Greece’s Stephania Haralabidis, who now calls the United States home, helped the women’s water polo team win gold on Friday at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Haralabidis participated in water polo for the USC Trojans during her time at the university.
S. Haralabidis Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Haralabidis played for several years in the Greek club system before moving to the United States. At the age of 15, he was recruited to join the Greek National Team.
Haralabidis improved as a player over the years, and the opportunity to further her education and professional career in the United States piqued her interest.
My mother’s goal and hope was for my sisters and myself to study in the United States. She encouraged us to work hard at water polo and train extensively throughout our childhood in the hopes that we would become elite players.
Haralabidis explains that once their coach saw how talented they were, they tried out for the national team and eventually met Long Beach State’s Gavin Arroyo, who urged them to move to the United States because they would make excellent players.
At the age of 12, Stephania Haralabidis retired from competitive swimming. It caused her a lot of anxiety and tension, and she detested both.
Janet intended to enrol Haralabidis and her sisters, Ioanna and Anastasia, in synchronised swimming. However, their father Babis was an accomplished water polo player and successfully advocated for his daughters to give the sport a shot.
Yes, we were able to gain entry. On day one, we began beating the eggs in the traditional manner (kick). “We have no trouble distributing the ball,” Stephania Haralabidis remarked. And we absolutely adore this sport.
reaching the highest level of competition in the world, the Olympics.
The United States Olympic team that will compete in this summer’s Tokyo Games includes five rookies, including Stephania Haralabidis, 26. A press conference was held in Los Angeles on Wednesday to reveal the final roster of 13.
Maggie Steffens, the team’s captain, and Melissa Seidemann, the defence stalwart, are aiming for a third straight Olympic gold. In spite of becoming the only woman ever to be left off of an American Olympic team’s final roster, Alys Williams is going to her first Olympics.
Coach Adam Krikorian praised her abilities as a distributor and shooter.
And she’s arguably the fastest player anywhere. Her quickness is unparalleled in this game.
Haralabidis spent his formative years playing in Greece, where he was born. Together with Ioanna, she played collegiate soccer at the University of Southern California, where she amassed 269 points and contributed to the Trojans’ 2016 national championship.
Haralabidis has a Greek mother and an American father. She switched to the American curriculum in 2017 and claims she has always considered herself to be of Greek descent.
This Change was not Precisely easy.
Born in Greece on May 19, 1995, Stephania Haralabidis (Greek: X) is a Greek-American water polo player for Ethnikos and the United States national team .