Prevolaraki at Mega Sports: « I’ll continue next year … »

The leading Greek athlete of the wrestling, Maria Prevolarakis, spoke to Panagiotis Perperidis and the Municipality of Bouloukos about her recent success in the European Championship, her life and her career and the future.

« That’s why I have been struggling for so many years to hear the national anthem. For so many years in European leagues I had not been able to find myself on the first step of the podium, I was constantly coming second or third and the fact that I succeeded now and after a difficult Olympic year, I was able to overcome these difficulties and find my first step. The whole route that we athletes follow is very difficult, so when we get in the first place and listen to the national anthem, we bend because we think about what we have gone through and finally succeed. « 

« These failures persuade you and make you say that next time I will succeed. And I managed because I was freer. I didn’t have an end in the distinction, I was meant to go and enjoy it. I praised freely and finally got better. « 

« I have a long run in sports and championships, but I miss the Olympic medal and I have it repulsed. I think I haven’t found the psychological part in the Olympics, because every time I lose athletes I have won in European or World Championships. I have not yet found this psychology, because it is the races that have been done every four years while the European and the world are repeated every year, so we athletes magnify it and have it as something very much in our minds and this is something that annoys us above. « 

« The truth is I see it as a distant goal. I will continue the championship while still my soul wants it and once the soul wants it, the body can follow. After the Olympics last year I had a lot of thoughts on my mind if I wanted to stop or continue. I didn’t want to leave with my head bowed because last year it was a disappointing year for me, so I wanted to continue this year to see what I would do in the European. I will definitely continue next year and then see. « 

« The regulations are complex for a simple person to understand them and this keeps the popularity of the sport. The World Wrestling Federation is trying to simplify the regulations to be more understandable and I hope they become easier for ordinary people. « 

« I’m not 53 all year, I go up to 57 and two months before the races I start my diet again to get down to 53 again. This loss is a big stress and it is characteristic that our coaches tell us that they are the first opponent these pounds. »

« I am stubborn, as I have proven for so many years now, I have perseverance and patience and work hard. »

« My father was a former athlete of the fight and then referee and turned me and my brother in this sport. What kept me in the fight, however, is my first coach, Panagiotis Arkoudas, coach of Olympic Stelios Mygiakis and Petros Galaktopoulos. He was above all a teacher and then a coach. He approached us very beautifully, especially I was a girl and there were only boys in the club and we learned things about life, not just about the struggle. « 

« The struggle is a magical sport with origins from ancient Greece. It is no coincidence that the ancients used it to educate young people. It is a sport that practices all the abilities, because an athlete must have power, speed, flexibility, agility, ingenuity. The most important thing is that the whole body is training but also exercises the mind. In a fight, people may think that the strongest throw down their opponent, but it is not, because the struggle is a technical sport and need a ingenuity to understand when to make the right moves. « 

« Even now I’m fighting with boys. The female struggle in Greece is not at a high level, so in order to become more competitive, I have to train with boys. « 

« I’m with a man who fully understands what I do. She looks to protect me and help me on this piece. On the other hand it is difficult, because the problems and disagreements of training and the race are transferred home and these two should not be linked but you cannot leave them out. We have found the balance and understand that we must stop the discussion and continue it in the gym. ‘

« My goal is to finish my postgraduate studies in Sport Management. In the race, we have not yet decided whether to take part in the world next September or stay out to rest. The European Championships and the Mediterranean Games of next year are confident. «