Ekaterini Stefanidi
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 4, 1990 Athens, Greece |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 Greece |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Pole vault |
| Coached by | Mitchell Krier |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) |
4.90 m (i) 4.73 m |
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Katerina Stefanidi (Κατερίνα Στεφανίδη; born 4 February 1990) is a Greek pole vaulter. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[1][2] She was the 2012 Pac-12 and NCAA Champion. She has a personal record of 4.90 meters at the indoor event, and a personal record of 4.73 outdoors. She was also the 2005 World Youth Champion in the discipline.
Career
Junior level: 2005–2010
Stefanidi was born in Athens, Greece to Greek parents (Georgios Stefanidis, Zoi Vareli). She attended the 1st High School of Pallini and won the National High School Championships. She broke the National High School record and the Championship record winning gold at the 2006 Gymnasiade. 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, placing first with 4.30 m. At the 2007 World Youths, held in Ostrava, 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, Poland. The same year she gained an athletic scholarship at Stanford University and began competing for the Stanford Cardinal.[3] She is currently a graduate student in Cognitive Psychology with Dr. Gene A. Brewer at Arizona State University and training under the guidance of 2000 Olympic Champion Nick Hysong.
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. 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 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 Pac-10 Conference 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 Ostrava and third at Universiade in Shenzhen, China, 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 Champion, in Eugene, Oregon, where she broke her own school record with 4.48 m. A month later she became the NCAA Champion in Des Moines, Iowa (4.45 m). Her season best, 4.51 m, achieved in July 2012 at Livermore, California, is the Greek under-23 record. In 2013 she faced some injury problems, thus not improving her personal best, with a 4,45m. season best.
2014–present
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 Diamond League meeting at New York, where she placed 4th. She competed for the first time at European Athletics Team Championships 1st league, held in Tallinn, representing Greece and winning at 4,55 m. She managed to improve her PB again at the Diamond league in Glasgow with a 4,65 m, taking the 3rd place. One week before the European Championships she set another PB with 4,71 m (equaling the outdoor Greek national record), showing that she would enter the European Championships of Zurich as one of the major contenders.
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 by the very last jump of the event, made by Anzhelika Sidorova. She later won the Birmingham Diamond League meeting with 4,57 m and took the 3rd place at the Diamond league final, held in Zurich with 4,67 m. With these results, she took the 2nd place overall at the Diamond League series, only behind Fabiana Murer. During 2014, she jumped 10 times more than 4,55 m, something notable, considering the fact that her former PB was at 4,51.
During the 2015 indoor season she set a personal best four times (4.56 m, 4.60 m, 4.61 m and finally 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 the 2016 indoor season she set a national record with a huge leap of 4.90 m at the Millrose Games, which ranks her at fourth place of all time in the event, tied with Demi Payne who jumped the same height at the same meet.
Honours
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Greece | |||||
| 2005 | World Youth Championships | Marrakesh, Morocco | 1st | 4.30 m CR | |
| 2007 | World Youth Championships | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 2nd | 4.25 m SB | |
| 2008 | World Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 3rd | 4.25 m SB | |
| 2011 | European U23 Championships | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 2nd | 4.45 m PB | |
| Universiade | Shenzhen, China | 3rd | 4.45 m | ||
| 2012 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | final | NM | |
| Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 24th (q) | 4.25 m | ||
| 2013 | European Indoor Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 13th (q) | 4.36 m | |
| 2014 | European Championships | Zurich, Switzerland | 2nd | 4.60 m | |
| 2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | 2nd | 4.75 m | |
| World Championships | Beijing, China | 15th (q) | 4.45 m | ||
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, Oregon | 3rd | 4.80 m | |