Dos Pueblos High School alumna and three-time CIF state shot put champion Stamatia Scarvelis remembers how odd it felt watching the Olympics in 2016.
She was in Rio de Janeiro with her family as her older brother, Nicholas, competed for Greece in the shot put.
For Stamatia, it felt strange not being in a throwing ring at a track & field competition.
That all changes next week. She’ll be in the ring at the Japan National Stadium representing Greece in the women’s hammer throw competition at the Tokyo Olympics. The qualification round is scheduled for Aug. 1.
Stamatia earned one of the 32 Olympic spots in qualifying for the World Track & Field Championships in Doha, Qatar, in 2019. Her mark of 71.33 meters (234.02 feet) is a personal best and the No. 2 all-time mark among Greek female throwers.
The leading competitor in Tokyo is American record-holder DeAnna Price, who threw 263-6 at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
Stamatia was able to be down on the stadium field with her brother at the Rio Olympics.
“I remember being at the 2016 Olympics watching my brother, thinking, ‘This will be the last one I watch from the sidelines,’’’ she told Noozhawk in an email interview.
She said the magnitude of competing on the world’s biggest stage really hit when she told her family.
“I think the most it hit me was when I was able to tell family and friends that I had qualified,” she said. “Seeing their reactions made it all very real for me, as I’ve been away from home for the past three months in Greece.”
She is eligible to compete for Greece because her grandparents are Greek born, and she has dual citizenship.
Stamatia still remembers competing in her first track meet as a kid at Santa Barbara City College.
“I missed the girls 800-meter race, so I had to run with the boys,” she said.
She grew up around the sport of track as brothers Steven and Nicholas both excelled in high school and college. Steven, who attended DP, University of Arizona and UC Davis, was a hurdler and multi-events competitor.
Nicholas won the 2011 CIF State shot put title at DP and enjoyed an outstanding career at UCLA. He was a three-time Pac-12 champion, four-time NCAA Championships qualifier. three-time U.S. Track & Field Collegiate All-American and a Greek Olympic Team member in 2016.
“I was in love with the idea of being an Olympian,” she said of her joy of competing in track & field. “I didn’t know what event, but some way, somehow that’s what I wanted to be.”
Stamatia rose to stardom in the shot put and discus at Dos Pueblos. Her throws drew oohs and aahs at every meet.
She won three straight CIF state championships (2012, ’13 and ’14) in the shot put, becoming the first female prep athlete in California to accomplish the feat. She also won a state title in the discus in 2014.
She won the USA Track and Field Junior National Championship in the shot put and the Pan American Games gold medal.
Stamatia signed with UCLA, redshirted her first year and competed for the Bruins in 2016. She transferred to the University of Tennessee, where set numerous school and Southeastern Conference records in the shot put, hammer throw and weight throw. She is a seven-time All-American.
She graduated from Tennessee in 2019.
“After my collegiate season, I had a great summer season, qualifying for Worlds and finishing 17th,” she said. “I went back to Tennessee to train and work at the university — they are incredibly supportive of their alumni.
“I was in great shape and ready to start my (2020) season in Portugal the week that the coronavirus shut everything down.”
The International Olympic Committee announced on March 24, 2020, that the Tokyo Games would be postponed until the middle of summer of 2021.
The games kicked off this week, albeit with no spectators because of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Japan.
The competition will go on, and Stamatia will be throwing and fulfilling a dream that began in Santa Barbara.
“I am sitting at about 30th at the moment,” she said of her ranking, “but the goal will be to take as many spots as I can!”
Our Lady Vol throwing legend is headed to Tokyo!
VFL Stamatia Scarvelis will represent Greece at the Olympics this summer in the hammer throw!#GBO ������ #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/lFWuQK1quq
— Tennessee Track & Field/XC (@Vol_Track) July 1, 2021