90-year-old, Stelios Prassas, is the oldest athlete to finish the 38th Athens Marathon

At 90 years of age, Stelios Prassas was the oldest athlete to finish the 38th Athens Marathon on Sunday.

Prassas’ family were waiting for him at the Panathenaic Stadium when he arrived at the finish line and walked the last few steps with his grandchildren.

The winner of the Marathon was Costas Gelaouzos, who became the fastest Greek over the classic course on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 49 seconds.

The previous best time by a Greek athlete over this difficult, hilly course was 2:17:56 by Nikos Polias, who finished 24th at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Polias was among those congratulating Gelaouzos at the Panathenaic Stadium.

Panagiotis Bourikas was the runner-up with 2:22:33 and yet another Greek, Haralambos Pitsolis was third with 2:24:05. 

The race resumed this year after a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were 9,558 runners registered to line up at the start in the village of Marathon, less than half the record 20,041 who ran in the previous race in 2019. And there was a notable absence of elite international athletes.

Greece’s Gloria-Tziovana Privilegio won the women’s race in 2:41:30, nearly seven minutes ahead of her closest rival. She was 23rd overall.

Source: Ekathimerini.