KAROLINA PELENDRITOU

Born in Limassol on August 26, 1986, Karolina Pelendritou is widely regarded as the greatest Cypriot athlete of all time, having won three Paralympic gold medals in swimming.

She has been involved in swimming since the age of nine and soon joined the Cyprus National Team. Since 2002, she has competed in the category for athletes with disabilities.

She has won eight Paralympic medals, been crowned World Champion ten times, European Champion three times, and has broken the world record on 13 times. From 2002 to 2025, she won a total of 30 medals in major international competitions.

She has received countless honors for both her athletic achievements and humanitarian work and today serves as an inspiration to thousands of people in her homeland of Cyprus, in Greece where she permanently resides, and around the world where her reputation has spread.

Among many distinctions, she received the Cyprus Sports Writers Association ‘Award of Excellence’ in 2022, the highest sporting honor in Cyprus. In 2026, the Municipality of Limassol renamed one of the city’s central piers “Karolina Pelendritou Pier” in her honor.

In 2025, she founded her own non-profit organization, Through My Eyes by Karolina Pelendritou, with the mission of offering support, hope, and meaningful opportunities to people who truly need them.

Highlights

  • Keynote speaker at numerous conferences, corporate events, academic institutions, and public forums in Cyprus, Greece, and internationally. Her talks focus on topics such as Sports, Education, Health, Nutrition, and Professional Success, with appearances at events organized by companies and organizations including The Coca-Cola Company, Hilton, INTERSPORT, Nielsen, BMW, Delphi Economic Forum, Cyprus University of Technology, and the Kateryna Biloruska Foundation.
  • Actively participates in charitable initiatives, including the fashion show for the Larnaca Social Welfare School Market “Yes”, as well as the charity fashion event “Yes I Do Catwalk”.
  • In 2022, was honored by the Presidency of France to the European Union as the “Female Personality of Cyprus” on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
  • In 2024, was selected by the Organizing Committee of the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Paralympics to represent Cyprus during the first day of the Olympic Torch Relay in Marseille on May 8.
  • In 2024, was elected to the Athletes’ Council of the European Paralympic Committee (EPC).

Paralympics Games

Gold Medals

  • 100m breaststroke, Tokyo 2021
  • 100m breaststroke, Beijing 2008
  • 100m breaststroke, Athens 2004

Silver Medals

  • 50m freestyle, Paris 2024
  • 100m breaststroke, London 2012

Bronze Medals

  • 100m breaststroke, Paris 2024
  • 50m freestyle, Tokyo 2021
  • 200m individual medley, Beijing 2008

World Championships

IBSA Swimming World Championship

Gold Medal

  • 100m breaststroke, Sao Paolo 2007
  • 200m breaststroke, Sao Paolo 2007

IPC Swimming World Championship

Gold Medal

  • 100m breaststroke, Manchester 2023
  • 100m breaststroke, Madeira 2022
  • 50m freestyle, Madeira 2022
  • 100m breaststroke, Mexico City 2017
  • 100m breaststroke, Glasgow 2015
  • 100m breaststroke, Montreal 2013
  • 100m breaststroke, Eindhoven 2010
  • 100m breaststroke, in a 25-metre swimming pool, Rio de Janeiro 2009

Silver Medal

  • 100m individual medley, in a 25-meter swimming pool, Rio de Janeiro 2009
  • 100m breaststroke, Buenos Aires 2002
  • 50m freestyle, Singapore 2025
  • 100m breaststroke, Singapore 2025

Bronze Medal

  • 50m freestyle, Manchester 2023

European Championships

IPC Swimming European Championship

Gold Medal

  • 50m freestyle, Madeira 2024
  • 100m breaststroke, Eindhoven 2014
  • 100m breaststroke, Berlin 2011

Silver Medal

  • 100m breaststroke, Madeira 2024
  • 100m breaststroke, Madeira 2021
  • 100m breaststroke, Dublin 2018

Bronze Medal

  • 100m breaststroke, Madeira 2016
Karolina Pelendritou logo

World Records

  • 50m breaststroke SB11 – World Para Swimming World Series, Berlin 2021
  • 50m freestyle S11 – Paralympic Games, Tokyo 2021
  • 100m breastroke SB12 – Paralympic Games, London 2012
  • 50m breaststroke S12 – German Open Championships, Berlin 2012
  • 100m breaststroke S12 – IPC Swimming World Championships, Rio 2009
  • 100m breaststroke – Summer Paralympic Games, Beijing 2008
  • 100m breaststroke S12 – European Cup, Czech Republic 2008
  • 100m breaststroke – German Open Swimming Championships, Germany 2008
  • 200m breaststroke S12– 3rd World Championships and Games-IBSA, Brazil 2007
  • 100m breaststroke S12 – European Cup “EUROWAVES”, Czech Republic 2007
  • 100m breaststroke S12 – British Open Swimming Championship, Sheffield 2007
  • 50m and 100m breaststroke S12 – British Open Championships & European Cup, Czech Republic 2006
  • 50m S13 backstroke – European meeting, Czech Republic 2003

Ambassador

  • Ambassador of the UEFA EURO U17 2024 organized by the Cyprus Football Association.
  • Ambassador of Cyprus “Youth on the Move” movement at the European Union
  • Ambassador of Cyprus “Stop Discrimination” movement at the European Union
  • Volunteering Ambassador of the Pan-Cyprian Volunteerism Coordinative Council
  • Ambassador of Cyprus Tourism Organisation
  • Ambassador of Road Safety for the Limassol Traffic Police
  • Sports Ambassador of Cyprus in the “Be Active” European Week of Sport of the European Union
  • Ambassador Lidl Cyprus

Awards

  • Excellence Award by the Cypriot Sports Writers in 2022
  • Honorary award from the House of Representatives and President Annita Dimitriou for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in 2021
  • Top Athlete of the Year of the British Commonwealth in all IPC sports at the “Commonwealth Elite Athletes Awards 2007” (annual sports awards of the British Commonwealth) in Glasgow in 2008
  • Among the three Top Athletes of the Year of the British Commonwealth in all IPC sports at the “Commonwealth Elite Athletes Awards 2010” in Birmingham in 2010
  • Awarded as one of the top Men and Women Athletes of the European Union member-states in 2008 by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris
  • Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition by the US Congress in recognition of the gold medal of the 2004 Paralympic Games by the member of the US Congress Carolyn B. Maloney
  • Fourteen times Top Athlete of Cyprus in Paralympic Games, awarded by the Cyprus Sports Journalists Union from 2005 to 2020
  • “Stelios Kyriakides 2003” Prize by the Cyprus Sports Journalists Union
  • Three Awards of the Top Cypriot Athlete of the Year by the Hellenic Association of Sports Journalists (“PSAT”) in 2005, 2008 and 2011
  • Four times top “Woman-Athlete of the Year” in Cyprus at the “MADAME FIGARO” awards in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012
  • Medal of “Moral Recognition, Distinction, Value and Honour of the Republic of Cyprus” by the President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias in 2009
  • Honorary Award by the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus for proudly representing Cyprus at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
  • Gold medal of the town of Limassol (2004, 2008)

Other Achievements

  • Flagbearer of the Cyprus Team at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic Games (opening ceremony) and the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games (opening ceremony).
  • The first living Cypriot who appeared on a post stamp in 2005
  • Representation on a phone card of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority in 2004
  • The sport t-shirt which she wore at the ceremony of medal award at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games was sold for charity for 19,000 British pounds at the auction of the opening ceremony of the “Radiomarathonios” charity in 2004, which was held at the Gala Dinner at the London Hilton.

TV Appearances

  • Participation as the main guest in television clips for charitable, national and social purposes in Cyprus and the European Union:
  • “Youth on the Move” movement of the European Union
  • Natura 2000 Protected Sites of Cyprus, “Akamas”, within the context of the European Union LIFE program
  • Cyprus campaign to collect food in schools titled “Dinami Kyprion”
  • Campaign against cyber-bullying by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture
  • Information campaign against social problems, “Food and Health” by the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, the Galastyle magazine and the teen newspaper “Click”
  • “Be Active” European Week of Sport of the European Union
  • Winner of the charity television show “DanSing for You 5” of the Cypriot channel MEGA to support the Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends (PASYKAF)
  • Presentation of the 100 daily television shows “Antistrofi Metrisi, Beijing 2008” (i.e. “Countdown, Beijing 2008”) for the SIGMA channel