The rise of Bourmpou and Kyridou

Christina Bourmpou and Maria Kyridou could greatly benefit from the Tokyo Olympics being pushed back to 2021, as the teenage rowing duo from Thessaloniki will now have an extra year of development to boost their Olympic medal prospects.

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The two youngsters are a major part of the promising new generation of Greek rowers, having already won a plethora of medals at various regattas. Although Bourmpou and Kyridou have been training together at the same rowing club in Thessaloniki for several years, they had not been in the same boat for the Greek national team until the 2018 European Junior Championships. Prior to that, they both had some international success in different boats in 2017. Bourmpou won silver medals in the women’s pair with Margarita Georgoudi at both the European Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships. On the other hand, Kyridou won silver in the women’s double sculls with Dimitra Tsamopoulou at the European U23 Championships, as a 16-year-old.

After joining forces in 2018 to compete together in the women’s pair, Bourmpou and Kyridou have since been unstoppable. In their first season together, they won four gold medals (European Junior Championships, World Junior Championships, European U23 Championships and Youth Olympic Games). They failed to reach the podium at the World U23 Championships, where the 17-year-old team had an impressive fourth-place finish. Additionally, they set a new world record time at the junior level.

The 2019 rowing season got off to a good start for the girls, with each gaining individual honors. Bourmpou was named “Rising Star of the Month” for May 2019 by the World Rowing Federation, while Kyridou won silver in the single sculls at the European Junior Championships. The two then reunited for the European Championships in Switzerland, making their senior level debut. There, the 18-year-olds finished fifth out of 14 teams in the women’s pair, despite being the youngest team in the entire competition.

After that, Bourmpou and Kyridou took gold at the World U23 Championships. At that regatta, they set a new U23 world record time (with both still being just 18 years of age). Less than a month later, it was time for the senior World Championships, which also served as the first qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics. The Greeks finished 11th out of 25, which was just enough to punch their tickets to Tokyo, as the top 11 boats earned Olympic qualification. They remain the only Greek boat to have qualified (so far) for the upcoming Olympics.

2019 concluded with the girls defending their title at the European U23 Championships in Ioannina, where they were competing in an international regatta in Greek waters for the first time ever. This extended their streak of gold medals at U23 and junior competitions to five in a row, dating back to the 2018 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic (August 2018). This impressive run could continue for a few more years, as Bourmpou will remain eligible for U23 competitions throughout the 2020, 2021, and 2022 seasons (Kyridou’s U23 eligibility will conclude after the 2023 season).

Both girls have been training extremely hard since winning their gold medal in Ioannina, with their eyes set on the Tokyo Olympics. It originally seemed unlikely that they could win a medal in Tokyo after having finished 11th at last year’s World Championships. Nevertheless, with the Olympics now being moved to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, that extra year could make a huge difference for the Thessalonikians. Instead of making their Olympic debuts at 19, they will each be 20 years old come Tokyo. They have shown constant improvement throughout the past few years, and it is now increasingly likely that they have a good shot at being one of the six crews rowing in the Olympic final and contending for a medal. Being much younger than their competitors is something that Bourmpou and Kyridou are used to by now, and having an extra year to train and develop can only benefit them at the Olympics.

Before that, Greek sports fans will have the chance to follow their progress later this year (should the events not be cancelled). The European Championships, World U23 Championships and European U23 Championships are all set to take place, and it remains to be seen what will happen with the World Championships due to it now no longer being an Olympic year (Olympic rowing categories typically do not hold World Championships the same year as the Summer Olympics). As of now, the only certainty is that the team of Bourmpou and Kyridou have unlimited potential and could dominate their sport for many years.

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