Karolina Pelendritou

Started: She began swimming at age eight in Limassol, Cyprus. (Athlete, 12 Jul 2015) Reason: She enjoyed a number of sports when she was younger, and always watched the Olympic Games. She was encouraged to take up swimming by doctors in London, England. "When I began having problems with my eyesight, I travelled to many countries abroad with my parents for medical examinations to find an answer to what exactly was happening to me. In London, I had a spinal tap and the doctors said swimming would relieve a little of the pain. My parents and I found a pool in London, and I told my parents that when we returned to Cyprus, I wanted to keep swimming." (greekreporter.com, 01 Sep 2021; goal.philenews.com, 17 Jun 2019; contra.gr, 05 Jun 2019; Athlete, 12 Jul 2015) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (karolinapelendritou.com, 02 Mar 2024) Milestones: She became the first athlete representing Cyprus to win a medal in any sport at the Paralympic Games when she claimed gold in the SB13 100m breaststroke at the 2004 Games in Athens. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 Aug 2019) Awards: She was flag bearer for Cyprus at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2024, as well as at the 2016 European Championships in Funchal, Portugal. (medias.paris2024.org, 28 Aug 2024; paralympic.org, 02 Sep 2021, 26 Apr 2016, 29 Aug 2012, 01 Sep 2008; myinfo.rio2016.com, 06 Sep 2016) In 2023 the Hercules Award Top Para-Athletes was renamed the Hercules Award 'Karolina Pelendritou' Top Para-Athletes. The award, presented by the Cyprus Sports Writers Association [EAK], has been given annually to Para athletes in Cyprus since 2007. She won the award on 13 occasions between 2007 and 2022. (Instagram profile, 14 Jan 2023; alphanews.live, 05 Jan 2023) In 2022 she received the Excellence Award from the Cyprus Sports Writers Association [EAK]. (Instagram profile, 11 Mar 2022) She was joint winner of the Outstanding Female Elite Para Athlete award at the 2007 Commonwealth Sports Awards. (sgcs.org.uk, 14 Oct 2009) In 2005 the Cyprus government created a postage stamp in her honour. (NOC, 01 Sep 2012) Additional Info: RETIREMENT PLANS She intends to retire from Para swimming after competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. "I had said in 2016, at the Rio Paralympics, that I would stop. It was logical, because I had not been doing well and I had been very disappointed. The reason I continued then was because I didn't want my career to end so ignominiously. In my next preparation I fought twice as hard, with the aim of not feeling the same frustration and disappointment again. I was justified. Tokyo [the 2020 Paralympic Games] was one of my best moments and I said, 'Hey, let's experience it one more time! Paris will be my last races. I declare it!'. In 2004, when I won my first gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Athens, there was not even a faint thought that in 2024 I would be present at my sixth Paralympic Games. It is particularly important for this year that I remain healthy and without injuries." (karolinapelendritou.com, 05 Jan 2024; kathimerini.gr, 04 Jul 2022) OTHER ACTIVITIES In February 2024 she was selected as one of the eight inaugural members of the Athletes' Council of the European Paralympic Committee [EPC] following a nomination by the Cyprus National Paralympic Committee. "My selection by the European Paralympic Committee is on the one hand a great honour for me but also for our country. But on the other hand, it is also a recognition of my efforts and contribution all these years, both on the playing fields and - mainly - in the Paralympic Movement and in the fight that I have been fighting since 2002 for the issues of the rights of the disabled, equal treatment, accessibility and inclusion." She has also served as an ambassador for the European Commission's Youth on the Move programme, which helped young people to work and study abroad. (Facebook page, 15 Mar 2024; karolinapelendritou.com, 16 Feb 2024; parikiaki.com, 31 Jul 2023; ec.europa.eu, 16 Jan 2015)

Sporting Relatives: Her husband Dimitris Chatzigeorgiou has worked as a presenter on the ERT television channel in Greece. (fthis.gr, 21 Sep 2018)