Maria Ntanou (; born 3 March 1990) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

cross-country skier, Olympian who has competed since 2007. She was an Athlete Role Model of

2020 Winter Youth Olympics The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (; ; ; ), officially known as the III Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly known as Lausanne 2020 (Italian and Romansh: ''Losanna 2020''), were the third edition of the Winter Youth Olympics; a major int ...

. Ntanou has represented her country, Greece, in three Winter Olympic Games, and she was the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Career

Ntanou finished 72nd in the 10 km event at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. She took 76th place with +6:03.6 from the Norwegian Olympic Champion Ragnhild Haga at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

, which is the best result for Greece in this discipline. In

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

, Ntanou competed in four disciplines
sprint
an

At the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 () took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at J ...

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, she finished 82nd in the individual sprint while being lapped in the 15 km pursuit event. At the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 was the 40th World Championships in nordic skiing and took place in Lahti, Finland from 22 February to 5 March 2017.

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, she finished 8th in the 5 km qualification classic race. She also won the overall Greek national cup series in 2019. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2021 in Oberstdorf, Ntanou raced in four disciplines: sprint, skiathlon, 10 km free technique and team sprint.

Olympic Winter Games results

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships results

FIS Balkan Cup results

Ntanou won a bronze medal in the overall ranking of the FIS Balkan Cup series in 2017 and 2018.

Greek National Championships results

Personal life

Ntanou grew up in Naousa, a town in the northern part of Greece with great tradition in winter sports. She studied Economic Science at the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

and graduated in 2012. At the age of 23, Ntanou moved to

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

to study Sport Administration and Technology (AISTS) at

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

References

External links

* * * * * 1990 births Living people Greek female cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers for Greece Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Veria 21st-century Greek sportswomen {{Greece-crosscountry-skiing-bio-stub