Paris 2024: Ntenta and Polychronidis on what it takes to win a Paralympic medal

When Greek boccia star Anna Ntenta looks back at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, she says winning a medal made her forget all the effort and hardships that she endured along the way.

Three years ago, she captured bronze in the Pairs BC3 tournament in the Japanese capital, and watched the Greek flag being raised alongside teammates Grigorios Polychronidis and Anastasia Pyrgiotis.

In boccia's BC3 category, athletes can compete with sport assistants and use equipment including ramps and headgear to deliver their balls closest to the white “jack”. 

Since taking up the sport after being introduced to it by a friend, Ntenta has been travelling around the world to take part in competitions with her mother Christina, who is her sport assistant.

Competing in her second Games, she remembers how she felt like hours of training with her mother had paid off.

“Our biggest challenge is (doing) the everyday things. I feel tired because we (work) for many hours, but in the end, when you win the medal, you forget everything else,” said Ntenta, who also picked up the bronze in the same event at Rio 2016.

“You forget everything – all the effort, it disappears. And I was really happy.” 

A moment to remember

At Tokyo’s Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Ntenta, Polychronidis and Pyrgiotis finished on the podium after Greece defeated Hong Kong, China, 7-0 in the bronze medal match. The Republic of Korea won the gold medal after beating hosts Japan in a tiebreaker.

The bronze medal was one of the two medals for five-time Paralympian Polychronidis, who was in Japan with his wife and assistant Katerina and their daughter Valentina, who was just four months old.

Three days before, he took silver in the individual BC3 tournament, following an intense battle against Adam Peska of Czechia in the gold medal game.

“Sharing the podium with Katherina at the Paralympics is amazing. It was like a dream come true. Thankfully we have already captured the podium four times together. And hopefully we will share it again in Paris, but it needs a lot of work.”

Path to ‘dream come true’ 

Polychronidis and Ntenta captured the bronze medal in the mixed pairs BC3 tournament at Rio 2016. But for Polychronidis, his Paralympic journey started at Athens 2004.

“My greatest motivation was the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games and since I’m living in Athens, it was like a dream to compete in these Games. I gave everything I could, and thankfully managed to participate in my first Paralympics.”

“My journey since the first time I joined the sport, and all these years that passed by, has been amazing. It was really difficult. The challenges were difficult, but it was amazing because I tried very much to become stronger in my sport,” Polychronidis said. “I started from lower positions and climbed up all the way to become Paralympic champion at London 2012.

“You can see yourself growing in this experience. It has been fantastic, it’s amazing.”

Polychronidis started working with Katerina after London 2012, and since then, the couple has shared countless wins on and off the court. And with Paris 2024 approaching, the Greek athlete says prioritising the sport is the key to reaching the top of the podium.

“To become a Paralympic champion, you must give the (sport) the first priority to what you do. For example, in my situation, I quit some job opportunities that I had, I stopped my masters’ degree and I had to make a lot of sacrifices,” he recalled.

He added that it is not only him who has given “everything” to sport, but also his father, who used to be his ramp operator, and his wife. But becoming a champion is not only about dedication, he says.

“I believe that when people think about champion, they definitely know that this person gives all that they have. But also he’s got the talent, because it’s not enough just giving what you’ve got because many people give all that they’ve got. But there’s only one winner in a competition. So definitely, it needs everything – it needs talent, it needs the correct timing, it needs everything in order to be then and in order to win.”

Heart of a champion

Ntenta says that winning a gold at a Paralympics requires a “heart of a champion”.

“The heart of a champion means that you need to take a win the same way as a loss. That’s what it takes to be a champion, I think,” she explained. “You also need to put the effort.”

With two bronze medals already on her resume, she is aiming to finish higher at the Paralympics. In Paris, there will be 11 medal events compared to the seven medal events from Tokyo 2020, and eight gender-specific medal events will be staged for the first time.

“We hope to do better. Of course, the athlete is not satisfied, and we have to do better,” Ntenta said. “I hope to win something better – not bronze. Bronze is not too bad, but something better would be amazing.”

“It is my dream to make my country proud and my family proud, and to give myself the satisfaction that I won a medal – a gold medal.” 

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website.

Learn more about boccia on our Paralympic sport page.