"Goods are hard to come by," says an ancient saying, and her achievements prove the point.
The "female Antikoumbo", as she has been characterized, the girl with the rare talent, who at the age of just 14 left behind family and friends, in order to pursue her dreams, first in Greek and then on American and European floors, did not found everything rosy in life. The successes were not given to her nor were they accidental. From the painful training to the final fall and the hoods in the boot camps with American Marines to the call to the National Team of Greece and the transfer to the Spanish Guernica, the life of the Cypriot basketball player, Eleanna Christinaki (former coach and daughter of the coach journalist, Aphrodite Augustine), reminds more… Survivor than the life of an athlete!
However, she is not complacent. At the age of 22 she enjoys the fruits of her labors, but she continues to work with ethics and dedication, modestly and humbly, methodically and purposefully, emphasizing that the road is still long until she reaches Ithaca!
Who is who
Eleanna was born in 1996 in Paralimni and played basketball for the first time in Nicosia. He then went to Greece with which in total (in combination with Cyprus) he has a record of participation in small national teams. She has been a member of the Women's National Team since she was 17, while with Panathinaikos she won the Greek championship. In the American college championship he competed in two teams of the top ten nationally, something that so far has not achieved even a male athlete. Since 2018, she has been competing as a professional in the champion of the Spanish women's championship DAY, Lointek Gernika, in Bilbao. Christinaki's interview was accompanied by a great success for Eleanna and Guernica who qualified for the second phase of the EuroCup, completing the first phase of the Group with a great victory 84-66 over the Portuguese Uniono Sportiva.
How did your involvement with basketball come about? Did the goalkeeper's athletic genes at all affect him?
It started very accidentally. I had tried many sports since I was a child and one day when I was playing a basketball game with my school, my first ex-coach, Takis Miralais, was in the stands. The coach asked my father to take me to training. I got stuck right away, I loved basketball from the first moment. Certainly, the fact that my father was an athlete affected me because I was on a football field from a young age and I loved sports.
At the age of just 14 you leave Cyprus and go to Athens and Panathinaikos. What is it like for a child at this age to leave behind family and friends to pursue his dream?
It is difficult, but you are unaware of the danger and do not understand that you are acrobatic on a tightrope. It takes a lot of sacrifice to achieve your dreams and that's what I did. Of course, I would not have achieved anything if I had not left at such a young age and if my grandparents did not live in Athens, to convince my parents to let me go to Panathinaikos. I was in a big team, I worked hard and I was at a very high level of basketball every day, something that made me improve significantly. I had many responsibilities from a young age, but that made me stronger. I had to cook, wash my clothes, go to school and then workout. All these responsibilities from a young age helped me to mature faster and to understand that no one will lay the red carpet for me, but I have to fight alone to achieve my goals.
From Greece you go to study in America, where you participate with great success in the college championship. What was life like on the other side of the Atlantic?
It was a beautiful experience and I'm glad I had it. In America I learned that I am not only good at basketball, but also in other things. I even studied things that I had not even imagined might interest me. The college championship is not easy, especially when you are in the first division and number 3. Many children go to college, but it is very important what university they go to. When you are in such a high level team, things are definitely not easy. There is a lot of pressure for the team to never lose, in every game we had over 8.000 people in Maryland and of course there is a lot of competition. Every day I had to compete with the next WNBA stars and that was something that made me never relax. Of course, the most important thing of all is that I managed to get my degree and play the sport I love at the same time.
In an earlier interview you talked about the painful daily workouts in America, but also about the capsules in boat camp with American Marines that you had visited with the team in preparation. Describe the conditions there λίγο
My years in America were difficult. Very different training and many hours on the field. In America, anyone who can not stand these trainings and the great pressure is eliminated by the system. Every day I had to wake up at 4 in the morning, go to training at 5:15, then go to class, then train again and then read and sleep. A painful daily life that definitely made me appreciate many simple things. Every day there was a struggle for survival, but I am glad that I can share my experiences there and anticipate the kids who want to go to college. As for the boot camp is now my favorite story, the one I initially hated the most. They took us to a Marine camp to become tough, mentally and physically. We had to accept the training of soldiers for two days with almost no sleep, no food, with little water, in a forest with wild animals, loaded with 40 kilos of equipment on their backs and walking for hours. I thought that after that I would take my father to ask him to come back, but fortunately I was kept thinking that this was the hardest thing I had to go through and I finally endured.
Your life would be more reminiscent… Survivor despite the life of an athlete. Does this ultimately require championships in addition to talent? First and foremost fighters?
Exactly, I have come to the conclusion that talent is definitely not enough, but the personality of each athlete is very important. A strong personality, a proper mindset can help you endure more and understand that only with hard daily work can you succeed. I have seen hundreds of children - teammates, who had a lot of talent, but did not have a strong character and could not withstand the competition and the great pressure. It is not just to be able to put the ball in the basket, it is to be able to manage difficult situations with dignity every day, to be able to think clearly and make the right decision under enormous pressure, to be able to leave your personal things out of work to have patience, to defend yourself every day because there are thousands of people who would like to be in your place and others who are jealous of you and want to take from your glow.
You are one of the most up-and-coming players not only in Greek, but also in world basketball. You play with the colors of the women's National Basketball Team in Greece and this year you play in the Spanish championship. Have you even been described as the "female Antikounbo"? How do you feel about these achievements in such a short time?
It's nice to be rewarded for your work, but I still have a long way to go before I reach my Ithaca. Certainly the parallel with Giannis is excessive and there is a chaotic difference between the level and those that "Greek Freak" has achieved, just the American journalists in a great game, jokingly used the same nickname for me.
How do you evaluate your experience so far in Guernica, Spain and what are the differences in relation to the American college championship?
Guernica is first in the Spanish championship and we passed to the next phase of the EuroCup. It is a very competitive team with an excellent coach, who has been in the small national teams of Spain for years and has tremendous experience. The Spanish league is very competitive. Each week the former can lose to the latter. Basketball here is very fast and with a lot of tactics. In Spain I saw a great sports culture that makes me believe that I can stay here for many years. The greatest club success is, as in all sports, the qualification of the Clubs to the European championships and the winning of a European title. I hope that after our qualification we will overcome the big obstacle of Galata Sarai and we will be close to winning the trophy.
What is Eleanna's daily life like in Spain and what are the deprivations behind the successes on the floor?
Training every day, two games a week, a lot of travel and a lot of fatigue. Spain is closer to Greece and Cyprus, whenever it is easier for my family and friends to come. The rest of the day books and movies are part of my routine. In the small breaks I plan to see a little Barcelona and Barcelona and a little Real and Madrid in football and basketball of course.
After Spain, what are Eleanna's plans? Is the WNBA in the back of your mind or do you have no plans to return to America?
I do not know what will happen in the future, all I know is that I continue to work very hard every day. Dreams exist, but such a road, like the US professional championship, can only be opened if you work hard and hard, as we do here in Guernica. You definitely have to be modest and serious without any deviations. I hope that I will mature as much as needed in all areas, so that at some point I will have this experience as well.
What are your ambitions with the National Team of Greece?
Strange as it may seem, although from the age of 17 to 22 I have reached the "4" of Europe and the 9th place in the World Cup with the National Team, I do not stop believing that the legacy of the great players who recently left should be beacon for us to continue with new, greater distinctions. The new generation of Ethniki players can continue to keep Greek women's basketball at a high level. We believe in the whole and in the great experiences that we now have the many good young players with first Artemis Spanou and then Pavlopoulou, Nikolopoulou, Fasoula, me and some other young girls, so that at some point we can reach medals in such games. .
What is Cyprus for you Eleanna?
Cyprus for me is what Greece is, I do not divide them into two homelands. I may have both nationalities, but I consider them my homeland. I was born and raised in Cyprus, I have played with the Cypriot coat of arms in the National Girls' Team and I have deep family roots on the island, as my family lives here permanently. I feel that I have a great homeland, to which two states belong.
What would you advise young girls who want to play basketball? What would you say is the triptych of success and what does it take to reach the top?
Always hard work, to become professionals consciously from a young age, that is, to sleep properly, to follow a sports diet, to have a trainer and to work extra, so that they have more development. The triptych of success for me is hard work, ethos and dedication. Of course they have to start from the simple and difficult to enjoy and enjoy the game.
And "Nike Athlete "by Eleanna
Last Wednesday, the selection of Eleanna Christinaki as "Nike Athlete ", which means that it will appear in the ads of this great sportswear company first in Cyprus and Greece and then in Europe. Eleanna states that it is her favorite brand name and feels proud to have been chosen to participate in the large family of its athletes Nike.