How many Greek sports fans were aware of the existence of shooting champion Emmanuela Katzouraki? After all, few people know that shooting is an Olympic sport, perhaps because in the country we have in mind not the sport as such but the underworld…
Even fewer believed that Emmanuela was on the fateful Tempe train and was saved by luck because she was in the last carriages. Even if they learned it then, they soon forgot it. And yet, this girl who climbed her own calvary fighting the nightmares caused by the tragic accident with 57 dead managed to reach, just a year and a half after the inferno of Tempe, the 5th place of the Olympic Games in Paris in the skit final women’s and indeed in her first appearance at the world’s leading sports event. Really, how many people can achieve the impossible?
Psychological shock
Emmanuela Katzouraki passed with the best performance in the final of her event and in the final she completed her effort with 23/30 shots. The 23-year-old Pharmacy student can talk for hours about the shooting, but she doesn’t want to talk about the tragedy in Tempe that claimed the lives of 57 people. There she was saved with only a sprain, but the psychological shock and wounds left by the fatal collision remain open.
The only statement he has made since then about the tragedy was with an Instagram story when he appealed to people to donate blood for the injured: “Thank you so much to those who call me and send me messages. I don’t want to be rude, I can’t answer right now. I am well, much better than others less fortunate. If you want to help, please donate blood for the injured in the accident.”
“She’s a fighter”
Emmanuela never talked about Tempi and how much she went through to reach 5th place in the Olympics. However, her coach Giorgos Salavantakis had spoken on ERT3 in those days:
“Emmanuela is not well. She’s trying to pick up the pieces. She chose to fight and not sit at home. I told her that I don’t care about the result, to do what she feels is best. She does not speak at all, she chose to remain silent, she is going through it alone. We can’t force her. I hope he gets over it as soon as possible. She is definitely a fighter. He wanted to be with us instead of sitting at home. I hope it does her good. I don’t care about the outcome, I care about her peace of mind. We will be by her side.”
At the same time, her mother had stated to Flashnews at the time that “Emmanuela was at her school, she had gone down to Athens for an appointment in the context of the shooting and on the way back to her school she decided to take a train. All I wanted to hear is that my child is okay. I didn’t ask her details or what carriage she was in. I just wanted to hear that he was okay. My child is fine. Unfortunately, some other families today don’t say that. So I can’t say anything…”
Since then the 23-year-old champion has devoted herself entirely to her lessons and preparation for the Games in Paris, which have been perhaps the best medicine for her wounds, although she has not forgotten and therefore does not want to talk about it. And how can he forget…
The accident was followed by significant accolades, her last being 3rd place at the World Shooting Championships in Baku. There she set a new pan-Hellenic record in her qualifying skit, a performance that not only qualified her for the final but also secured her a place in the Olympic Games.
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