Support for Boukouvala by Dimitra Androutsou

The Greek Judo federation remains under threat of female athletes who tell their experiences during training camps, events and their daily job. Dimitra Androutsou (now 30) supported Ioulietta Boukouvala with unveiling her experience with the Greek coaches and federation.

Androutsou: “Once upon a time, in Belarus in 2009, Ioulietta posted on Facebook the photos from the "preparation" of the National Women's Judo Team. Basically on the trip she and I were as athletes, the coach and his son as escort-coaches. They themselves stayed in the renovated wing. We are now trained and in the lack of the basics that an athlete should have, we stayed in the "suite". We did Resurrection in an empty sports center on the three days of Easter, in the absence of everyone, and the coach.

The "fast" continued for us after Sunday as we fought in the women's World Cup in Tbilisi next weekend (24-25 January). In a National Team where the collaboration with a dietitian, a physiotherapist or a doctor was for a coach and a federation always unnecessary and for the athletes extravagant luxury. On the Tuesday after the Resurrection when everyone returned to continue training, the coach asked us if we had lost any weight and with a humorous - ironic tone found that it was good to stay there, as due to the weight we would not be able anyway let's eat.

Everything was considered normal and a bit funny. Many years have passed with such treatment and such attitudes and tactics. We were convinced that all this is just a training method that through hardening sought to "build" invulnerable athletes inside and out. Athletes who were trained to listen to the "sack" address. But the "inside" of the athlete will never be invulnerable. Nor should it be. His only obligation is to turn defeat and pain into stubbornness and victory, not the devaluation and loss of his dignity into a deeply hidden mental trauma. I was a member of this group from 2003 to 2011.

Nobody asked why at the age of 21 I made the decision to leave and stop the championship. Pretty much everyone knows why I stopped.

The championship is a difficult condition in itself. No extra "hardness" is needed. The athlete has to endure a lot if he wants to become a champion. One thing he does not have to tolerate: a bad coach and a bad federation.”

Dimitra Androutsou

Dimitra Androutsou is a multiple Greek Champion who fought in the category U63kg. She won cadet and junior medals at a young age of 16 and competed at the senior World Championships in 2007 in Rio and the 2009 European Championships in Tbilisi where she lost against the later European Champion and 2012 Olympic Champion Urska Zolnir. Androutsou competed at various World Cups (now the European Open) and took precious medals at Balkan Championships and the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara. After her 18^th year she didn’t compete in the major international championships anymore and retired at the age of 21. She came back once to win a Greek title in 2019.

She currently is a Greek fire woman and competed at Fairfax, the Police and Fire Games where she met Kayla Harrison (in the third picture).

Read the letter of Boukouvala to the Ministry of Sports

Check the initial news Boukouvala alerted to the media