The greatest female athlete in the history of Greek sport and reigning Olympics women’s pole vault champion, Katerina Stefanidi is returning to her ‘good luck’ SPIRE Institute and Academy as part of her training for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games.
The facility is located in Ohio, close to Lake Erie, and she will continue to train there with her husband Mitch Krier.
While training at SPIRE in 2016, Stefanidi set a national record with a leap of 4.90 metres at the Milrose Games, putting her fourth on the all-time list.
She then made a clearance of 4.80m to win bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Portland.
At the Rio Games, a jump of 4.85m was enough to crown her as the new Olympic champion.
“SPIRE is extremely excited to have Katerina Stefanidi in the upcoming months to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games,” said Tim Mack, one of SPIRE’s coaches and a gold medallist in pole vault from Athens 2004.
“Katerina and her husband/coach will be utilising the indoor track and field facilities as well as SPIRE Performance.
“This is such a great testament to the outstanding facilities that SPIRE has to offer every athlete.”
