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

with a jump of 4.85 meters and has also competed at the

2012 London 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 ...

and the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Stefanidi was the 2017 World champion and earned bronze at the 2019 World Championships. Indoors, she is a two-time World Indoor bronze medallist from

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. At the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

, she won two gold medals (

) and two silvers (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, 2022). She also earned two medals at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that ...

and is a four-time

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

winner. Stefanidi has won a total of 11 medals in all five major international athletics championships. She was named the European Women's Athlete of the Year in 2017, and the Greek Female Athlete of the Year in 2017 and 2019. Because of her achievements she is widely regarded as the greatest female athlete in the history of Greek sport.

Personal life

Katerina Stefanidi was born to athletes Georgios Stefanidis and Zoi Vareli, who competed internationally in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

and sprints, respectively. Her younger sister, Georgia, is also a pole vaulter. In 2015, she married Mitchell Krier, her future coach and also a former pole vaulter. She lives in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Career

Junior level: 2005–2010

Stefanidi attended the 1st High School of

Pallini Pallini ( el, Παλλήνη) is a suburban town in Greater Athens Area and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Gerakas. It is the seat of administration of the East Attica regional unit. Geography ...

and won the National High School Championships. She broke the National High School record and the Championship record winning gold at the 2006

Gymnasiade The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, or World School Sport Games, or ISF World School Sport Games is an international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is the largest event among many o ...

. Growing up she broke all of the World age-group records for the ages of 11–14 and right after she turned 15, she broke the World Youth (under-18) record with a jump of 4.37 m. Her first international experience came at the age of 15, when she represented Greece at the 2005 World Youth Championships in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, placing first with 4.30 m. At the 2007 World Youths, held in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

, she was second with 4.25 m. In 2008, she won the bronze medal with 4.25 m at the World Junior Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with mor ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The same year she gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

and began competing for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

. She received her master's degree in

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

with Dr. Gene A. Brewer at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

while training under the guidance of 2000 Olympic Champion

Nick Hysong Nick E. Hysong (born December 9, 1971 in Winslow, Arizona) is an American athlete competing in the men's pole vault. Best known for winning the Olympic gold medal in 2000 with a personal best jump of 5.90 metres, he also won a bronze medal at the ...

. At Stanford, Stefanidi broke the freshman school record with a jump of 4.13 m, under the guidance of coach Kris Mack and head coach

Edrick Floreal Eadric, alternatively spelled Edric or Edrick, is a name of Anglo-Saxon or Jute origin and may refer to: * Eadric of Kent (died c. 686), king of Kent from 685 to 686 * Eadric Streona (died 1017), ealdorman of Mercia under Æthelred II and Cnut * Ea ...

. In 2010, under the guidance of Toby Stevenson, she tied for fifth place (4.30 m) at the NCAA Indoor Championships, was the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

Champion and tied for fourth (4.25 m) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, after breaking the school record multiple times.

2011–2013

In 2011, she was second at the NCAA Indoor Championships with 4.40 m. That same year she defended her

title (4.28 m) and was third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (4.40 m). She placed second at the European Athletics U23 Championships in

and third at

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

Shenzhen, China Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

, after jumping a personal best of 4.45 m to tie the Greek under-23 record. Her senior year, Stefanidi placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships (4.35 m). In the 2012 outdoor season, she was the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

Champion, in Eugene,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, where she broke her own school record with 4.48 m. A month later she became the NCAA Champion in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

(4.45 m). Her season best, 4.51 m, achieved in July 2012 at Livermore,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, is the Greek under-23 record. In 2013, she faced some injury problems, thus not improving her personal best, with a 4.45 m season best.

2014–2015

In the 2014 indoor season, she improved her personal best at 4.55 m. In the 2014 outdoor season, she improved her personal best at 4.57 m and established a new personal best at 4.60 m at the

meeting at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she placed 4th. She competed for the first time at the European Athletics Team Championships 1st league, held in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

, representing Greece and winning with a 4.55 m jump. She managed to improve her PB again at the Diamond league in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

with a jump at 4.65 m, taking the third place. One week before the European Championships she set another PB at 4.71 m, equaling the outdoor Greek national record. At the 2014 European Championships, she had an easy qualification, while in the final she had her first success in major events as a woman by winning the silver medal with 4.60 m, losing the gold medal in the very last jump of the event, made by Anzhelika Sidorova. She later won the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Diamond League meeting with 4.57 m and took the third place at the Diamond league final, held in Zurich with 4.67 m. With these results, she took the second place overall at the Diamond League series, only behind

Fabiana Murer Fabiana de Almeida Murer (born 16 March 1981) is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter eve ...

. During 2014, she jumped 10 times above 4.55 m, while her former PB was at 4.51 m. During the 2015 indoor season, she set a personal best four times (4.56 m, 4.60 m, 4.61 m and 4.77 m, which was temporarily a national record). At the 2015 European Indoor Championships, she won the silver medal with 4.75 m. In April 2015, she was named Female Athlete of the Month by European Athletics.

2016–present

During training season and outside of competitions, she trained at SPIRE Institute and Academy, an

olympic training center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...

i
Geneva, Ohio
In the 2016 indoor season, she set a national record with a huge leap at 4.90 m at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

, which ranks her at fourth place of all time in the event, tied with Demi Payne who cleared the same height at the same meeting. At the World Indoor Championships in Portland, she won the bronze medal with a jump of 4.80 m. In the following months she continuously improved her personal outdoor record (4.73, 4.75 and 4.77 m) and in Filothei she set an outdoor national record of 4.86 m. In July, at the 2016 European Championships in Athletics she won the gold medal with 4.81 m, taking the competition record from Yelena Isinbayeva. At the

she became Olympic champion with a jump of 4.85 m, becoming the seventh Greek female athlete, and fourth in athletics, (after

Voula Patoulidou Paraskevi ("Voula") Patoulidou ( el, Παρασκευή "Βούλα" Πατουλίδου, born 29 March 1965) is a Greek former athlete and politician. Born in Tripotamo (part of Florina prefecture), Patoulidou throughout her athletics career ...

Athanasia Tsoumeleka Athanasia Tsoumeleka ( el, Αθανασία Τσουμελέκα, ; born 2 January 1982 in Preveza, Greece) is a Greek race walker, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Until 2003 Tsoumeleka was a largely unknown athlete, ...

Fani Chalkia Fani Chalkia ( el, Φανή Χαλκιά, , born February 2, 1979), also transliterated as Halkia or Khalkia, is a retired Greek hurdler. Chalkia was born in Larissa, and represented Olympiacos. She won the gold medal in the women's 400m hurdl ...

Sofia Bekatorou Sofia Bekatorou ( el, Σοφία Μπεκατώρου; born 26 December 1977) is a Greek sailing champion. She has participated in over hundreds of main class events including 2004 Summer Olympics sailing competition, where she won the gold me ...

Emilia Tsoulfa Emilia Tsoulfa ( el, Αιμιλία Τσούλφα; born 15 May 1973 in Athens) is a Greek sailor. She has been sailing in Piraeus Sailing Club since she was 12 years old. She participated in over 470 main classes events and won Gold medals in: ...

and Anna Korakaki) to win a gold medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

. In September, she ranked first and won the diamond at the

2016 Diamond League The 2016 Diamond League was the seventh season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The 2016 series saw three changes to the format. One of the two ...

series. During the 2017 indoor season, she became the European champion at the

with a jump of 4.85 m, setting a new height. In the 2017 summer season she set a world lead in the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Golden Gala with 4,85 and attempted for the first time to set a new world record. Two years after a disappointing performance at the 2015 World Championship where she missed the final, Stefanidi won the gold medal at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

in London, where she even broke her own Greek record – and set a new world lead for 2017 – by vaulting 4.91 m. Katerina completed her 2017 outdoor season undefeated (14 wins in a row) and winning the Diamond league final in Brussels. On Saturday 14 October 2017, at the traditional

European Athletic Association The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

gala in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, Lithuania, she was named European Women's Athlete of the Year. In 2018, Stefanidi increased her collection of medals, taking the third place (4.80 m) at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, and the first place (4.85 m) at the European Championships in Berlin. She won the

2018 Diamond League The 2018 Diamond League was the ninth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the second edition to feature the new championship-style syst ...

series (4.87 m) for a third consecutive year and completed the season with a second place (4.85 m) behind Anzhelika Sidorova, representing Europe at the Continental Cup. In 2019, she won the Diamond League series (4.83 m) for a record fourth consecutive year and won the bronze medal at the

2019 World Championships in Athletics The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

. In 2020, as the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

shut down most public sports events, Stefanidi, along with Katie Nageotte and Alysha Newman, took part in an online event conceived by

Renaud Lavillenie Renaud Lavillenie ( or ; born 18 September 1986) is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three Wor ...

and organized by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

called "The Ultimate Garden Clash", during which the competitors had to collect as many vault clearances in two 15-minute periods in their respective isolated practice tracks; Stefanidi won with 34 clearances. She was training at SPIRE Institute and Academy to prepare for the 2020 Olympics. At the 2020 Olympics she took the 4th place, equaling her season's best, with a jump of 4.80 metres.

Honours & results

Record progression

Gallery

File:Κατερίνα Στεφανίδη IMAGE.jpg, E.Stefanidi File:WK3B0159 polsstok dames stefanidi.jpg, Stefanidi, 2019 File:EkateriniStefanidiHeatPoleVaultOGRio2016.jpg, Ekateríni Stefanídi, Rio 2016 File:Katerina stefanidi doha 2019.jpg, Stefanidi, Doha 2019 File:EKI30283 finale polsstok stefanidi (47316521471).jpg, 2019 File:EKI30343 finale polsstok stefanidi (32374604827).jpg, 2019 File:9074 stefanidi (15008972642) (2).jpg, 2014

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanidi, Aikaterini 1990 births Living people Greek female pole vaulters Athletes from Athens Stanford Cardinal women's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Greece Track and field athletes from California World Athletics Championships athletes for Greece Greek European Athletics champions (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for Greece Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic female pole vaulters Greek emigrants to the United States European Athlete of the Year winners Universiade bronze medalists for Greece Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships winners Diamond League winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 20th-century Greek women 21st-century Greek women