1974 2009...35 Years, 1974-2009 T his English Magazine edition aims to enlighten the visiting sports...

1974 2009CYPRUS OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

CYPRU

S OLYM

PIC COM

MITTEE

1974-2009

CYPRUS OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

cover-FINAL:Layout 1 11/13/09 12:18 PM

35yearsC y p r u s O l y m p i c C o m m i t t e e

Publication: Cyprus Olympic Committee

© copyright: Cyprus Olympic Committee 21 AMFIPOLEOS ST.,P.O.BOX 239311687 NICOSIA – CYPRUSTEL.: +357 22 449880FAX: +357 22 449890E-mail: [email protected]

Publication Supervisor: Loukis Terezopoulos - Member of the Ephoria of the Cyprus National Olympic Academy

English translation: John Leonidou

Photos: Olympic Committee Archive & Pambos Savvides

Art Design: Theopress Ltd

Printing: Theopress Ltd

Cover photo: The runner, who was the inspiration behind the 18-cent stamp, was the symbol that was circulated on 10.4.1989 during the III Games of the Small States of Europe which was organised by the Cyprus Olympic Committee

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35 years since the establishment of theCOC (10/6/74-10/6/2009)

30 years since the admission of the COCinto the IOC (10/4/79-10/4/2009)

22 years since the first summit of theNational Olympic Academy of Cyprus(NOAC) (22/5/87)

20 years since the organisation of the IIIgames of the Small States of Europe (17-20/5/89)

7 years since the introduction of Olympiceducation (08/3/2002)

The Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC) wasestablished thirty five years ago, on the 10June, 1974 and became a full member of

the International Olympic Committee (IOC) thirtyyears ago on the 10 April 1979.

Twenty two years ago, and more precisely on the30 March 1987, the National Olympic Academy ofCyprus was established and organised its firstsummit between the 22 - 23 May, 1987. Sevenyears ago on the 7 March, 2002 and with thecooperation of the Ministry of Education andCulture, Olympic Education was introduced intothe school curriculum.

Twenty years ago, the COC undertook theorganisation in Cyprus for the III Games of the

Small States of Europe which took take placebetween 17 to the 20 May, 1989.

This year, and thirty five years after its establishment,the COC is now gearing up to celebrate theanniversary events in memory of the wonderful,magnificent and true events which took place in thespring of 1974, 1979, 1987, 1989 and 2002.

The anniversary celebrations of the COC - which areset to cover a vast range of Olympic activities such asOlympism-Sports and Education-Olympic Educationand Culture – will span exactly two months.

From the 10/4/79, the day it was accepted into theIOC 30 years ago, to the 10/6/09 which marks theanniversary of the COC’s establishment 35 yearsto the day, a final ceremony will take place with thehanding out of awards, and other memorabilia, forexcellence, valour and honour.

The anniversary activities and events will be centredaround the XIII Games of the Small States ofEurope which will be held in our nation from the 1 tothe 6 June, 2009 - twenty years after the III Gamesof the Small States of Europe which we organisedhere on the island back in 1989, thus celebratingthe anniversary occasion in the best possible way.

We owe these anniversary events which is why wededicate them to those who walked and ran thethirty-five year path, and to those who, with theirpersonal sacrifices and struggles, paved the wayfor the creation of the COC; to those who set upLocal Cyprus Committees to the corresponding

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

Address of the President of COCHon Prof. Ouranios Ioannides

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sports associations in Greece and to those who,for decades, were organising sports on our islandthrough the various sports clubs in a bid to keepthe tradition of sports alive.

We owe these anniversary events and we dedicatethem to the four groups of people who were madeup sports and laid down the foundations for sportsbecause, as we know, great events such as thosewe are celebrating today, do not happen bychance but are created and organised by peoplewith belief, targets and vision.

We owe and dedicate these anniversary eventsfirst to the athletes who have the leading roles inthese performances and to fair play, Then to thesports fans who support the efforts of the athletes,to the sports writers who promote and propagatethe efforts and success of the athletes and finally,to the guardians and the sponsors who organise,administer, promote and provide economic,technical, ethical and material support to sports.

It is to those who excelled in these four groups, tothe top performers of each category, to those whoare worthy to be presented as shining examplesthat the Cyprus Olympic Committee will presentthese awards of excellence, valour and honour.

Before ending this address, I would like to presentto you what’s in store for the upcoming anniversaryevents:

1. The unveiling and inauguration of the statue“Olympic Spirit” which depicts the GoddessAthena holding an olive branch which carriesthe Olympic Rings on the one hand and adove, the symbol of Olympic armistice andpeace, on the other.

2. The presentation of the perfume used by theancient games athletes as they were found inthe hieroglyphic writings in Erimi

3. The inauguration of the Sports – OlympicMuseum

4. The presentation of today’s publicationedition entitled ‘35 years of the COC’

5. The exposition of photographs and souvenirsof Cyprus athletics

6. The dinner and presentation of the sponsorsof the COC and the XIII Games of the SmallStates of Europe

7. The handing out of the ethical award forexcellence, valour and honour

8. The Presentation of the postage stamp issuefor the XIII Games of the Small States ofEurope

9. The anniversary Summit of the NationalOlympic Academy of Cyprus

10. The Anniversary celebrations for theintroduction of Olympic Education into thecurriculum of schools in Cyprus

11. The presentation of the collection of watches(25 + 25), to mark the XIII Games of the SmallStates, which will be handed to bidders.

12. The presentation of the memorabilia for theXIII and III Games of the Small States ofEurope

13. The awards of honourary distinctions to ourfriends from abroad for their support andcontribution to sports in Cyprus

14. The presentation of the XIII Games of theSmall States of Europe magazine edition

15. An art show and dance performances

Wishing you all many sports greetings,

Hon. Prof. Ouranios IoannidesPresident COC

35 Years, 1974-2009

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

CYPRUS OLYMPIC COMMITTEEEXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Ouranios Ioannides President

Demetris Lordos Vice President

Charalambos Lottas General Secretary

Damianos Hadjidamianou Treasurer

Andreas Vasiliou Member

Pavlos Fotiades Member

Georgios Chrysostomou Member

Panicos Prokopiou Member

Kostas Matsoukaris Member

Nakis Michaelides Member

Sotos Trikomites Member

Lenia Antoniadou Member

Panayiotis Trisokkas Member

Olga Piperidou COC Services Coordinator

CYPRUS OLYMPIC ACADEMYBOARD 2008

Sofocles Charalambides President

Zacharias Kyriakou Dean

Kostas Christodoulakis Member

Andreas Georgiades Member

Litsa Iakovidou Member

Georgios Kathitziotis Member

Loukis Terezopoulos Member

Kostas Panayides Member

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«As in the daytime there is no star in the sky warmer andbrighter than the sun, likewise there is no competitiongreater than the Olympic Games»

(Pindar, Greek lyric poet, 5th cent. BC)

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The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

The Kourion Stadium dates back to the Antonine Emperors (A.D. 138-180).It was destroyed by an earthquake in the second half of the 4th century A.D.Its internal dimensions are 217m. in length and 17m. in width.There were 7 rows of seats and the stadium had a capacity of 6,000 spectators.The ancient city of Kourion was founded by Achaean colonistsfrom Argos in the Peloponesse (13th and 12th centuries B.C.)

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The ancient gymnasium of Salamis.

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The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

This English Magazine edition aims toenlighten the visiting sports officials,coaches, athletes and sports teams in

general who will be coming to Cyprus, on the workof the Cyprus Olympic Committee as well as its 35-year history in sports and the Olympics.

The Cyprus Olympic Committee, which wasestablished on 10 June, 1974 and became a fullmember of the International Olympic Committee on10 April, 1979, has some important work ahead.

Not even two months had past since the CyprusOlympic Committee was established whentragedy hit our homeland. The Turkish invasion ofthe island ultimately had a negative impact on allsectors of the Cyprus Republic’s infrastructure.

Amidst harsh times, the Cyprus OlympicCommittee attempted to regroup and itsucceeded, resulting in a 35-year effort which hasseen positive strides for Cypriot sport. In 1989,they successfully hosted the Games of the SmallStates of Europe with officials of the InternationalOlympic Committee showering the organisers ofthe Cyprus Olympic Committee with praise.

This magazine edition aims at presenting its readerwith the opportunity to learn some basic thingsabout Cyprus, the work of the Cyprus Olympic

Committee and the history of the island’s sportsdating back from ancient times to the present day.

Although brief, this edition still emphasises the aimwhich is to highlight the work and importantlandmarks of the Cyprus Olympic Committee’s 35-year history and sports on the island.

Introduction

1974 2009


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An old and a modern map of Cyprus

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Cyprus, according to mythology, is thebirthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of loveand beauty. The island is both an ancient

land, with an eleven thousand year-old history andcivilisation, and a young independent Republicsince 1960. Its geographic location at thecrossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia andAfrica - and at the meeting point of great civilisations,has been a major factor influencing the course ofthe island’s history throughout the centuries.

Situated at the north-eastern end of theMediterranean Sea, Cyprus, with an area of 9.251km², is its third largest island after Sicily andSardinia. It has a Mediterranean climate and enjoysmore than 300 days of sunshine every year.

The 1960 census showed that Cyprus had apopulation of 572.707 consisting of 77,1% GreekCypriots, 18,2% Turkish Cypriots, 1,1% Maronites,Armenians and Latins and 3,6% others.

According to the 1960 Constitution, the Armenian,Maronite and Latin communities opted to be part ofthe Greek Cypriot community. The population of theisland (Dec. 2007) was 877.600 of whom 664.000(75,7%) belong to the Greek Cypriot community,88.300 (10,0%) to the Turkish Cypriot communityand 125.300 (14,3 %) are foreign nationals residingin Cyprus.

Greek and Turkish are the official languages of thestate, while English is widely used.

The island’s history is one of the oldest recorded inthe world running back to the 9th millennium BC.The settlement in Cyprus of Mycenaean andAchaean Greeks between the13th and 11thcentury BC established the predominantly Greekcharacter of the island.

Because of its strategic position and natural wealth,Cyprus became the pawn of various powers thatdominated the region at one time or another.Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, thePtolemies, Romans, Arabs, Franks, Venetians,Ottoman Turks and the British all left their mark onthe island, making it a veritable outdoor museum.

Nevertheless, Cypriots have managed toassimilate creatively the various influences theywere subjected to, without losing their individuality.The beautiful Eastern pots, for example, becameCypriot pottery, while the Gothic arch became anelement in local popular architecture.

Cyprus became an independent, sovereign statein August 1960 on the basis of the Zurich andLondon agreements, following a liberation armedstruggle against British colonial rule between 1955and 1959.

The Republic of Cyprus has a presidential system

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

Republic of CyprusFrom 1960 to the present day

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of government with a clear division of authoritybetween the executive, legislative and judicialbranches. According to the Constitution,executive power is exercised by the President andVice-President (allocated to a Turkish Cypriot butcurrently vacant) through the Council of Ministers;legislative power is exercised by the House ofRepresentatives; and judicial power by theSupreme Court, the Criminal Courts and theDistrict Courts.

The Republic of Cyprus has since 1960 been amember of the United Nations and over the yearshas become a member of practically all of itsspecialised agencies. It is also a member of theCommonwealth, the Council of Europe, the WorldTrade Organisation and the Organisation onSecurity and Co-operation in Europe.

On 1 May 2004 Cyprus formally joined theEuropean Union completing a long journey whichbegan with its application for full membership in1990.

Cyprus has always been part of the Europeanfamily of nations.

Accession to the EU was a natural choice forCyprus, dictated by its culture and civilisation, itshistory, its European outlook and its traditions as

well as its adherence to the ideals of democracy,freedom and justice.

Although all Cypriots who carry a Republic ofCyprus passport enjoy the status of EuropeanUnion citizens, the application of the EU laws andregulations (the acquis communautaire) issuspended in the Turkish occupied area of theRepublic pending a solution of the Cyprus problemand the reunification of the island.

In the absence of a political settlement, the Cyprusgovernment provides essential services to TurkishCypriots even under the prohibitive conditions ofmilitary occupation and forcible division. Manymore Turkish Cypriots have been able to benefitfrom an expanded range of services (such asemployment, free medical care, social andeducational services) through a series of newpolicy initiatives and tangible measuresundertaken by the government since the partiallifting, in April 2003, of the illegal restrictionsimposed by the Turkish side on the movement ofpeople across the ceasefire line since 1974.

These initiatives are in line with the government’spolicy designed to foster trust and reconciliationbetween the two communities, as well as promotethe reunification of Cyprus and the reintegration ofits people and economy.

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The people of the newly-established Republicof Cyprus were not able to enjoy the fruits oftheir struggles and sacrifices for long.

Certain provisions of the Zurich-London Agreementsand the Constitution were soon to prove conduciveto constitutional deadlock, domestic conflict andforeign interference, rather than peace, harmony andrespect for the sovereignty of Cyprus.

Efforts to amend the Constitution were rejected bythe Turkish side, with the Turkish Cypriotleadership falling in line with Turkey’s long-termpolicy of segregation and partition. This resulted inthe intercommunal clashes of 1963/64, thedrawing up of the dividing «green line» runningthrough Nicosia and the constant efforts on thepart of Turkish Cypriot extremists to promoteTurkey’s partitionist and expansionist designs.

The coup on 15 July 1974, perpetrated against thelegal government of the Republic of Cyprus by themilitary junta ruling Greece at the time, gave Turkeya long-awaited pretext to invade the island on 20July 1974 in violation of the UN Charter,international law and the principles governing theconduct among nations.

As a result, about 36,2% of the island wasoccupied (the northern part, representing 70% ofthe economic potential) and still remains underTurkey’s military control. About 200.000 GreekCypriots - a third of the population - were displaced,becoming refugees in their own country, while theTurkish Cypriots were compelled to move to theoccupied part of the island in compliance withTurkey’s policy of ethnic segregation.

About 1.400 people have been missing as a resultof the invasion. It has still not been possible to

ascertain their fate because Turkey refuses tocooperate in this humanitarian matter.

The «Attila line» («Operation Attila» was the code-name Turkey gave to its military invasion of Cyprus)divides Cyprus since 1974. After four centuries ofpeaceful coexistence in mixed villages, towns andplaces of work, the two main communities of theisland - Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots - wereforcibly separated.

There was immense human suffering and greatmaterial loss. The danger of economic collapse wasimminent. The refugees had to be rehoused andfound new work, their basic needs had to be met.

Forty-three thousand Turkish troops, armed withthe latest military weapons, continue to occupy theisland illegally. Over the years some 160.000colonists from Turkey were brought to Cyprus andsettled in the occupied area, in violation ofinternational law, with the aim of changing thedemography of the island. In view of the massemigration of Turkish Cypriots from the occupiedarea (due to the conditions created by Turkey’soccupation) the total number of Turkey’s troopsand settlers is now much greater than that of theremaining Turkish Cypriots.

The CyprusOlympic

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35 Years, 1974-2009

Turkey’s Military invasion andoccupation

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In order to consolidate the de facto situation ofdivision, the Turkish Cypriot leadership unilaterallydeclared the occupied area an “independentstate” in 1983.

This act of secession against the Republic ofCyprus was declared “legally invalid” by the UNSecurity Council, which also called for itswithdrawal. No country in the world but Turkeyrecognises that illegal regime.

The illegal regime and Turkey have also followed apolicy of “turkification” in the occupied areas while atthe same time destroying much of the island’s11.000 year-old cultural heritage: Greek placenames have been replaced by Turkish ones;monuments, cemeteries, places of worship andarchaeological sites were destroyed, desecrated orvandalised; priceless religious and archaeologicaltreasures - part of the world’s cultural heritage - havebeen stolen and smuggled abroad.

Despite constant protests by the Cyprusgovernment the illegal excavations and looting ofantiquities continue to this day.

Another tragic occurrence is the ongoing evictionof the enclaved Greek Cypriots from their homes inTurkish occupied villages. While in 1974 therewere 20.000 people enclaved, less than 500remain, mostly people over 60 years old.

Economy

Despite many difficulties faced right from itsestablishment, through the 1974catastrophe and the continuing foreign

occupation of its northern part, the Republic ofCyprus can boast considerable achievements.

In 1960 the Cyprus government took over acolonial economy that was backward andunderdeveloped. Its productive base wasinadequate and economic activity was dependenton unstable factors.

Agriculture’s contribution to the national incomewas never more than 18%, despite the fact that itemployed 45% of the labour force. Over 50% of therevenue came from the export of minerals. Asregards exports, 32% consisted of raw agriculturalproducts and only 19% were industrial productsand even these were processed raw material fromthe agricultural sector.

The situation was similar in other fields. On averageonly 43% of children between 12 and 17 years oldattended secondary schools. In addition, only 28%of houses in the countryside had electricity andonly 7% had in-house water supply.

The sound macro-economic policies of successivegovernments since 1960; the adoption of amarket-oriented economic system; the dynamicand flexible entrepreneurial community; a highlyeducated labour force; close cooperation betweenthe public sector and the social partners; butabove all the industriousness and toil of the Cypriotpeople, all contributed to the rapid developmentof the economic and social sectors in the newRepublic. Equally significant was the consolidationof democratic institutions.

Cyprus has gradually transformed itself from anexporter of agricultural products and minerals inthe period 1960 to 1974 and an exporter ofprocessed goods in the second half of the ’70s, toa major tourist destination and services centre.

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Cyprus has a record of successful economicperformance, reflected in rapid growth, fullemployment conditions and external and internalstability almost throughout the post-independenceperiod.

The weak colonial economy has been transformedinto a modern economy offering dynamic serviceswith advanced physical and social infrastructures.

In terms of per capita income, Cyprus is classifiedby the World Bank among the high-incomecountries. The average annual rate of growth in thepast five years was about 3,7%, while the averageinflation rate stood at 2,9% and the averageunemployment rate at 4,4% over that period. Inaddition, Cyprus was ranked 28th in the UnitedNations 2007/2008 Index of Human Development.

This impressive transformation reflects the skilfulexploitation of the comparative advantages of theisland, stemming from the population’s high levelof education and high standard of living, as well asthe island’s convenient geographical position, along period of mild weather conditions and thedevelopment of the necessary infrastructure withregard to airports, ports and telecommunications.

Of particular importance over the last few yearshas been the growth of the transit trade sector andthe increased use of Cyprus as an offshore basefor international business operations.

With a per capita income of EUR 20.921(28.507.48 US dollars) in 2008 compared to 500US dollars in 1961, with an unemployment rate of4,0 % of the economically active population in2008, and a rate of inflation of 4,4 % in 2008, theRepublic of Cyprus is favourably positionedamong the EU member-states.

The successful integration of the latest technologyinto the economy, the constant improvement ofthe island’s infrastructure and the high productivityand quality of the Cypriot labour force, have turned

Cyprus into a centre of transit trade, internationalmerchant shipping and business, contributingsignificantly to the economic growth of thebroader region.

Since its accession to the EU, Cyprus hasundergone significant economic and structuralreforms that have transformed its economiclandscape. Tariffs and quantitative restrictionshave been eliminated for all manufactured goodsand agricultural products originating in Cyprus andother EU countries. Trade and interest rates havebeen liberalised, while price controls andinvestment restrictions have been lifted. Privatefinancing has been introduced for the constructionand operation of infrastructure projects and themonopoly in the telecommunications sector hasbeen abolished.

The CyprusOlympic

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35 Years, 1974-2009

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Cyprus is being transformed into a key outpost inthe eastern Mediterranean, serving as a bridgebetween the EU and the increasingly importantmarket of the Middle East.

Furthermore, Cyprus has gained a reputation asthe springboard for investment into Central andEastern Europe.

Firmly committed to sound fiscal policies essentialfor preserving macroeconomic stability and ensuringthe sustainability of the convergence process, theCypriot authorities adopted concrete measures thatstrengthened economic performance and met therequired eurozone targets by mid-2007.

As a result, on 1 January 2008, the euro becamethe monetary unit of Cyprus replacing the Cypruspound. Euro banknotes and coins are circulatingand are the legal tender in the Republic of Cyprus.The adoption of the euro was one of the mostimportant achievements for Cyprus, integrating iteven further into the European Union. This successwas made possible despite the uncertainty surgingin the international economic environment.

Today

Today, the Republic of Cyprus is a modernEuropean democracy with a state of the arttelecommunications system enjoying direct

telephone links with nearly all the countries of theworld; one of the largest merchant fleets in the worldwith 1.876 (Dec. 2008) ships on its registry; and akey business centre serving as a springboard forinvestments in the eurozone and the Middle East.

The European Union is Cyprus’ main tradingpartner absorbing 51 % of local domestic exportsand providing 66% of imports.

Despite the heavy blow brought about by Turkey’smilitary invasion in 1974 resulting in the loss of 65%of hotels as well as the Nicosia InternationalAirport, growth in the tourist sector was rapid.Today, tourism is one of the major sectors of the

Cyprus economy. In 2008 over 2,4 million touristsvisited Cyprus generating EUR 1.792,8 million inforeign exchange earnings, compared to 25.700tourist arrivals in 1960 with C£1,8 million (EUR 3,8million) in foreign exchange earnings.

Cyprus’ healthy climate, natural beauty, archaeo-logical wealth, highly educated population, highstandard of services offered, as well as the tradi-tional warm hospitality of its people, make the is-land an ideal holiday destination.

Significant progress has also been made in thesocial sphere. In 2007 over 66,2% families ownedtheir own homes. Illiteracy, which in 1961 wasabout 20%, today is practically non-existent.Cyprus holds a very high position internationally asfar as third-level education is concerned. The totalnumber of third-level students at home and abroadduring 2007-2008 was 40.466 (22530 abroad and17.936 in Cyprus). Cyprus has two stateuniversities, the University of Cyprus in Nicosia andthe Cyprus University of Technology in Limassolas well as three private universities.

Medical care, both public and private, is of highstandard and continuously improving. Infantmortality has dropped from 40 per 1000 live birthsin 1960 to 3,1 in 2006. The average life expectancyhas risen from 65 years in 1950 to 81,9 for womenand 78,3 years for men in 2007. The number ofpersons per doctor has fallen from 1.470 in 1961to 395 in 2006.

The steadfast commitment to safeguard theindependence and sovereignty of the Republic of

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Cyprus, along with the progress achieved in allfields of activity since independence, as well as thedetermination to always be an active andconstructive EU partner, form the foundations ofthe island’s continuing struggle for the restorationof freedom and justice throughout its territory.

The UN has undertaken several initiatives to solvethe Cyprus problem and reunite Cyprus withseveral rounds of intercommunal negotiations heldsince 1975. These efforts have been underminedby Turkey, which has sought a settlement thatwould leave Cyprus permanently divided.

On 24 April 2004 the people of Cyprus were askedto approve or reject a settlement, (Annan Plan V),proposed by the UN Secretary-General, throughseparate, simultaneous referenda. A majority of75,8% Greek Cypriots rejected the proposedAnnan Plan because they felt that the final text,which incorporated arbitrarily many last minutedemands by Turkey, was not balanced and did notmeet their concerns regarding security,functionality and viability of the solution. The GreekCypriots have not turned their backs on theirTurkish Cypriot compatriots who approved theplan by 64,9%, but have been working towards asolution that will meet the expectations andlegitimate concerns of both communities.

The overwhelming defeat rendered the Annan Plannull and void. Nevertheless, the government ofCyprus has remained committed to the Secretary-General’s mission of good offices and to a sus-tained process that will facilitate a comprehensivesettlement. It has therefore tried to revive the peaceprocess to find a solution that addresses the con-cerns of all the people of Cyprus.

Consistent with this outlook, on 8 July 2006, thePresident of Cyprus and the leader of the TurkishCypriot community signed an agreement on a “Setof Principles” for the solution of the Cyprus Prob-lem. They reaffirmed the commitment of the twocommunities to reunify Cyprus on the basis of a bi-

zonal, bicommunal federation and agreed on pro-cedures to prepare the ground for comprehensivenegotiations towards that end.

Despite the setback caused by the Turkish refusalto honour the 8 July Agreement, President, newelected of Cyprus sought, immediately after hiselection in February 2008, to revive the peaceprocess for the reunification of Cyprus.

The President’s initiatives led to a series ofmeetings with the leader of the Turkish Cypriotcommunity, between March and July 2008, duringwhich the basis of a settlement were reclarified. Asa result, full-fledged direct negotiations betweenthe President of Cyprus and the leader of theTurkish Cypriot Community for a comprehensivesettlement of the Cyprus problem which start on3 September 2008 and is continue.

“The solution of the Cyprus problem will be the toppriority of my government.

The aim of our Presidency is to achieve a just,viable and functional solution that will terminate theoccupation and colonization of our country:

“A solution that will restore thesovereignty, independence, territorialintegrity and unity of the Republic ofCyprus and will exclude any rights formilitary intervention in the internal affairsof our country by foreign powers. Asolution which will reunite the territory, thepeople, the institutions and the economyof our country in the framework of abizonal, bicommunal federation.”

President Demetris Christofias28 February 2008

The CyprusOlympic

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35 Years, 1974-2009

The above document is from the Press and InformationOffice (PIO) publication entitled ‘FROM 1960 TO THEPRESENT DAY’. For more information visit theirwebsite www.pio.gov.cy

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IOC President Jacques Rogge and the late President of the Cyprus Republic Tassos Papadopoulos at the OlympicHouse opening ceremony.

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The Cyprus Olympic Committee was founded in1974 and was officially recognised and became amember of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) in 1979.

The basic objectives and purposes of the CyprusOlympic Committee are:

– To encourage interest in the Olympic Gamesand to foster the aims and ideals of the OlympicMovement’s in the Republic of Cyprus.

– To observe and enforce the Rules as laid downin the «Olympic Charter».

– To disseminate, among young people, andinterest in sport and a sporting spirit.

– To organise, together with the respectiveNational Federations, the preparation andselection of athletes, thereby ensuring thatCyprus is represented at the Olympic Gamesas well as at Regional, Continental andIntercontinental Games, which have thepatronage of the International Committee.

– To submit proposals to the IOC with regard tothe «Olympic Charter», the Olympic Movementin general, as well as for the organisation andconduct of the Olympic Games.

– To work in concept with private or governmentalbodies concerning the promotion of a soundsports policy.

– To ensure the development and protection ofthe Olympic Movement and sport in general.

Sicne 1980 the Cyprus Olympic Committeeensures that Cyprus is represented with athletesat the Olympic Games, Summer and Winter, aswell as at Regional and Continental Games whichhave the patronage of the IOC.

Besides the participation in the Games, the CyprusOlympic Committee is very active, participating inthe activities organised by the IOC, Association ofthe European Olympic Committees (EOC) andother NOCs.

The CyprusOlympic Committee

The CyprusOlympic

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35 Years, 1974-2009

The CyprusOlympicCommittee

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The Cyprus Olympic Committee wasestablished on 10 June, 1974 after muchpreparation and the final steps of introducing

the Cyprus Olympic Committee were conductedat the Cyprus Sports Organisation offices.

During the first meeting to establish the CyprusOlympic Committee, the fellow representatives ofthe football, archery, swimming and diving,yachting, biathlon-pentathlon and judo associationswere present along with the representative of theSki Group.

The official recognition of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee was made at the 81st IOC summit inMontevideo on 10 April, 1979 whilst at theprevious summit in Athens in May 1978, thecommittee was preliminarily recognised.

Efforts to establish the COCTo set up an Olympic Committee, sports needs tobe developed at a national level and at least fiveassociations of the committee must be recognisedby their relevant international associations.

In Cyprus and with the exception of the CyprusFootball Association, the island didn’t have anyother associations registered with their relevantinternational associations.

In 1972, it was reported by the General Secretaryfor Sports in Greece that Turkish-Cypriots hadundertaken efforts to join international associationswith the aim of establishing an OlympicCommittee. They had already managed to register

the associations for wrestling and cycling and hadsubmitted registration for Taekwondo – a sportthat was generally new to the island at the time.

After the intervention of the Cyprus SportsOrganisation, those associations were laterdismissed.

That same year and just a few days before theOlympic Games in Munich, a three-memberrepresentation consisting of Kleanthis Georgiades,Alekos Klerides and Andreas Hadjivasileiou, tookpart in the International Olympic CommitteeSummit with the aim of submitting a request(dated 10 August, 1972) for the Amateur AthleticAssociation of Cyprus (AAAC) to join theInternational Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF).Mr. Kleanthis Georgiades was President of theAAAC at the time.

The establishment On Monday 10 June, 1974 and with seven activeassociations, the Cyprus Olympic Committee wasestablished. Its first steps of operation were doneunder the leadership of General Director Mr.Alekos Klerides and the CSO Commissioner forSports and Sports Facilities Mr. AndreasHadjivasileiou (1972-1974).

During the 80th IOC Summit in Athens in May1978 at the Caravel Hotel, the Cyprus OlympicCommittee was preliminarily recognised.

Recognition During the 81st IOC Summit in Montevideo in April1979, the full accession of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee was welcomed into the IOC family.

The establishment,aims and mission of theCyprus Olympic Committee

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With the representation being headed by Mr.Demetrakis Demetriades, the elected President ofthe COC, the goal was finally accomplished thankslargely to the contribution of the CSO and itsPresident Mr. Stelios Garani.

From 10 June, 1974 to 3 February, 1976, CSOPresident Mr. Stelios Garani served as President ofthe Cyprus Olympic Committee. Mr. Garani hadresigned as CSO President on 30 September, 1975.

From 3 February 1976, Mr Demetrakis Demetriadesserved as COC President until 1984 when he wasreplaced by Mr. Kikis N. Lazarides – a seat he keptuntil 2 October 2008. Following the elections in2008, Mr. Ouranios Ioannides was announced asthe new COC President.

The establishment and the recognition of theCyprus Olympic Committee by the IOC had beenrightly hailed as the most important event inCypriot’ sports history. With its recognition,Cyprus became an equal member of the IOC withall the rights and responsibilities stipulated by theOlympic Charter.

Following its official recognition, Cyprus made its de-but bow in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games andhas since made its participation in all the OlympicGames, the Mediterranean Games, the Common-wealth Games, the Games of the Small States ofEurope and other international sports events. Theisland’s first international participation came in the1980 Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid whichpreceded the Olympic Games in Moscow.

Mission and role The basic mission and role of the COC inaccordance with the Olympic Charter and theconstitution is:

• To act against any form of discriminationaffecting the Olympic Movement and tocontinuously develop the Olympic Movement

• To implement the regulations of the OlympicCharter which account for the operation of all

international sports associations

• To organise, prepare, select, in cooperation withthe relative associations, the athletes and teamsthat will take part in international IOC events

• To submit suggestions to the IOC with regardsto the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Movementand the Olympic Games in general

• To design and put into action a rational sportspolicy in cooperation with private and statesports sectors

• To protect sports from total policing and to giveimmediate resistance to any political, religiousor economic pressure

Although the Olympic Charter and the constitutionof every national Olympic committee clearly statesthe mission and role of the IOC, there are no strictprovisions with regards to implementationprocedures and each Olympic Committeemaintains its independence and autonomy in theadministration of its sport. During the annualmeeting of every national Olympic committee, thecommittee is obliged to select the best possibleways to implement its goals in accordance with thementality/tradition of their country and, of course,with the committee members up-most energy.

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

The first President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee,the late Stelios Garanis (1974-1975) who played aleading role in the creation of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee. He was also the President of the CyprusSports Organisation, which was established in 1969.

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The role of the OlympicCommittee in CyprusTaking into consideration the pledges andresponsibilities towards the Olympic Charter andCypriot sports, the activities of the COC could becategorised into the following:

1) To participate in international sporting events

2) To conduct programmes for sports develop-ment and training

3) To strengthen and maintain the principals andvalue of the Olympics

• Participation in international sports events

According to the Olympic Charter, the CyprusOlympic Committee is the only sports body tohave the responsibility of representing Cyprus atthe various IOC games. The most importantgames are: the Olympic Games, the Common-wealth Games, the Mediterranean Games, theEuropean Youth Games and the Games of theSmall States of Europe. The first two events takeplace every four years whilst the Games of theSmall States of Europe take place every twoyears. Cyprus hosted the third ever Games ofthe Small States of Europe back in 1989.

In order to ensure that the games are a suc-cess, a lengthy programme of planning andpreparation was needed. The selection of ath-letes for the games, the assembling of nationalteams and the time to properly prepare needsat least two years of preparations prior to thegames.

• Programmes for sports development andtraining

Despite having up-to-date preparation pro-grammes for athletes and teams for particularinternational events, the COC also undertakesand organises a series of seminars of the IOC’s

Olympic Solidarity Programme. Cyprus has al-ready organised many seminars for differentsports coaches and officials.

With regards to the activities of the variousassociation members, the COC is always onhand to assist any association member achieveits targets. A strong, working relationship existswith the association members and the COC iscontinuously looking for ways to furtherstrengthen that relationship.

• Olympic Academy

The National Olympic Academy of Cyprusbegan operations back in 1987, after a decisionby the COC Executive Council, with the aim, onthe one side, to strengthen and maintain theprincipals and values of the Olympics but to alsofurther educate officials and coaches.

Once a year, the academy organises its AnnualSummit which spans two days and hostsaround 200 people. All the expenses arecovered by the Olympic Committee.

The academy invites foreign specialists, onmatters concerning the Olympics, sociologyand sports psychology among others, to attendthe summit and offer some teaching. Cypriotofficials- not from sport circles - are also invitedas are Olympic athletes.

Programme for Olympic YouthOne constant aim of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee is to spread the values and principalsof the Olympics and the Pancyprian OlympicMovement. That is something that the COC tries toachieve through the activities of the NationalOlympic Academy but also through theprogramme of Olympic Youth – something thatwas first introduced shortly after the OlympicHouse and Park was established back in 2006 andis now frequently followed by pupils of many ages.


25

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

Youngsters who visit the Olympic House and Parkare given a tour of the premises by Cyprus OlympicCommittee Officials and are also given the chanceto observe and learn many interest things aboutthe Olympics and the Cyprus Olympic Committee.Olympic artefacts are on display at the OlympicMuseum whilst they also have the opportunity tolearn much about the Cyprus OlympicCommittee’s activities and their efforts to furtherdevelop sports on the island. The programme forOlympic Youth is now under the wing of theNational Olympic Academy.

• Library – Video Archive

The COC maintains a Library-Video Archive forsports, something that is unique for Cyprus.The Library-Video Archive, which also loans outits stock, is frequently enriched with the latesteditions of books and video footages. Manyassociations frequently use the Library-VideoArchive.

The COC has also been donated audio/visualequipment which is used to display the videofootage during sports seminars presented bythe various associations and the committee.

International projectionThe COC has the responsibility to representCyprus at international sports seminars that areorganised by the IOC in which various matters arediscussed and crucial decisions are madeconcerning sports and international sportingrelations.

Being a member of the IOC, the COC is in frequentand close contact with other National OlympicCommittees that are fellow members of the IOC.

Therefore the COC’s contact and relations on theinternational stage gives a clear view of just whatan important role they play. The COC’s active roleand participation in international sports meetings

and games also has an important impact for ourown sports.

As the IOC’s representative in Cyprus, the COC,in essence, supports the entire spectrum ofinternational sports recognition and local sportsorganisations. For example, a local associationcannot succeed international recognition before itis recognised by the Olympic Committee. On theother hand, it is very difficult for a local associationto be expelled by the international body withoutprevious consultations with the relevant OlympicCommittee.

A clear outline has now been presented on theCyprus Olympic Committee’s role within its localconditions and what the Olympic Charterprovisions are for the committee. It goes withoutsaying that the COC would not be able to succeedin such vast ranges of activities without constantand sufficient economic resources.

The sources of income for all National OlympicCommittees – that are accepted by the IOC – are:

• Government subsidy

• Percentages from football betting (PRO-PO)

• Sponsorships and donations from the privatesector

• Royalties from stamps/coins memorabilia andother similar memorabilia items that arepublished ahead of the Olympics or otherinternational games

Sport is not just a mere statistic. It is a livingorganisation and its needs are forever surfacing.That is why the COC, though never straying awayfrom its basic mission and in an attempt to securea rational policy based on the reality of the currentcircumstances, adapts its policies according tothe needs of our sports. But its sole aim willcontinue to be preserving the spirit of sports andthe Olympic ideals.

26


27

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

1974The Cyprus Olympic Committee

Following the establishment of the CyprusRepublic on 16 August, 1960, plans fordevelopments in the newly established

Cyprus Republic coincided with efforts forenhancing better organisation of sports events.That was finally achieved in 1969, when thegovernment of the Cyprus Republic moved towardssetting up the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO).

Six years later, and more specifically on 22 April1974, the CSO Board of Directors assigned thethen General Director of the organisation (CSO) tolay down the appropriate foundations forestablishing the Cyprus Olympic Committee.

That was achieved a few months later on 10 June,1974 when the Cyprus Olympic Committee wasintroduced. During its first General Meeting, thefirst constitution was approved and the firstHonourary President and Honourary Secretarywere elected.

Mr. Stelios Garanis, who was President of theCSO, was elected first President whilst AlekosKlerides, who was also General Director of theCSO, was named as the first Secretary.

The representatives of the associations at the firstmeeting of the Cyprus Olympic Committee were:

1. Cyprus Football Association – SavvasLagoudes

2. Cyprus Archery Federation – Alekos Klerides

3. Cyprus Association for Swimming and Diving– Nikos Markoulides

4. Cyprus Yachting Federation – R. Nikolaides

5. Cyprus Ski Group – Nearchos Theodorou

6. Biathlon-Pentathlon Federation – D. Pantelides

7 Judo Federation – Fivos Christou

The representative of the Wrestling Federation,Ahmet Shener, did not attend.

The efforts towards establishing the CyprusOlympic Committee weren’t without its problems.Preliminary works began in 1971 with a series ortalks but it wasn’t until the intervention of theCyprus Sports Organisation that the negotiationsfinally came to a positive end. The political climatein the Cyprus Republic at the time was not at itsbest and the situation escalated for the worse justfive weeks later when a coup d'état whichoverthrew the government was followed by thedestructive Turkish invasion of 20 July, 1974.

The establishmentof the COC (CyprusOlympic Committee)

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The associations and their representatives who took part in the meeting to establish the COC, on Monday 10 June, 1974.


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Many important sports facilities were lost due to the Turkish invasion of 20 July, 1974. The biggest tragedy wasthe loss of hundreds of lives whilst many others are still missing today.

In this picture you can see the PAEEK Kyrenia basketball team which still has three players missing to this daysince the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.


31


Along with many other sectors of the island,Cypriot sports suffered greatly after theTurkish invasion of July, 1974. Sports

facilities, stadiums and even equipment wereseized under Turkish control along with 37% of theisland. Refugees surpassed 200,000 andhundreds more are still missing even today as aresult of the Turkish invasion. It also resulted intotal catastrophe to most of the island’s economywhilst dozens of sports clubs were left homeless.With sports officials and athletes also listed asmissing persons, 1975 saw sports on the islandslowly begin to find its feet again.

Despite the hardship, the Cyprus OlympicCommittee tried all that it could to help the clubsand association become operational again whileefforts continued to submit new associations.Those efforts were also strenuous after theOlympic Committee was also left without a homebut also with little funds. It was little wonder thatthe Cyprus Olympic Committee was deprived ofmoving forward.

In a letter dated 30 September 1975, thehonourable President of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee, Stelios Garanis – who was alsoPresident of the Cyprus Sports Organisation,handed in his resignation due to professionalreasons which we keeping him much of the timeabroad.

That letter was relayed to the member associationson 19 December, 1975 and shortly afterwardscame the resignation of the Honourable Secretaryof the COC, Alekos Klerides. 1975 was thus a hardyear for the COC amidst a time when employmenton the island was also a problem for many and, asa result, many Cypriots had sought work abroadin neighbouring and Arabic countries. Being bothindustrialists by profession and due to the recentoverload of work, both men were unable tocontinue offering their services to the sport.

35 Years, 1974-2009

Rebuilding sportsin Cyprus

The former President of the Republic Glafkos Clerideswas always in support of Cypriot sports and theOlympic Movement on the island. The COC honouredhim for his great service to sports especially during thedifficult years.


32

1976 also saw the need to rebuild the boardof the Cyprus Olympic Committee. Earlierthat year following the resignation of Stelios

Garanis, the Second General Meeting of theCyprus Olympic Committee took place onTuesday 20 January 1976 with the representativesof the seven associations. The sole aim of theGeneral Meeting was to fill the vacant positions ofthe Honourable President and HonourableGeneral Secretary.

After much consultation and exchanges ofopinion, it was decided that a three-member panelwould be created to undertake the duties pendingagainst the Honourable Secretary Alekos Klerides.The three-member panel was comprised ofDemetrakis Demetriades, Ivikos Vorkas andNearchos Theodorou.

The panel wanted to include the position of anHonourable Vice President within the framework ofthe Cyprus Olympic Committee. During the ThirdGeneral Meeting, which took place on Tuesday 3February, 1976, an amendment to the regulationswas made and the position of a Vice President wascreated. Also created was the first TechnicalCommittee. Following a series of elections whichfollowed, Demetrakis Demetriades was elected asthe Honourable President with Ivikos Vorkaselected as Honourable Vice Chairman. The positionof Honourable Secretary went to Alekos Klerides.

The first Technical Committee was comprised ofAndreas Hadjivasileiou, Fivos Christou and NikosMarkoulides.

The new team of the Cyprus Olympic Committeeas well as the Technical Committee had set outsome primary targets which both bodies began towork towards fervently. They were internationalrecognition for the Cyprus Olympic Committee,the membership of the local associations to theirrespective international bodies and to kick-startcertain associations that had become dormant.

Apart from those targets, which were also thepillars behind the Olympics, was also the desire forthe development and preservation of the OlympicMovement in Cyprus, the implementation of theOlympic Charter which is the driving mechanismbehind all International Sports Associations. Alsoimportant was finding the components fororganisation, preparation and selection incooperation with the relative associations, teamsand athletes for their participation in internationalgames under the wing of the COC.

Gold medals at the WorldGymnasiadeStill reeling from the blow of the Turkish invasion,attempts to keep sports alive kept going.

The Cyprus national team sent out a strongmessage to the whole world that sports on theisland would fight to survive by securing two goldmedals at the World Gymnasiade in New Orleans.

Two pupils, Rodosthenous Michalis – whosecured a distance of 7.42m in the long jump –and Antonis Giorgallidis – who finished with atime of 21.40 in the 200m track event – took firstplace in their respective events and the goldmedals. Other male and female athletes alsohad impressive finishes at the same event.

Rebuildingthe Cyprus OlympicCommittee Board



33

Dimitrakis Demetriades (left), who had a leading role in the Cyprus Olympic Committee from 3 February,1976 until April, 1984 and contributed greatly to the recognition of the Cyprus Olympic Committee. Mr.Demetriades was also a Board of Directors member of the Cyprus Sports Organisation.

Sports in Cyprus began to find its feet following the negative impact by the Turkish invasion of Cyprusback in 1974. In 1976, Cyprus took part in the World Gymnasiade Championships for students in NewOrleans. Cypriot students secured gold medals at those games. Antonis Georgallides on the left.


34

Soteris Kaiafas had a starring role with his two goals in Omonia’s sensational 4-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam at theMakarios Stadium on 7.11.1979.

Sotiris Kaiafas is congratulated by the President of the Republic of Cyprus (Archibishop Makarios III) after finishingtop scorer in Europe with his 39 goals in the Cypriot league championship.


35


35 Years, 1974-2009

Since its introduction back in 1974, the soleaim of the Cyprus Olympic Committee wasits international recognition by the

International Olympic Committee.

The ustable political climate that was created in1974 with the Turkish invasion of the island wassomething that had dampened efforts for itsrecognition. Therefore, the years between 1974and 1976 were somewhat negative times in termsof relations with the IOC.

1974 saw the visit of the Honourable COCSecretary Alekos Klerides in Lausanne (13.10.1974)where he held talks with the Technical Director ofthe IOC, its President Mr. Henry R. Banks and LordKillanin.

A series of correspondence followed with the IOCwithout any fruitful outcome whilst a full report onCypriot sports was also sent to the IOC.

One crucial meeting that had been held talksabroad with certain officials of the InternationalOlympic Movement was that which took place on7 June, 1977.

A two-member representation consisting of thePresidents of the CSO and COC, Mr. Lazaridesand Mr. Demetriades, arrived in Moscow andBudapest, where they held a series of talks. InMoscow, apart from meeting officials of theRussian Olympic Movement, a meeting was alsoheld with Juan Antonio Samaranch who was theSpanish Ambassador to Moscow.

In Budapest, the representation met with Dr. AlpadCsanadi, General Secretary of the HungarianOlympic Committee and member of the IOCExecutive Committee. The representation hadgiven its pledge that the constitution of the COCas well as the recognised Cypriot SportsOrganisations would not exclude Turkish-Cypriotathletes.

In 1977, the Executive Council of the IOC did notapprove the membership of the COC for fullaccession and instead requested furtherinformation. The main reason behind the IOC’stentativeness and in particular its ExecutiveCouncil was the current political climate in Cyprus.

Unfazed, the efforts of the CSO and the COCheightened in relentless pursuit of accession whilstthe Cyprus Government was continuouslyinformed on the ongoing events and negotiations.

A great achievementFootball in Cyprus has experienced some greatand magical moments.

One of those moments was undoubtedly thecrowning of an international footballer of OmoniaNicosia as Europe’s top scorer.

During the 1975-1976 season, Sotiris Kaiafas’s39 goals in the Cypriot championship wentunmatched across the European continent andhe was awarded the “Golden Boot”. Such wasthe success of Sotiris Kaiafas, that he washonoured by the then President of the CyprusRepublic, the Honourable Archbishop Makarios.

Main aim, the recognitionof the COC


The continuous efforts for membership andmethodic talks with officials of the IOC, theCyprus Republic’s constant publicity on the

political problem in Cyprus but also the high-leveltalks finally resulted in a positive outcome for theCOC when they were made a preliminary memberof the IOC.

That decision came about during the 80th Summitof the International Olympic Committee which tookplace in May 1978 in Athens at the Caravel Hotel.Only the final recognition remained and the decisionwas set to be made at the next Summit which wasset to take place in April 1979 in Montevideo.

The satisfaction of the preliminary recognition wasalso felt in the political circles as it meant thatCyprus had the opportunity to take part in theOlympic Games.

It also meant that our teams and athletes couldtake part in International Games but also other

major sporting events such as the CommonwealthGames and the Mediterranean Games.

Sports officials and coaches also had the chanceto be further educated under the OlympicSolidarity Movement.

The preliminary recognition of the COC also left theGovernment of the Cyprus Republic – which wasfully informed of the ongoing negotiations prior toits preliminary recognition – very satisfied.

Indeed, the then Presidential Minister DinosMichaelides had even visited the Cyprus Sports Or-ganisation offices and opinions were exchanged onthe COC’s request for recognition by the IOC. Itwas little wonder then, that the COC’s preliminaryrecognition had created a climate of hope for many.

In the sports community, the preliminaryrecognition which coincided with the developmentprogramme of the Cyprus Sports Organisation(1978-1982) caught the attention of everyoneinvolved in sports on the island.

The preliminary recognition of the COC and theimplementation of the five-year developmentprogramme of the CSO, were two importantfactors that further inspired sports, both on the fieldand administratively. It should be noted that duringthe 80th Summit of the International OlympicCommittee, which took place in May 1978 inAthens and had the preliminary recognition of theCOC on the agenda, there was a positive receptionfrom the IOC and the Greek officials of the GreekOlympic Committee and member of the IOC.

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The preliminaryrecognition of the COC


In the Neo Phaliron Games between Greece, Spain andBelgium, Philippos Philippou had an impressivetournament in the competition which took place on15/7/1978. Philipou resided in the Turkish occupiedvillage of Rizokarpaso. It was a remarkable achievementat the time.


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38

COC President Demetrakis Demetriades (left) handing out awards.


39


The full recognition of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee by the IOC was a greatlandmark for the island back in 1979. Full

recognition was achieved on 10 April, 1979 duringthe 81st Summit of the IOC which took place inMontevideo.

The official recognition of the COC came in atelegram which was sent to the CSO by theSecretary of the IOC, Monique Berlioux, on 11April, 1979. The CSO had requested the daybefore to be informed by telegram if the COC’srequest had been accepted.

Words of congratulations via telegrams andtelephone calls began to pour in from friends of theCyprus Olympic Committee, such as Dr. AlpadCsanadi, General Secretary of the HungarianOlympic Committee and member of the IOCExecutive Committee.

The recognition of the Cyprus Olympic Committeewas a unique accomplishment that furthershielded the status of the Cyprus Republic.

The full recognition of the Cyprus OlympicCommittee also gave the green light for Cypriotrepresentation at major International Games suchas the following winter and summer OlympicGames, which were taking place in 1980 in LakePlacid and Moscow respectively. It was the firsttime that Cyprus was to take part in the OlympicGames with its own athletes and teams. It shouldbe noted that prior to the recognition of the CyprusOlympic Committee, no personnel was availableand all the administrative duties were beingconducted by the members of the board.

The COC was based at the Cyprus SportsOrganisation offices whilst Mr. DemetrisDemetriades, who was Honourary President of theCOC, and Alekos Klerides, who was HonourarySecretary of the COC, both belonged to the CSO.Demetriades was a member of the CSO Board ofDirectors whilst Klerides was General Director ofthe CSO. Mr. Andreas Hadjivasileiou, who waspart of the COC Technical Committee, was alsoHead of the Sports and Sports FacilitiesDepartment of the CSO. Therefore, efforts werethen made underway to move the COC to its ownseparate headquarters

35 Years, 1974-2009

The Cyprus OlympicCommittee becomes afull member of the IOC


40 In 1980, Cyprus participated at the OlympicGames for the first time as an independentstate. Previously, Cypriot male and female

athletes had taken part in the Olympic Gamesunder the colours of Greece.

The first official participation of Cypriot athletes atthe Olympic Games were at Lake Placid in theUnited States with Lina Aristodemou and PhilipsXenofontos taking their bows for Cyprus.Following the winter games at Lake Placid, camethe Olympic Games in Moscow.

During the Olympic Games in Moscow, Cyprustook part with Paris Fylaktou, Linos Petrides,Anabella Drousiotou and Olga Loizou in theswimming event. Costas Papacostas, PanicosEvripidou, Constantinos Constantinou, Neofytos

Arestis and Spyros Spyrou took part in the judoevent. In the sailing event, Panicos Rimis, DemetrisDemetriou, Panagiotis Nikoloau as well as Mariosand Georgios Karapatakis took part whilst LambrosKefalas and Maroulla Lambrou-Teloni took part inthe track event with the National Team of Greece.

From 1980 up until the 2008 Beijing Olympics,Cyprus has never failed to make an appearance inboth the winter and summer Olympic Games.


The historic debut of the Cyprus Olympic team at theWinter Olympic Games in Lake Placid (13-24 February1980) and in the Summer Olympic Games of Moscow in1980 (19 July-3 August 1980) right.

Cyprus’ debut bowat the Olympic Games


41


42

The first indoor arena in Nicosia, ‘Lefkotheo’.


43


Classical sports was and still what Cypruscontinues to find its success. In 1981,Cyprus’ Marios Kassianidis secured first

place at the Balkan Cross Country Championshipsin the 12,000m event.

It was an important victory which showed theimportant work being done for our classical sportsat the sports clubs in Cyprus. In the same year,Marios Kassianidis also put on an impressiveperformance at the International Cross Countryevent in Madrid.

Apart from the successes of Marios Kassianidis,Cyprus had two track athletes excel in thewomen’s events and more specifically MelinaMenelaou at the Spain-Greece InternationalGames where she clinched first place in the 400mtrack event with a time of 56.00, which was also aPanhellenic record for young female athletes.

Another Cypriot athlete, Efi Mouzourou secured anew Panhellenic record in the same year with atime of 55.23 also in the 400m track event.

Important worksOne important landmark in our sports in 1981 wasthe completion of two vital sports structures.

The first indoor arena in Nicosia called ‘Lefkotheo’was built with a seating capacity of 3,000. Also inthe same year, the New Larnaca Stadium was alsocompleted.

Both venues played a huge part in helping to movesports forward in Cyprus.

Great accomplishmentat the Balkan Games

35 Years, 1974-2009

Marios Kassianides was a prominent figure in track andfield. In 1981, he won the gold medal at the InternationalBalkan Games in the 12km race.


44

IOC President in Cyprus


The first official visit by the then newly appointed President of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. JuanAntonio Samaranch, was to Cyprus. This picture is from the first news conference that he gave. Left to right, IosifHadjiosif, General Secretary of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, Demetrakis Demetriades, President Juan AntonioSamaranch and Mr. Nikolaos Nisiotis, a member of the International Olympic Committee.

In 1982, an important event took place for theCyprus Olympic Committee with the visit of thethen IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The visit was deemed a total success and amessage of how Cypriot sports had moved onwas sent. The IOC President – who held a pressconference at the Hilton Hotel – was alsowelcomed by the then President of the CyprusRepublic, the Honourable Spyros Kyprianou.

Demetrakis Demetriades, President of the COC,and the General Secretary Iosif Hadjiosif, alsoaccompanied the IOC President to meet thePresident of the CSO Kikis Lazarides.

A lot of important messages were sent out by theIOC President on many matters concerning theOlympic Movement whilst he also had theopportunity to be informed on the OlympicMovement in Cyprus.


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35 Years, 1974-2009

Gaining its autonomy from Greece in 1983 was a very important landmark for the Cyprus Amateur AthleticAssociation. The CAAA became a full member of the IAAF.

The late Kleanthis Georgiades (left), President of the Cyprus Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA), played a majorrole in this development. He was then a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Olympic Committee andthe Board of the National Olympic Academy.

In 1983, another important event occurred in thefield of classic sports. The Federation of ClassicSports in Cyprus left the Union of GreekGymnastic and Athletics Clubs in Greece (SEGAS)in a bid to further enhance our state unity. Therequest by the Cyprus Amateur AthleticAssociation (CAAA) to join the IAAF, theInternational Association of Athletics Federations,was examined during an IAAF meeting which tookplace the following year in Los Angeles where theOlympic Games were held.

During the COC minutes 10/84 (24August, 1984) Item 5, the COCPresident Kikis Lazarides spoke ofthe important success of theCAAA’s membership to the IAAFand also praised the handling of thematter by CAAA President, theHonourable Kleanthis Georgiades.

In order for the CAAA’s accession totake place, different peopleundertook the task to make ithappen including the COCPresident Kikis Lazarides and theCOC Secretary Iosif Hadjiosif as well

as the Presidential Minister to the Cyprus RepublicMr. Dinos Michaelides.

The parting of ways between the Cypriot trackathletes and Greece in 1983 was an importantevent that needed to be dealt with properly. TheCypriot track athletes were taken on by Cypriotcoaches whilst some athletes preferred to stay onand prepare in Greece ahead of the Los AngelesOlympics because they were still studying at GreekUniversities.

The Cyprus Olympic Committee worked veryclosely with the Federation for track in Cyprus,CAAA, so as not to create a serious problem withthe parting of ways for track between Greece andCyprus.

Track Federation ofCyprus Republic is madeindependent


46

1984 saw our Olympic team taking part in theOlympic Games in Los Angeles. Duringthose games, shooting athlete Petros

Kyritsis had a good run after hitting 192/200 andsecuring 13th place. Lack of experience cost ourathlete the bronze medal but could still look backon an impressive performance. In the same year,he scored 964/1000 securing a new Cypriotrecord whilst he came tenth at the InternationalGames in Wales with a score of 192/200 andeleventh at the European Championships in Spainwith a score of 198/200.

• In the same year, Maroulla Lambrou Teloni,regarded by many as the greatest female athletein Cypriot sports, scored 11” 7 in the 100m in Julybefore bettering that time with a finish of 11” 5 inAugust. She then secured a new record beforetaking part at the Makarios International Meetingwhere she scored a time of 11.85 before comingfirst in the 100m event with a time of 11.80 at theInternational Games in Patra.

• In chess, Marios Schinis clinched the gold medalat the 26 Chess Olympiad which took place inNovember in Thessaloniki.

The year of 1984 was a truly an Olympic year forour athletes who excelled themselves with theirtireless performances.

Through those efforts came more impressiveperformances such as that achieved by ChristosChristou in swimming where he secured 6 victories(3 in individual and 3 in team events).

Another swimmer, Anna Maria Stefanidou, alsomade great progress after scoring a time of1.23.44 in the 100m breaststroke event and3.04.70 in the 200m event.

Close to an Olympicachievement


Shooting athlete Petros Kyritsis performed well at theLos Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. He finished in13th place with a score of 192/200.


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The year 1985 saw important moments intrack and field. Maroulla Lambrou Telonibroke 5 Cypriot records whilst also clinching

important international victories. In the long jumpevent she secured a leap of 6.80m whilst alsofinishing with a time of 11.73 in the 100m. In theheptathlon event she scored 5.06.2, in the 200m,she finished with a time of 24.39 and was also partof the 4x100 relay team that secured a Cypriotrecord at the Games of the Small States of Europein San Marino with a time of 46.53. At those samegames, she won the gold in the 100m event with atime of 12.04 and in the long jump event with aleap of 6.30m. At the Bruno Zauli Cup in Austria,Maroulla won the 100m event.

• At the same competition in the track event, firstplace was also secured in the triple jump event.1985 also saw Marios Hadjiandreou secure a newCypriot record in the triple jump event with a leapof 16.69m, a score he equaled in the three-nationcompetition which took place in Yugoslavia andalso featured Italy and Cyprus.

• Another important moment in 1985 was whenthe Cyprus National Basketball Team took thegold medal at the Games of the Small States ofEurope which took place in San Marino.

• In sailing, the silver medal was won by GeorgiosMalaktos and Eftychios Eleftheriou in the category470 event which took place at the InternationalSurfing Games in Alexandria. It was an important

victory which showed that the island was a risingstrength in the field of sailing.

• The end of 1985 was marked with the twoCypriot records that were sealed by swimmingathlete Anna Maria Stefanidou in the 100mbreaststroke event with a time of 1.21.97 and inthe 200m breaststroke event with a time of3.04.25. Swimming also saw two more Cypriotrecords sealed by Nikolas Michael in the 100mbackstroke event with a time of 1.07.61 and2.32.65 in the 200m backstroke event.

Important timesin track and field

35 Years, 1974-2009

In 1985, Maroulla Lambrou-Teloni had achieved someremarkable results in the track and field events. Thepinnacle was her 6.80m leap in the long jump event.


48

The year 1986 was also a very good year forCypriot sports. In classic sports, two bigrecords were secured by Andri Avraam in

the 800m women’s event with her time of 2.06.93and in the 1500m event with her time of 4.14.45.This great athlete also took records in the 3,000mand 400m hurdles in both the youth and women’scompetitions.

• In track, we saw Michalis Rososthenous equalthe previous record in the long jump event with hisleap of 7.86. The record had been previouslysecured in 1982 by Demetris Araouzos.

• In swimming, a Cypriot record was made byStavros Michaelides in the 200m freestyle youthevent, which was also a men’s record, with histime of 2.07.74. In the 400m freestyle event,Stavros Michaelides scored a time of 4.39.76which was also new Cypriot record.

Cooperation with other nations• One area which the Cyprus Olympic Committeeparticularly focused on was cooperation with othernations in the field of sports.

In 1986, the Cyprus Olympic Committee movedtowards signing a protocol of cooperation with theNational Olympic Committee of France – a nationwell advanced in international sports. For thesigning of the agreement in June 1986, thePresident of the National Olympic Committee ofFrance Mr. Nelson Paillou came to Cyprus.

A protocol was also signedbetween the Cyprus OlympicCommittee and Syria as well aswith other nations. But it wasthe protocol with France whichwas seen as an especiallyimportant event.

To this day, the CyprusOlympic Committee organiseseducational seminars forcoaches but also for officialsand association members afterthe close cooperation that wasmade with the IOC in theOlympic Solidarite sector.


The ceremony that followed the signing of the first protocol in sports betweenCyprus and France .

Important achievementsin 1986


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In 1987, Cyprus made some important victoriesat the Mediterranean Games, which took placein Latakia, with two athletes taking gold medals

at the event.

Following a playoff stage between two Italianathletes for the first place finish, shooting athleteMike Tymvios fired 63/63 – having previouslyscored 197/200 – for an overall 260/263 total toclaim the gold meal in the skeet event. It was agreat triumph for our athlete who went up againsttwo great and experienced opponents in the bigfinal.

The other gold was won by Marios Hadjiandreou inthe triple-jump event with a leap of 16.48m. Thatwas also an important feat for Cyprus withHadjiandreou also up against some bigopponents. Apart from his success at theMediterranean Games at Latakia, Hadjiandreoualso had other successes.

In May at the Bruno Zauli Games in Athens, hesecured the gold in the triple-jump event with aleap of 16.47m.

Swimming1987 also saw successes in swimming followingthe impressive progress of female swimmerAnabella Drousiotou and male swimmer StavrosMichaelides.

• During 1987, Anabella Drousiotou secured fivePancyprian records in the 100m backstroke,

200m freestyle, 200m medley, 50m freestyle and50m backstroke. Anabella Drousiotou won sixmedals at the Games of the Small States ofEurope which were held in Monaco in the singleand team events.

• In the same year, Stavros Michaelides alsoshowed good qualities after securing sevenPancyprian youth and men’s records in the 100mbutterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 1,500mfreestyle, 50m butterfly, 200m medley and 400mfreestyle. He also secured a bronze medal in the4x100 medley at the Games of the Small States ofEurope. It was the year which showed just whatStavros Michaelides was capable of in swimming.

Gold medals at theMediterranean Games

35 Years, 1974-2009

Shooting athlete Mike Tymvios secured a gold medal atthe Mediterranean Games which took place in Latakiaafter making 260 successful hits out of 263.


50

The ceremony which followed the inauguration of the Cyprus National Olympic Academy which tookplace at the Nicosia Hilton Hotel on the 30 March, 1987.


51

The late President of the Republic, Spyros Kyprianou, gives a speech during the opening ceremonyof the Cyprus National Olympic Academy’s inauguration.

IOC member Nikos Filaretos reads out the welcoming speech on behalf of Juan AntonioSamaranch.


52

The late Spyros Kyprianou officially opens the Olympic exhibits showroom following the inaugurationof the National Olympic Academy.


53

The Olympic Museum Operating Officer Andreas Hadjivasiliou, Ouranios Ioannides and the then NicosiaMayor Lellos Demetriades at the Olympic artefacts exhibition which took place at the Hilton Hotel.


54 In 1988, Cyprus once again made itsappearance at the Olympic Games. A notableachievement at those games was not made but

what counted in the end was the island’sparticipation. Maroulla Lambrou Teloni, however,did finish a creditable 21st in the long jump eventwith her leap of 6.29m. The athlete could havemade the top sixth if one of her jumps was notruled out by the judges. What counted was the factthat our athletes gave the best of themselves in theevents for track, sailing, shooting and judo.

The President of the Republic atthe COC offices 1988 also saw, for the first time since the COC’sestablishment, the visit of the President of theCyprus Republic to the offices of the CyprusOlympic Committee.

The visit by the then President of the Republic,Georgios Vasiliou, was made on Friday 13 May. ThePresident of the Republic was accompanied by thethen Education Minister Mr. Andreas Philipou andthe President of the CSO, Mr. Ouranios Ioannides.

The visit was an especially important one due to thefact that the President of the Organising Committeefor the Small States of Europe Games, KikisLazarides, informed President Georgios Vasiliou onthe ongoing developments ahead of the games.

The involvement of the Cyprus Republic, via theCyprus Sports Organisation, in the organisation ofthe Small States of Europe Games was the mainsupport behind the Organising Committee for thegames.

The Cyprus Sports Organisation’s creation andupgrading of sports facilities went a long way inhelping the Olympic Committee and theOrganising Committee for the games.

The Board of Directors of the CSO, which underthe then presidency of Mr. Ouranios Ioannides,swiftly moved towards the implementing ofnecessary sports facilities.

The cooperation between the CSO and the COCwas an instant success and the hosting of theGames for the Small States of Europe was sealedthe following year, something which raised theimage of the Cyprus Olympic Committee.

Cyprus at the OlympicGames in Seoul


Mike Tymvios as flag bearer.


55

The former President of the Republic George Vasiliou and the former COC President Kikis Lazaridesadmire the games’ mascot. Also with them are Education Minister Andreas Philippou and thePresident of the Cyprus Sports Organisation, Ouranios Ioannides.


56


Cyprus successfully hosted the III Games ofthe Small States of Europe in May. TheGames of the Small States of Europe are a

good indicator of progress for all the participatingnations and their athletes. According to the visitingteams, the games were a great success but workwas needed ahead of the games with the CyprusSports Organisation – which was headed by thenPresident Ouranios Ioannides – bound withcreating certain sports facilities and upgrading.

The investments which went towards creating thenecessary facilities and upgrading paid off in theend as the organisers looked back on a successfulevent. A prime example of this accomplishmentwas the creation of the Cyprus Olympic Range inNicosia which also went a long way towardsimproving the standards of Cyprus shooting – withsome shooting athletes at the top of the worldrankings.

That was epitomised none more so than Cyprus’sshooting athletes who finished 4th, 5th and 7th atlast summer’s Olympics in Beijing.

The great gains from hosting the Games of theSmall States of Europe were not just from thecreation of better sports facilities and theupgrading of others.

A huge experience was learnt from organising theevent. A lot of people were involved in making theGames of the Small States of Europe a successincluding sports officials and volunteers.

The experience gained from hosting the Games ofthe Small States of Europe also went a long waytowards hosting other major events such as theWorld Gymnasiade and other competitions suchshooting, tennis, cycling and basketball to name afew.

Another positive taken from hosting the event wasthat Cyprus secured some important and excellentrelations with other nations taking part in thegames.

It is therefore no coincidence that many of theevent organisers are now members of internationalboards for sports.

The COC successfullyhosts the Games of theSmall States of Europe

The former President of the Republic of CyprusGeorgios Vasiliou was particularly interested as theisland geared up to host the Games of the Small Statesof Europe in 1989.


57


58

The lighting of the torch at the Makarios Stadium.


59

It was a capacity crowd at the Makarios Stadium during the opening ceremony.


60

The opening ceremony of the III Games of the Small States of Europe.


61

The entrance of the national teams at the Makarios Stadium.


62

The National Team of Cyprus with Maroulla Lambrou-Teloni as flag bearer.


63

The Cyprus National Volleyball Team.

Cyprus celebrates its success at the games.


64


65

Angelos Kotsonis, Kikis Lazarides, Loukis Terezopoulos and Andreas Stavrouat the closing ceremony.

The writing on the banner being held by the visiting athletes says it all…


66

The Cypriot flag hung high and proud at theCommonwealth Games in Auckland, NewZealand.

Marios Hadjiandreou’s triple-jump leap of 16.96was not only impressive, but also secured him avital victory and first place against big opponentsincluding Jonathon Edwards who would later goon to secure gold at the Olympics.

The gold medal clinched at the games in Aucklandis still to this day considered to be one of thegreatest triumphs by a Cypriot athlete.

The largely important victory of Hadjiandreou atthe Commonwealth Games was followed by hisequally impressive performance at the AthensGrand Prix games where he took second positionand the silver medal in the triple-jump with a leap of16.9m. The year of 1991 was one of the best incareer of Marios Hadjiandreou.

The Commonwealth Games in Auckland also sawanother dominant performance by a Cypriotathlete as Georgios Sakellis took the silver medalin the shooting event (187/200).

The silver medal triumph by Georgios Sakellis atthe Commonwealth Games in Auckland was thehighlight of his career.

At the same games, runner Andri Avraam also putin a tremendous effort in the marathon eventfinishing with a time of 2.39’18’ to seal sixth placeand that was followed by other similar successesby Andri Avraam in 1990.

History is made inAuckland


Marios Handjandreou clinched the gold medal forCyprus in the triple jump event with a leap of 16.95m,in his debut participation at the Commonwealth Games.


67


The year of 1991 proved to be one of thefinest years in the history of sports inCyprus. The words of the then President of

the Cyprus Sports Organisation and nowPresident of the Cyprus Olympic Committee,Ouranios Ioannides, in his address to the athletes,summed up that success:

”The athletes who outdid themselves will beforever remembered for the great service theygave to Cypriot sports since it began and have, ineffect, given great incentives for their fellowathletes to strive forward and bring us moresuccess.

• Marios Hadjiandreou – with his giant leap of17.13 in the triple-jump at the MediterraneanGames in Athens – secured the gold and a newMediterranean Games record. It was the greatestmoment in his career.

• The second place finish and the silver medal wonat the Mediterranean Games by StavrosMichaelides in the 50m freestyle swimming eventwas also considered a towering success.

Michaelides also secured two gold medals at theGames of the Small States of Europe in Andorra inwhich he took first place in the 50m freestyle and100m butterfly event as well as a bronze medal inthe 100m freestyle event.

• At the European Youth Championships whichtook place in Thessalonica, Georgios Loukaidestook the gold in the 3000m steeplechase eventwith 8’.45”.04. The same athlete, also in 1991,also secured several Pancyprian records in the1500m, 10,000m as well as in the 2000m and3000m steeplechase.

A year filled with someof the best triumphs

35 Years, 1974-2009

Track athlete Georgios Loukaides won a gold medal atthe European Youth Championships, which took placein Thessalonica, in the 3000m steeplechase event witha time of 8’.45”.04


68

Cyprus had yet another year of success insports with several notable achievementsmade by Cypriot athletes on the

international stage. Stavros Michaelides had aparticularly good year in swimming. He managedto topple five Cypriot records – in the 50m freestyleevent (three times) and the 100m freestyle event(twice).

They were important achievements which marked

the status of Stavros Michaelides and showedwhat a great talent he was.

• Another great athlete having a great year wastrack runner Yiannis Zisimides.

At the four nation games which took place inAthens, he won the 100m event with a time of10.41 whilst in the meeting in Israel he won the100m and 200m event.

• Another track athlete making waves was ElliEvangelidou who broke the Cypriot shot putrecord in the indoor field event with her throw of15.70m and the outdoor field event with a throwof 15.58m.

Elli also managed to qualify for the Olympic Gamesin Barcelona without, however, managing toachieve her target.

• Another athlete making headlines in 1992 wasswimmer Vaso Lakkotrypi. After securing 11records in total, the swimmer made people takenote of her talent. Vaso broke records in the 50mfreestyle event, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and200m butterfly events.

• Swimming success was also marked by theremarkable progress that was made in 1992 byyoungster Polly Ioannou who, at the age of 14,broke no less than 12 Cypriot records in the 200mand 400m medley events.

• Shooting athlete Georgios Sakellis, who apart fromhis achievements at the Pancyprian Championshipswhere he was crowned champion, also managed tosome notable success at international games.

He won the bronze medal at the CommonwealthGames in Ireland in the skeet event whilst at theEuropean Championships in Turkey, he sealedfourth place.

Another year of success


Yiannis Zisimides achieved a time of 10.41' in the 100mrace, at the Four Nations Games that took place inAthens.


69


It could be said that 1993 was a very good yearfor Cypriot sports in the individual and teamevents.

• In the team event, Cypriot basketball teamPezoporikos Larnaca managed to reach the thirdround of the Korac Cup after beating Israeliheavyweights Hapoel Eilat 86-80. It was the firsttime that a Cypriot team had gone so far in aEuropean competition.

• Antonis Soteriou had another good year inshooting after clinching the gold medal at theGames of the Small States of Europe (Malta)before then going on to win the bronze in the skeetevent at the European Grand Prix and the goldmedal at the European Youth Championships inthe Czech Republic. He followed up that successwith the silver medal at the CommonwealthGames in England. He also enjoyed success withthe national teams.

• Four gold medals were won at the Games of theSmall States of Europe which took place in Malta byDora Kyriakou (200m, 400m, 4x100 and 4x400m)who once again showing her strength in track.

• At the 1993 FILA Wrestling World Championshipsin Toronto, Canada, in the men’s freestylecompetition, Arout Parsekian finished eighth in the62kilo event.

• Poly Ioannou continued with her impressiveperformances after securing seven Cypriotrecords in the youth competition and anotherseven in the women’s competition. She won twogold medals at the Games of the Small States of

Europe (200m breaststroke and 200m medley),one silver (400m medley) and one bronze (100mbreaststroke).

• Elias Louka secured the silver medal with a timeof 18.41 at the European Championships in Spain.

• Swimmer Stavros Michaelides secured thebronze medal in the 50m freestyle event with atime of 23.21 at the Mediterranean Games inFrance whilst he also won a gold medal at theGames of the Small States of Europe in the 50mfreestyle event and the bronze medal in the 100mbutterfly event.

• Another swimmer riding high was Marina Zorpawho also took part in the Games of the SmallStates of Europe and in the eight events she tookpart in, won two golds, four silvers and two bronzemedals. It was a terrific show from Marina Zorpa.

Achievementsat many levels

35 Years, 1974-2009

Swimming athlete Marina Zarma took part in eightswimming events at the Games of the Small States ofEurope winning two gold, four silver and two bronzemedals.


70

1994 was a fabulous year for shooting withthe sport rightly described as the one whichtops all achievements for Cyprus at major

international competitions.

Two male shooters and one female shooter securedtremendous achievements at major games.

Antonis Andreou Soteriou won the gold medal at theEuropean Youth Championships in Portugal in theskeet event and also helped the national team in theyouth competition for skeet at the Games of the SmallStates of Europe in San Marino where the Cyprusteam won the gold medal and Soteriou went on toalso win the gold medal in the individual skeet event.Another major coup for Antonis Andreou Soteriouwas when he won the silver medal at the World YouthChampionships which took place in Italy.

At the same games, Cyprus won the gold in theyouth event with the skeet team made up ofAntonis Andreou, Christos Kourtellas and KyriakosChristoforou.

• Another great athlete in shooting, ChristosKourtellas, also enjoyed a year filled with successin 1994.

He was part of the youth team (Antonis Andreou,Christos Kourtellas, D. Moisis) which won the goldmedal in skeet at the European YouthChampionships in Portugal and a gold medal in theskeet event at the World Youth Championships inItaly. He also won the gold medal with the skeetteam at the Commonwealth Games in Canada.

In the individual event, he won a gold medal at thePanhellenic Games which was also dubbed “The

Crete Battle Cup”. He went on to win the silvermedal at the European Youth Championships inPortugal and the silver medal at the Games of theSmall States of Europe in San Marino. A silvermedal was also claimed at the CommonwealthGames in Canada whilst in the team event forskeet he won a bronze medal at the World YouthChampionships in Italy.

Female shooting athlete Fani Theofanous alsotook herself to gold at the Commonwealth Games,which took place in Victoria, Canada, with herscore of 387/400. It was another great success forthe shooting athlete.

In track, we saw an encouraging performance byhigh jumper Fotis Stefani who secured a leap of5.30m at the Commonwealth Games in Canadato finish fourth whilst in the Bruno Zauli Cup inTurkey, he won the silver medal.

A great yearfor shooting


At the European Youth Championships in Portugal,Antonis Andreou Sotiriou won the gold medal in Shooting,at individual and team level. He also won a silver medal atthe International Games that took place in Italy.


71


The year of 1995 could also be described asthe year for shooting, track and wrestlingafter a string of successful results.

• The now internationally acclaimed skeet shooterAntonis Andreou, following his successfulperformances in previous events such as the goldmedal he won in the team event at the WorldYouth Championships in Italy and the silver medalin the same individual event, was riding high againin shooting after winning the gold medal at theEuropean Championships in Finland with a scoreof 124/125 – an achievement which also equaledthe world record at the time.

• In track, Dora Kyriakou continued her impressiverun in 1995.

At the Bruno Zauli Cup games which took place inSlovenia, she managed to secure wins in the200m (24.25) and the 400m with a time of 53.53.

In the same year, Dora Kyriakou managed to twicesecure a new record in the 200m (23.81 and 23.52)whilst in the 400m event she also secured threenew Cypriot records with times of 52.50, 52.46 and52.05. Two more records were also achieved at theIndoor Games with a time of 24.08 in the 200mevent and a time of 53.14m in the 400m event.

• Another important victory was recorded in 1995through shooting athlete Fani Theofanous whowon the bronze medal with a score of 387/400 atthe Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. At theGames of the Small States of Europe in

Luxembourg, Fani Theofanous won the goldmedal with a score of 387/400.

Youth swimmer Nikoletta Michaelidou was makingher presence known after securing 11 Cypriotrecords in the youth competition and another 10in the women’s competition.

The gold medal was also won in the 200m freestyleevent (2.10.80) at the Games of the Small States ofEurope. At the same games, she also won silvermedals in the 400m freestyle (4.36.06), 100mfreestyle (1.07.70) and 4x200 freestyle (9.02.63).The bronze was won in the 800m freestyle(9.41.57) and in the 4x100 medley (4.41.80).

That was topped up with a bronze medal at theBelgian Games after finishing with a time of2.13.03 in the 200m freestyle event.

Shooting, track/field andswimming

35 Years, 1974-2009

Dora Kyriakou won the 200m and 400m in the BrunoZauli Cup in Slovenia.


72

1996 saw the participation of Cypriot sprintathlete Anninos Markoullides at the OlympicGames in Atlanta in which he reached the

quarterfinals of the 100m event. His final finish of 15ththat year – when taking into account all the results –meant that he was the fastest Caucasian with a timeof 10.23. In 1996 at the Bruno Zauli Games in

Belgium, Anninos Markoullides secured the silvermedal in the 200m event with a time of 20.46. Duringthose same games, Cyprus also took the gold in the4x100 relay event with a time of 39.81.

10th place in wrestling For an athlete to finish in the top ten of the OlympicGames is something very important

Wrestler Arout Parsekian was one such athleteafter finishing 10th. Parsekian could have eventaken the bronze medal in his final game had hehad that extra bit experience.

Yiannis Zisimidis 1996 also saw more success in the track eventwith Yiannis Zisimidis securing the best ever timeby a Cypriot athlete when he clocked 10.11 in the100m event of the Vardinoyannia InternationalTrack and Field Meeting in Rethimno, Crete. Withthat record time, Yiannis Zisimidis was ranked 31stin the world.

Andri Agathocleous• One athlete who has had a distinguished careerin the field of gymnastics was also on top in 1996when she took the gold medal in the individualevent at the European Youth Games. During thosegames, which saw 16 European nations take part,Andri Agathocleous finished second best athleteat the games.

Meanwhile at the Games of the Small States ofEurope in Luxembourg, she also took the gold inthe team event with Cyprus, in the individual event,vault, uneven bars, balance beam and in the floorevent. Andri Agathocleous truly wrote herself intoCypriot gymnastics folklore.

The fastest Caucasian inAtlanta


Anninos Markoullides, who secured 15th place at theOlympic Games in Atlanta, finished as the fastestCaucasian sprinter of that year.


73


Cypriot sport made its mark again at theEuropean youth games which this timetook place in Lisbon, Portugal.

Marilia Grigoriou, then just 18 and part of theOlympia Gymnasia Club, secured the gold medalin the 100m hurdles event. In the semifinals, MariliaGrigoriou secured a record time for the games witha time of 13.51. It was a tremendous victory forMarilia Grigoriou who went on to enjoy furthersuccess in 1997.

At the Games of the Small States of Europe, whichtook place in Reykjavik in Iceland, she took secondplace in the same event.

Big successAnninos Markoullides also enjoyed success at theWorld University Games, which took place in Sicilyand involved 175 nations (6,500 athletes), aftertaking the bronze medal in the 200m. At theMediterranean Games which took place in Bari,Italy he took the silver medal in the 100m and thebronze in the 4x100.

He also took two golds in the 100m and 200mduring the Bruno Zauli Cup that took place inDenmark.

Dora Kyriakou 1997 also saw the silver medal won in the 400mwith a time of 52.02 by Dora Kyriakou at the BariMediterranean Games whilst at the Bruno ZauliCup in the same year she won the gold in the400m and the bronze in the 200m.

Great consistencyAntonis Andreou showed what a steady athlete hewas with his performances in 1997.

During the European Championships in Finland,he took the gold medal in the skeet event and thegold medal in the Games of the Small States ofEurope. He followed that up with another goldmedal at the European Shooting Championshipsin Athens.

At the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia, hesealed fifth place in the individual skeet event.Whilst in the Cyprus skeet team, he took the silvermedal at the European Championships in Finlandand at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia butalso the bronze medal at the World ShootingChampionships that were hosted in Cyprus.

Gold at the 100m hurdlesat the EuropeanYouthChampionships

35 Years, 1974-2009

Marilia Grigoriou, won the gold medal in the 100mhurdle event, at the European Youth Championships inLisbon, Portugal.


74

1998 was another important year for Cypriotsports with triumphs around the globe. Inthe track event, Anninos Markoullides and

Dora Kyriakou were in top form.

• Anninos Markoullides took the silver medal in the200m event during the Indoor EuropeanChampionships that were held in Valencia, Spain. Itwas the first time that Cyprus had secured a medalat those games. At the Commonwealth Games inMalaysia he came fourth in the 200m event whilst inthe Bruno Zauli Cup in Belgrade, he took three goldmedals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100.

• Dora Kyriakou, another great track athlete, wonthe gold medal in the 200m of the Bruno Zauli Cup,bronze in the 400m whilst at the CommonwealthGames in Malaysia she finished 15th in the 400m.

In the same year, Antonis Nikolaides, with theCyprus Shooting Team for Skeet, won the goldmedal at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia.

He also won the silver medal in the skeet eventduring the World Shooting Championships thattook place in Brunei.

Such were his successes that the InternationalShooting Sport Federation (ISSF) included him inthe top 12 skeet shooters that took part in theWorld Championships.

• Georgios Achilleos, another great skeet shootingathlete, took the gold medal at the youthchampions, at the international ‘Famous GrouseCyprus Grand Prix’ event. He also sealed gold atthe Games of the Small States of Europe in Andorrawhilst at the European Games which took place inCyprus, he took the silver medal in the silver medal.

• In rhythmic gymnastics, Demetra Sergiou madeher presence felt with her gold medal victory in therope event at the World Gymnasiade in Chinawhilst at the same games in the individual eventshe took fifth place. During those great games,Demetra Sergiou managed to qualify to the allfinals and make the following finishes:Ball (4th), Hoop (5th), Ribbon (8th)

Demetra Sergiou, an athlete of the AMATHUSClub in Limassol, took the gold medal at aninternational tournament in Russia in the individualevent whilst she also took the silver medal in theribbon event.

A year of importantsuccess


RhythmicGymnastDemetraSergiouclinchedthe goldmedal inthe ropeevent atthe WorldGymnasiadein China.


75


In 1999, all cameras from Cypriot sports werepointed towards young swimmer NataliaRoubina who, despite being on 15-years-old (19

July, 1984), won six medals (two gold, two silverand two bronze) at the Games of the Small States ofEurope which took place in Liechtenstein in 1999.

At the European Youth Championships, shefinished 8th in the 200m butterfly event whilst atthe World Cup she finished tenth. 1999 waswithout doubt baptised with the arrival of ourtalented young swimmer.

The successes of Georgios Achilleos 1999 also saw Paphos Shooting Club athleteGeorgios Achilleos have an impressive season. Atthe age of 20 and having completed his nationalservice, he managed to take the gold medal forskeet in the youth event World Games which tookplace in Finland. He also took the gold in the teamevent for skeet.

He then turned on the charm again to take firstplace in the skeet event at the Italian Games aheadof the World Championships.

It was the year of Georgios Achilleos after emergingas one of the finest shooting athletes for skeet andmaking his presence felt on the international stage.

Bronze for KourtellasOne of the best athletes to emerge from shootingwas Christos Kourtellas of the Nicosia Shooting Club.

In 1999, Christos Kourtellas was a valuable part ofthe Cyprus Skeet Team that took part at the WorldShooting Championships in Lima, Peru.

The Cyprus men’s team took the bronze at the WorldChampionships in what was a remarkableachievement for the island. At the same games,Christos Kourtellas also secured a personal accoladeby taking second place in the overall standings.

The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)selected him in their 12 best skeet shooters whotook part in the games in which he finished fifthoverall – the highest ever finish at the time by aCypriot shooter. Shooting athlete Michalis Katzianisat the European Youth Championships in Francewhere he won the gold medal in the skeet eventwith a score of 122/125.

Great success inswimming

35 Years, 1974-2009

Natalia Roubina had an impressive performance at theGames of the Small States of Europe in Liechtenstein,where she won six medals in various swimming events(two gold, two silver and two bronze ones.)


76

The shooting athlete of the occupiedFamagusta Shooting Club, AntonisAndreou, had a good year and his success

was plentiful. The greatest moment of his careeruntil then was finishing eighth at the skeet eventwith a finish of 122/125 at the Olympic Games inSydney. That same finish was also taken by LakisPsimolofitis during the 1972 Olympics in Munichbut he was part of the National Team of Greece.

The success of Antonis Andreou was a great onefor our little Cyprus. But he didn’t’t stop there andin 2000, the remarkable Andreou continued withhis run.

He later won the gold medal in the team event forskeet at the World Cup in New Delhi and the silvermedal in the team at the European Games inMontecatini among others.

Sofia Miaouli

At the Olympic Games in Sydney, we recordedanother important and historical moment forCypriot sports.

For the first time, a Cypriot athlete finished ninthfollowing the finish of shooting athlete SofiaMiaouli. Sofia had finished joint seventh but finallyfinished ninth overall.

Sofia continued her success in 2000 after winningthe silver medal at the International Grand PrixGames which took place in New Delhi.

Miaouli had been selected by the Cyprus ShootingSport Federation as one of the best 12 Cypriotshooters and she took part in the Pancyprian Cupfinals where she finished sixth amongst the maleshooters.

Olympic Achievement for Antonis Andreou in Sydney


Sofia Miaouli finished in ninth place in the skeet event atthe Olympic Games in Sydney.


77


2001 was a great year for AnninosMarkoullides. At the Mediterranean Gamesin Tunisia, he managed to win two medals

for Cyprus with a remarkable time of 20.60 to takethe gold whilst in the 100m event he won thebronze medal with a time of 10.21. In the sameyear, Anninos Markoullides took the silver medalat the Bruno Zauli Cup games.

His success in 2001 didn’t stop there.

At the Games for the Small States of Europe,which took place in San Marino, he took first placein the 100m and 200m events whilst he was alsopart of the Cyprus team in the 4x100 relay eventwhich saw them seal the gold medal.

• At the Games for the Small States of Europe inSan Marino, the great class of swimmer MariaPapadopoulou also shone after winning fivemedals (three gold and two silver).

Maria also took part in the Mediterranean Gamesin Tunisia where she took the bronze medal in the100m butterfly event.

It was without doubt the year that MariaPapadopoulou showed her talent and class.

The success in track and swimming was one ofthe crowning achievements for sports in 2001whilst more triumphs were made by Cypriotathletes in individual and team events.

Track/field and swimming

35 Years, 1974-2009

Maria Papadopoulou.


78

The tough training, continuous efforts andfaith in his own abilities helped HerodotosGeorgallas secure a great victory after

getting first place and the gold medal in the ringsevent for Olympiad Gymnastics during theCommonwealth Games in Manchester. It was agreat success for Herodotos who continued towork towards Olympic glory and continuedsecuring important successes for Cyprus with hisconsistent form.

Important victory for Alissa KallinikouAlissa Kallinikou was one of the track athletes whoshowed what she was capable of. During 2002,Alissa secured the gold medal at the WorldGymnasiade which took place in the French townof Cannes. With a time of 54.43 she came first inthe 400m in what was yet another impressiveresult for women’s sports in Cyprus.

She also had a good run in the Bruno Zauli Cupwhere she finished fourth in the 400m.

Silver for Christodoulides One of the most consistent athletes in the sport ofJudo was Christodoulos Christodoulides after hetook the silver medal at the CommonwealthGames in Manchester. In the same year, he alsotook fifth place at the World Gymnasiade

Christodoulou had also won four gold medals atthe Games of the Small States of Europe (1995,

1997, 1999 and 2001) in the four consecutivetimes he took part in the games. But his silvermedal at the Commonwealth Games was thepinnacle of his career.

National Men and Youth Skeet TeamsIn 2002, both the mens and the youth teams onceagain excelled in shooting.

In the Mens Event, Antonis Nikolaides got thebronze medal in the skeet event during theCommonwealth Games in Manchester. Nikolaidesand Christos Kourtellas in the Skeet Team went onto win the gold medal in what was an tremendousvictory for the island.

The youth team, which took part in the EuropeanYouth Championships in Italy, also took gold. Theteam consisted of Makis Georgiou, AdamosLouka and Marios Petrides.

At the 48th European Games in Finland, the youthteam consisting of Makis Georgiou, AdamosLouka and Konstantinos Kitsios, took the bronzemedal.

• At the World Gymnasiade, Eleni Artymata wonthe bronze medal after finishing with a time of24.63 in the 200m.

Year of OlympiadGymnastics



7979

The Mayor of Larnaca Mr. Moiseos welcomes Kikis Lazarides (right) at Larnaca Airport after being electedan IOC member in February 2002. Left, the former CSO President Andreas Papacharalambous.


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Andri Sialou made animpressive return totrack and field eventsand at the Games of theSmall States of Europein Malta after winning thegold medal (52.66). Shealso took the gold medalat the Bruno Zauli cup inthe same event.


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It just goes to show how the love of sport cannever fade when an athlete - who put her careeron hold to raise her family, makes a return to the

sport. That happened in 2003 when 400m hurdletrack athlete Andri Sialou made a fantastic return. Ayear later, Andri managed to qualify for the 2004Olympic Games in Athens. Andri Sialou was thenselected by the IAAF to take part in the GoldenLeague which took place in Oslo. It was the first timethat a Cypriot athlete was taking part in such a bigevent and she even managed to finish seventh.

She then won the 400m hurdles during the Gamesof the Small States of Europe in Malta with a timeof 52.66 before then winning the gold at the BrunoZauli Cup.

Andri wasn’t finished there as she took first placeat the International Meeting of Athletics“Papaflessia” with a time of 52.30 – the same timeshe finished with at the Bruno Zauli Cup. In 2003,Andri Sialou was ranked 23 in the world.

18 year record brokenDuring the 2003 Games of the Small States ofEurope in Malta, Marilia Grigoriou broke the recordthat was previously held by Maroula LambrouTeloni who had finished with a time of 11.73 backin 1985. Marilia’s finished on 11.67 and just twoweeks later at the International Meeting of Athletics“Papaflessia” in Greece, she beat her own recordwith another superb finish of 11.48.

At the Games of the Small States of Europe, MariliaGrigoriou took three gold medals. In the 100m(11.67), 200m (23.56) and 4x100 (47.71). It wasone of the crowning moments of our champion.

Tremendous run of MariaPapadopoulou

2003 also saw the awesome form of MariaPapadopoulou who is still regarded as one of thebiggest names in Cypriot swimming for women. In2003, Papadopoulou managed to qualify in the100m butterfly event with a time of 1.01.76 for the2004 Athens Olympic Games.

At the Games of the Small States of Europe, MariaPapadopoulou took four medals whilst she alsosecured her qualification into the semi-finals of theEuropean Championships.

The remarkable return ofAndri Sialou

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Cyprus also has a reason to be proud for itsParlaympic athletes after succeeded ingiving us some special and memorable

moments.

Cyprus’ first participation at the ParalympicGames began back in 1988 when the island tookpart in the Paralympics in Korea and that wasfollowed by participations in Barcelona in 1992,Atlanta in 1996 and Sidney in 2000.

But it was the Paralympic Games in Athens in2004 and Beijing in 2008 which saw our athletesachieve their crowning moments.

In September 2004 in Athens, Karolina Pelendritousecured the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke.It was the first time that the flag of Cyprus washung so high at such a major event.

Karolina Pelendritou followed up that success withanother gold in the 100m breaststroke in Beijing. Shealso won the bronze medal in the 200m individualmedley and finished fifth in the 50m freestyle.

Karolina Pelendritou’s triumphs were many andimportant and that was capped off with the EliteAthletes Award for 2007 which she received inJune 2008.

That award is handed to athletes in theCommonwealth who have excelled and Karolinafinished ahead of 72 nations to take the first prize.The award ceremony took place in the Museum ofArts in Glasgow.

Antonis ArestisAntonis Arestis wasone of the athletestaking part at theParalympic Games inBeijing who won twosilver medals. The firstsilver medal was won in the 200m, T46 event withthe second arriving in the 400m, T46 categoryevent. Those victories were down to the hard workthat he had put into. Previously in August 2006 atthe World Athletic Championships in Holland,Antonis Arestis won the bronze in the 400m, T46event. In August 2007 at the Czech RepublicGames, he won two gold medals in the 200m and400m event whilst he also took the silver medalafter finishing second in the 100m event.

Andreas PotamitisOne of the most worthy Paralympic athletes isundoubtedly Andreas Potamitis.

During the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008,he secured 10th place in the 50m, freestyle eventin category 56. His first place finish in 2008 also inthe 50m, freestyle event in category 56 at theBritish International Swimming Championshipswas also a triumphant achievement for him.

Evripides GeorgiouThe effort of shooting athlete Evripides Georgiouwas also admired in the 2008 Beijing Olympicsafter finishing 13th in the P1-10m Air Pistol - SH1event.

Greatest moments at theParalympics for ourathletes



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Karolina Pelendritou


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Savvas Arestis Eleni Artymata


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35 Years, 1974-2009

Gold for Savvas Arestis

One of the biggest moments in track andfield, was the gold medal win at theEuropean Youth Games in Italy by Savvas

Arestis with his throw of 56.83.

2005 was also an important year for athlete AnnaFitidou who picked up the silver medal at theMediterranean Games in Almeria, Spain for herthrow of 4.25 in the pole vault event. It was yetanother important moment for women’s sports inCyprus which continued to show signs of steadyprogress and the depth of Cypriot classical sports.

Not forgetting Eleni Artymata

Another great talent in track and field is EleniArtymata after putting on a series of goodperformances.

At the Games of the Small States of Europe, shepicked up three golds in the 100m with a time of11.87, in the 200m with a time of 23.98 and in the4x100 with a time of 45.40.

She also took the bronze medal with a time of11.74 in the 100m at the European YouthChampionships in Lithuania whilst in the BrunoZauli Cup she took first place in the 100m with atime of 11.67 and second place with a time of23.71 in the 200m. Artymata has now set hersights on major international games.

Anna StylianouThe dynamic return of talented swimmer AnnaStylianou was another symbolic moment forCypriot sports. In 2005, Anna Stylianou won twogold medals in the 100m freestyle (58.04) and inthe 200m freestyle (2.05.81) at the Games of theSmall States of Europe in Andorra in May.

She also won two silver medals, 50m freestyle(26.80) and in the 4x100 team relay event and abronze medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay event. Itwas a great performance for Anna Stylianou whois regarded as one of the island’s brightestswimming talents.

National Basketball TeamIn 2005, the Cyprus National Basketball Team alsoput on some impressive performances.

The team secured the gold medal at the Games ofthe Small States of Europe in Andorra. Cyprussecured first place undefeated after wins overLuxembourg 91-83, San Marino 70-65, Iceland 80-56 and Andorra 86-75.

During the qualification campaign for 2007,Cyprus managed two important wins againstBelarus 87-77 and Albania 96-75.

Gold in the discus forArestis


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There are few who can argue that MarcosBaghdatis was one of the great stories ofworld tennis after managing to shoot himself

high in the rankings of the sport andsimultaneously expand the image of Cypriotsports. From his 55th position in the ATP rankings,he bolted himself to eighth.

At the 2006 Australian Open, Baghdatis was thelips of everyone in the tennis world. A remarkableperformance at the Grand Slam saw him finallylose out in the final to Roger Federer 1-3. But heclaimed some big scalps along the way includingAndy Roddick (3-1), Ivan Ljubicic (3-2) and DavidNalbandian (3-2)

That unprecedented feat shot him to eighth in theATP rankings and he continued his terrific run withvictories at Wimbledon against Andy Murray (3-0)and former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt (3-1)before finally losing in the semifinals to RafaelNadal (0-3).

Marcos Baghdatis continued his impressive workand went on to win his first professional title at theChina Open beating Mario Ancic in the final 2-0.

He went on to finish 2006 12th in the ATPrankings. It was an incredible achievement forMarcos who, in 2003, was ranked 851 in the ATPrankings.

Ethnikos AchnasRefugee club Ethnikos managed to raiseeyebrows with their giant-killing performances inthe UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the summer of 2006,Ethnikos Achnas entered the Intertoto Cupcompetition and went on to become a beacon oflight for the clubs on the island. They began withthe elimination of Albanian side Partizani (4-2, 1-2)before knocking out Croatian side Osijek on awaygoals (2-2, 0-0) and then finally beating MaccabiPetach-Tikva (2-0, 2-3)

With those victories, Ethnikos qualified for thesecond qualifying round of the UEFA Cup and inthe process became the first Cypriot club to do so.Their dazzling run continued with elimination ofBelgian outfits Roeselare (1-2, 5-0) before beingfinally eliminated by French side Lens (0-0, 1-3). Itwas a great achievement by the modest refugeeclub on Europe’s big stage.

Marcos Baghdatis reacheseighth in the world



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Georgios Achilleos goes top of the world.


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35 Years, 1974-2009

Such achievements achieved by GeorgiosAchilleos are few and far between after theshooting athlete shot himself to the top of

the International Shooting Sport Federationrankings. It was an amazing accomplishmentwhich he kept for months and Georgios Achilleoscemented his status in the history of Cypriotsports.

Achilleos wont he gold medal (in the team andindividuals event) at the World Championships inNicosia, a feat he matched at the EuropeanChampionships in Granada before winning thegold at the World Cup in Santo Domingo, the silvermedal at the Lonato World Cup and gold medalwinner at the Belgrade Skeet Finals amongst 12 ofthe best skeet shooters of 2007. Those accoladeswere nothing short of amazing for GeorgiosAchilleos.

A leap to the skies…Another great athlete in the history of Cypriotsports is Kyriakos Ioannou of the GSO SportsClub.

The high jumper has rewritten the history books forCypriot sports. He is the only Cypriot athlete to win amedal at the World Athletics Championships.Kyriakos Ioannou took part in the high jump final twicebeating the previous Pancyprian record in the 2.33mand 2.35m. His jump of 2.35m gave him the bronzemedal at the World Championships which werebeing staged in Osaka, Japan on 29 August, 2007.

Kyriakos Ioannou’s jump was only matched bytwo other athletes that year. In the same year,Kyriakos Ioannou took the silver medal at theUniversity Games in Thailand with a jump of2.26m.

First in CanadaThere was another athlete who took the world bystorm in 2007. Young sailing athlete PavlosKontides was triumphant at the Youth Sailing ISAFWorld Championship in the Laser series. In thenine events he took part in, he won three of themand also came second to finally finish first and takethe gold medal.

Georgios Achilleos goes top of the world


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In 2008, Cypriot shooting athlete (skeet) AntonisNikolaides secured one of the highlights of hisshining career after ending fourth at the Olympic

Games in Beijing. Nikolaides just missed out on amedal after missing one disc against AnthonyTerras - the French shooting athlete who heplayed-off against for the Bronze

Both athletes hit 120 of the 125 discs and in thefinal both hit 24/25 to both finish on 144 successfulattempts out of 150.

In the same final, Georgios Achilleos – who wasfavourite to win the event with his first place worldranking – got off to a bad start which nobodyexpected and not only fell behind but was indanger of being eliminated from the finalaltogether.

But Georgios finally hit back and with 119/125finished fifth out of the six shooters. In the big final,Georgios Achilleos, with 24/25 and with a total of143/150, finished in fifth place.

Also in Beijing, female shooting athlete AndriEleftheriou, with 67/75, finished seventh – a goodfinish which left high hopes for the future.

Shooting had given one of the best joys andsuccess to Cypriot sports. It is a successful sportfor the island with many athletes in the world’s eliteand with the island hosting many importantgames.

Following his fourth place finish at the BeijingOlympics, Antonis Nikolaides made the decisionto retire from a career which once saw him achievea memorable 125/125 at the Slovenian WorldCup, just before the Athens Olympics of 2004. His100% shooting result was also a world record.

• Another important event of 2008 was the bronzemedal won by high jumper Kyriakos Ioannou at theWorld Indoor Championships in Valencia with hisleap of 2.32m.

Antonis Nikolaidesfinishes fourth in Beijing



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Antonis Nikolaides finished fourth at the Olympic Games.

Andri Eleftheriou finished seventh at the Olympic Games.


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The President of the Republic Demetris Christofias is escorted to the Olympic Village


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The Minister of Education and Culture Andreas Demetriou, the President of the Cyprus RepublicDemetris Christofias and the then President of the COC Kikis Lazarides with the Cyprus flag.

A memorable picture of the President of the Republic Demetris Christofias with the Cyprus OlympicTeam at the Olympic Village in Beijing.


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Our National Olympic Team parades the Olympic Stadium in Beijing with Georgios Achilleos as flag bearer.


Anorthosis made Cypriot sports history in2008 when the refugee club managed toqualify and then hold their own in the group

stages of the Champions League.

A team of refugee status and with a minimalbudget, Anorthosis managed to have an impres-sive run against sides such as Panathinaikos,Olympiacos and Inter among others. Anorthosis’run in Europe’s biggest club football competition

also caught the attention of the international me-dia with L’ Equipe – in its article of 3 October 2008entitled ‘Imitons Famaguste’ – calling on others tomimic Famagusta. Anorthosis was proud repre-sentative of Cyprus abroad.

Anorthosis’ results: Anorthosis eliminated Pyunik(Armenia), Rapid Wien (Austria) and Olympiacos(Greece) and almost qualified for the last 16 of thecompetition during their bout in the group stages.

Werder – Anorthosis 0-0, Anorthosis –Panathinaikos 3-1, Inter – Anorthosis 1-0,Anorthosis – Inter 3-3, Anorthosis – Werder 2-2,Panathinaikos – Anorthosis 1-0.

Anorthosis achievesunique qualification intothe Champions Leaguegroup stages

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35 Years, 1974-2009


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Kyriakos Ioannou.


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Another great moment in the history ofclassic sports in Cyprus was of course thesilver medal won by Kyriakos Ioannou at

the European Indoor Championships which tookplace in Torino.

With a jump of 2.29m, Kyriakos Ioannou tooksecond place in an event which put him amongstthe world’s elite high jumpers.

• 2009 was also the year that weightlifter DemetrisMinasides secured the silver medal and twobronze medals at the European WeightliftingChampionships which took place in Bucharestbetween 4 and 12 April, 2009. In the 127 kilosnatch event, he won the silver medal and thebronze in the 157 kilo clean and jerk event beforegetting another bronze after lifting a total of 284kilos. Minasides competed in the class of 62kg.

• Herodotos Georgallas clinched the silver medalin the rings event at the Gymnastics World Cup(11.4.2009) which took place in Maribor, Slovenia.

• Another remarkable and unprecedentedachievement was accomplished by the CyprusSchoolboys Football Team after they beat SouthAfrica 4-1 in the final of the World SchoolsChampionship which took place in Turkey in April2009.

Silver medal for Kyriakos Ioannou in Torino

35 Years, 1974-2009

Kyriakos Ioannou.


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The ancient entrance of the Olympia stadium.


Sports in Cyprus

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The Cypriots’ love of sports dates backthroughout history. It was a love and passionthat never relinquished and sporting events

were played whenever possible even in times whenCyprus was not even an independent state.

• During the years of Ottoman Occupation (1571 –1878), the Cypriots’ love of sports was expressedduring religious celebrations and sports games wereheld outside of churches. Competitions such asstone lifting (ditzimin), who can run the fastest, whocan jump the furthest and who can win at tug-of-warwere frequently played…

• Even under British Rule (1878-1960), theCypriots’ spirit for sports never dampened. Sportsclubs began being assembled in various townsand villages whilst the Gymnastics Club was alsoestablished. Cypriot sports got better organisedafter the independence of the Cyprus Republicback in 1960 and sports clubs and associationsbegan to grow resulting in the formation of theCyprus Sports Organisation (CSO) in 1969.

The Cyprus Sports Organisation then attemptedto put into a action a five-year developmentprogramme (1969-1974) in which the correctfoundations would be laid for sports. But thoseplans were cut short after the Turkish invasion andconflict of 1974.

This national tragedy for our homeland, led to therapid decline of government subsidy towards theCyprus Sports Organisation. Cypriot sports wasalso in mourning after some of its athletes lost theirlives during the conflict.

Some important sports facilities were also seizedin the Turkish occupied areas. But even thattragedy wasn’t enough to relinquish Cyprus’ lovefor sports and the hard-times were beaten. Despiteits geographical location and small population, theisland continued to strive towards future success.

An example of this success was the impressiveperformances of its athletes at last summer’sOlympic Games in which Cyprus finished fourthand fifth in the men’s skeet event and seventh inthe women’s skeet event.

Another tremendous testament to the island’ssports was the participation of a Cypriot athlete in

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the final of the Men’s Australian Open Grand SlamTennis Tournament. It is important to have athletescompeting in great games against big opponents.The string of success for Cypriot athletes at majorinternational tournaments is a shining example ofthe island’s long, rich history of love for its sports.

These accomplishments epitomise the high levelof reconstruction which Cypriot sports underwent

In this chapter, we take a brief look at the overalllandmarks of Cypriot sports at different periods intime. It is journey that begins many years ago andfinishes today:

• A look at the participation of Cypriot athletes atthe ancient Olympic games

• A brief look at the history of the our involvementin the Olympic games starting from the beginning,though the resurgent period of 1986 up until theOlympic Games in Beijing.

• As of 1980, Cyprus has taken part in all of theOlympic Games as well as other major competitionssuch as the Commonwealth Games, theMediterranean Games and the Games of the SmallStates of Europe.

The period 1896-1960 Between 1896, the year Athens hosted the firstever modern Olympic Games, up until 1960, whenCyprus was declared an independent state,Cypriot athletes were still competing in majorevents but were part of the Greek National Team.It was a great time for our sports following a stringof accomplishments by Cypriot athletes whichalso helped Greece in its own success.

• The first victory and the gold in the modernOlympics of 1896 was achieved by IoannisFrangoudes in the shooting event (pistol shootingfrom 25m) whilst he took second place in the sameevent but from 300m.

• One of the biggest names of classical sports inCyprus was Stelios Kyriakides who, in the BostonMarathon (20.4.1946), finished with a time of2.29.27 to take first place. It was at the time, thefastest time in the world.

When noting other great accomplishments byCypriot athletes during the period between 1896 –1960, it would be unjust not to mention the sixthvictory of Stavros Tsiortzis in the 400m hurdleevent at the Olympic Games in Munich. In thesame competition, Cypriot shooting athlete LakisPsimolofitis, who was also representing Greece,took eighth place in the skeet shooting event.

The period 1960-1980We now take a look at a 20-year period, between1960 and 1980, in which although Cyprus was anindependent state, the Cyprus OlympicCommittee, which was established in 1974, wasnot recognised until 1979. Therefore, Cyprus wascompelled to take part in international games withGreece until 1980.

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Anastasios Andreou took part in the 1986 Olympics inthe 110m hurdle event.

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Despite being a small island with a equallysmall population, Cyprus has had manyroles to play in the history of sports. They

were important roles which added to the colourfulhistory of sports on our island. Dating back toancient times, Cyprus has had importantparticipations in the biggest sports event in theworld – the Olympic Games. The identity and thelevel of excellence in sports in every nation, isreflected at the Olympic Games, which is watchedmillions of people throughout the globe.

The participation of CyprusThe Press and Information Office of the CyprusRepublic houses a unique article, that waspublished in ‘Cyprus Today’ and was written byAndreas Hadjivasileiou, which reports on theparticipation of Cypriot athletes dating back fromancient times up until 1980.

The athletic history of Cyprus dates back manyyears as is evidenced in the uncovering ofancient exercise grounds (gymnasia) and themultitude of descriptions of such that havebeen found in all parts of the island, in one formor another. The contests that were then held bethey either for religious, social, political orcultural purposes, nevertheless constituted thehighest form of achievement in ancient Greece- of which Cyprus was a part.

The ties between Cyprus and Athens wereparticularly strong during the time when Evagoras

was king of Salamis. Later, following Alexander theGreat's victory at Tyre in 331 BC (in which Cypriotforces took part) the Greek ruler organised games atPhoenicia which were sponsored by the Cypriotmonarchy - and this is indeed referred to in thewritings of Plutarch. During the times of Ptolemy,when Cyprus came under Ptolemic rule for some200 years, it was natural that the ties with Athensbecame even stronger. This is confirmed in writtendescriptions relating to the athletic contests in whichyouths from Cyprus are mentioned as participantsand as winners in the Panhellenic contests in Athensand elsewhere in Greece. The inscriptions onmarble bear undeniable witness to these facts.These inscriptions, dated back to the 2nd centuryB.C. refer to a list οf Cypriot athIetes who wonhorseracing and other contests. The athletesnamed were from the Karpasia PeninsuIa of Cyprusand would appear to be members οf the samefamily. We are toId that Aristos Karpaseotis wonthe race on a Υοung horse whiIe Ariston NikarosKarpaseotis came second on an older horse.

In another description of the same centυry thatwas unearthed in excellent condition at Delos,there is a Iist of youths, chiselled in marble, whotook part in the Apollonian games during 119-118B.C. This list illustrates the cosmopoIitan characterof the contests. Youths, not only from Cyprus butfrom all the various centres of HeIlenism, gatheredtogether on the island of Αροllο to compete for thevictor's crown. The Iistings acknowledge theparticipation of numerous contestants from as far

Athletics in CyprusCyprus’ involvementin the Olympic Gamesfrom ancient times up today

103

off as Syria, Alexandria, Minor Asia. Cyprus andelsewhere, in contrast to only a few in number fromAthens. At the Apollonian Games Cyprus wasrepresented by two young men KarpaseotisNeon and Salaminios Artemidoros. Theinscription refers to the time when HermesAristonos was in charge of the games and whenthe ruler was Hipparchos. facts which specifyprecisely the years 119/8 B.C. - the time whenCyprus was ruled by PtoIemy Epiphanes. Anotherinscription found at the base of a statυe at Kitiumis dedicated to the honour of a certain athlete whowon the Pentathlon, running in full armour andchariot racing.

It would also seem from inscriptions that apartfrom Cypriot athletes winning the Panhellenicraces, certain Cypriots also sponsored games. Aninscription on a small, white. marbIe column atDelos mentions the name of a Cypriot immigrantwho sponsored the Dionysian children's contestat the ApoIlonian Games. This monument is datedto the time of King Ptolemy II, the Philadelphos.

Το the ancient Greeks there were two principleareas of education - the games/athletic contestson the one hand and inteIlectual. musical· anddramatic activities on the other. The Greeks of theSoυth were in no way Iacking in these respectsand so it is that Stratocles from Saiamis ismentioned as winner of the Sotiria games at Delphiin approximately 260 B.C.

When Cyprus came under the Roman Empire therewas no semantic change as regards athletics otherthan the construction of new theatres and stadiums(at Salamis and Curium) and the institution of newgames such as the Aktia, Kommadia, Adriania, thewinners being accorded with honours and rankings.That which did change during the Roman Era wasthe spirit of athletism. The refined competitive spiritthat had been so characteristic of the Panhellenicgames was lost. Indeed the games themselvesceased even to be ·Panhellenic. At Delos. Delphi andOlympia athletes from all the Roman districts would

attend as professionals, touring the various centresin pursuit of victories and honours. At Delphi aninscription was found which refers to a Cypriotprofessional athlete named Poplius AeliusAelianos. Ηis town of origin is not known. From thiswe learn that he played hymns on the flute in praiseof Αpοllο of Pythios, and came first in fourPanhellenic games - the Pythia, the Olympia, theNemea and the Isthmia. Over and above theseaforementioned successes he won the Andriania atAthens three times. His home town honoured himwith titles as did Athens and Antiochea, the latterboth giving him honorary citizenship. An inscriptionfrom Kilikia talks of a many times winner by thename of Dimitrios from SaIamis. The writing isdated to the period of Septimius Sevirus (211-193B.C.) and itemises Dimitrios' wins and the honourshe was accorded by the emperors inacknowledgement of his abilities.

Considerable contributions were made by Cyprusin the spheres of athletics and drama contestsduring the Greek and Roman times. The Greekmetropolis serνed as a model and Cyprus'sparticipation in all forms of events was very big.

It is only from inscriptions that we obtaininformation reIating to Cypriot participation in theancient worId of sport and games. The writings ofJulius Africanus refer to two OIympic contestantsfrom SaIamis, Heracildis and Onisicritos. And inthe chronicles of Eusevius there is also mention ofthese two. Onisicritos was a winner in the 150thOlympics in 180 B.C. whiIe Heraclides foundvictory at the 144th games in approximately 204B.C. both won the track races in the stadium.

Athletics as a national tradition remained in tactdespite the passage of time and of so many tryingcircumstances for our nation. Examples of thisheritage can be seen in the number of stadiumsthat were used as focal points by so many Cypriotswho spend every ounce of energy in theperpetuation of this tradition. There were'gymnasiums' in Paphos, Kitium, Curium, Salamis,

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Lapithos, Soloi, Karpasia, Marion, Amathus et aIii.These gymnasiums were kept in fact uρ untiI theByzantine period and were directed bytrainers/managers known as 'Gymnasiarchs"Many of these are named e.g. Aristagoras,Demophon Pnytocratou, Themias Aristagorou,Stasicrates Stasicratus, Diagoras Tefkrou - all atSalamis; Aristion Antinoros, Onisicratis Onisicratus- both at Amathus; Artemidos Aristonos, DioclesZinonos, Dionysos Didymou, and Navarchos atKitium; Kalippos Kalippou, Potamios Egyptou atPaphos; Stasigorou at Marion.

During the MiddIe Ages athletism constituted oneof the most satisfying and enjoyable pastimes inCyprus. Athletic prowess and bravado were theessence of the epic poem about Dighenis Akritas.This Cypriot bravado is praised by Kornaros in'Herotocritos" The finals of the jousting contesttook place between three famous athletes, theCypriot Kypridemos, the Cretan Haridemos andHerotocritos.

In the days of Frankish rule the athletic spirit was

preserved through the sport of hunting pursuedby the knights and nobility of that epoch.

During the period of Turkish rule the Greeks ofCyprus did not abandon their brilliant tradition ofcompetitiveness that had been passed down tothem by their ancestors. This was closely tied inwith religion and every so often they heldcompetitions οf jumping and weight lifting knownas "didjimin" (Iifting οf a stone οf unknown weightor even οf the capital οf a pillar from an ancientshrine). There was never a fair without wrestling,running, jumping or horse-racing contests.

Matters began tο change when Cyprus fell underBritish rule. Due to the somewhat political colourοf the games the British abolished the holding οfathletic contests at fairs on the grounds that thesewere the cause οf theft οf animals. And so thesanctity οf the faIrs was destroyed as they turnedinto nothing more than mass gatherings wheregoods were bought and sold.

In 1838 the Letrinians, who Inhabited Pyrgos in thePeloponnesus, took uρ the Idea οf reviving theancient Olympic Games. Following this, in 1858, arich landowner by name οf Evangelos Zappas ofHepiros proposed to sponsor, at his own expense,the revitalisation οf the Olympic Games.

In August 1858 the first ever such Games tookplace, the 2nd in November 1870 and the 3rd inMay 1889. One οf the founders οf the PancyprianSociety οf Nicosia, Theophanis Theodotou, waswinner οf the parallel bars event at the 1889 Games.The following year the Games were declared tο beannual; Theophanis Theodotou repeated hisachievement οf the previous year. ΑΙ this time BaronPierre de Cubertain was sowing the seeds οfinternationalising the Olympics. It was this man whoenvisioned the Games not as a national contest butas a world-wide competition for sport enthusiasts.His intention was to relieve the French educationalsystem οf its suffocating scholastic emphasis and

Domnitsa Lanitou Kavounidou became the first Greekwoman to participate in Olympic Games (1936 in Berlin inthe events for 80m hurdles, 100m track and high jump).

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to offer the youth οf France training and experiencein more diverse lίelds, as would befit education In atruly democratIc country.

The spirit which prevailed at the time of the revivalof the Cyprus had considerable impact on theathletic principles of Greece. Those responsible forlaying the foundations of organised athletics inCyprus were also subject to this influence. NicolasLanitis together with Christodoulos Sozos andAndreas Themistocleous founded the “OLYMPIA”society in Limassol in 1892, while in 1894Theophanis and Antonis Theodotou founded the“PANCYPRIAN” society of Nicosia. In 1896 therefollowed the “ZINON” society of Larnaca(founders: Philios Zannetos and EvangelosHadjioannou) and the “KORIVOS” society ofPaphos (founder: Telemachos Kallonas). Therewere two basic reasons for creating the gymnasticsocieties of Cyprus. The first, as aforementioned,was due to the British abolition of games that hadhitherto taken place at religious fetes. The secondwas that it was in response to the generalmovement fovouring the Olympics and theinstructions sent by the Greek Council for theOlympics that Cyprus should hold trials to selectathletes for the 1896 Games (prior to Cyprusgaining her independence the island did not haveher own athletic federation but was considered aspart of the Greek one). From these trials, whichwere the first of a Pancyprian nature, two althleteswere chosen to participate in the preliminaryPanhellenic contests, namely Anastasis Andreouof Limassol and Charalambos Nicolaides ofNicosia. Andreou was selected for the 110m.hurdles event and Nicolaides for the polevault.Andreou proceeded to victory at the Panhellenicprimaries and took part in the first of the series ofthe modern day Olympics.

The greatest honour for Cyprus, and for Hellenismin general, was the achievement of IoannisFrancoudis who came 1st in the 25m, pistolsevent with 30 shots (5x6). He accumulated 344

points with 23 successes thus winning the goldmedal at the Athens Olympics. He also won thesilver medal for rifle shooting at 300m. Theseshooting contests took place at Kallithea, at astadiumspecifically constructed for the Olympics.In recognition of his sporting achievementsFrancoudis was honoured with the position of“escort” to the King George.

At the Olympics which took place in 1906, againin Athens, Cyprus participated with MichaelRossides and Georgios Zenon from Limassol,and Georgios Skoutarides from Nicosia. Theformer two took part in the 100m. event, and theother two in the 110m. hurdles. Rossides hadalready won in his event in the Panhellenic gamesof 1901 whilst Skoutarides won the 110m. hurdlesin 1904, and again in 1906 together with the lognjump. Both he and Rossides set new Panhellenicrecords. Skoutarides, who later became thetrainer of the Nicosia Athletic Club for over 10years, also took part in the London Olympics of1908. He came in second in his heat, runner up toCronings of England who achieved a new recordtime of 16. “4 Skoutariddes broke the Greekrecord with a time of 16.”6.

It was not until 1924 that Cypriots againparticipated in the Olympics, this time in Paris. Inthe Panhellenic games in 1924 the 110m sprint andthe 400m hurdles were won by Ioannis Talianos,while the 100m sprint and the long jump were wonby Costas Pantelides. These two athletes wereconsequently chosen to attend the 7th Olympics.The team chosen by a special committee, alsoincluded Andreas Tsouris and Frixos Mikellides,winners of the 800m (2’.09.”4) and triple jumb(13.58m) event. Worthy of mention is that thesefour athletes from the Nicosia club won in theoverlall points ranking contest of the 16th

Panhellenic Games. At the Paris Olympics Talianoscame third in his heat in the 400m. hurdles with atime of 61.”6 and set a new Panhellenic record, andthird in the 110m. hurdles (3rd heat) with a time of

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17.”0. Pantelides cames in fourth (10th heat) in thequalifying round of the 200m. with a time of 23.”0.In the 3rd heat of the semi-finals he came sixth. Bothathletes took part in the 4x100m relay and set aPanhellenic record of 45.”4. taking fourth place inthe preliminaries and again fourth in the 1st semi-final (the other two runners being. A. Karayiannisand A. Papafingos).

Following the Pancyprian Games of 1928 thattook place in Larnaca, Costas Petrides (a jumperfrom the Nicosia club) and Renos Francoudes (asprinter from the Limassol club) were sent toAthens and were selected to attend theAmsterdam Olympics. Petrides ran in the 100mand competd in the 3rd heat, coming in fifth with11.”3/5. He also jumped 13.83m in the triple jumpand in the long jump cleared 6.63m. Francoudes,in the 9th heat took fourth place with 11.”1/5equalling the Panhellenic record. Both ran in the4x100m relay in which they set a new record forGreece of 44.”1/5. In the next Olympics at LosAngeles Renos Francoudes ran in the 100m and200m events, and the 4x100 relay together withAngelos Lambrou, E. Myropoulos and ChristosMantikas.

These were the golden years of Francoudes athleticcareer. He was trained by Greece’s top professionaltrainer. Otto Simitsek, who led him to set a newPanhelleni record in the 100m and 200m., and tothe a ttainment of 17 first places at the BalkanGames (11 as an individual, 6 as a team).

At Berlin 3 Cypriot ahtletes competed in the 1936Olympics: Domnitsa Lanitou, RenosFrancoudes, and Stelios Kyriakides. It was thefirst time that a Greek female participated in theGames. Domnitsa Lanitou broke some 30Panhellenic records over various events. She ran inthe 100m in the 3rd heat of the preliminaries inwhich she came third in 12.”3, and in the 80mhurdles where she came third in the 1st heat in12.”6. Francoudes ran in the 11th heat of the 100mand came third in 10.”8 and second in the 5th heat

of the 200m with 22.”1. In t he Olympics marathonwe were represented by Stelios Kyriakides(winner of 6 first places at the Balkan Games andholder of the Panhellenic record for long distancerunning). He finished eleventh in a time of 2hrs43.’20.”8 (fifth in the preliminaries). One of themost notable Greek successes was Kyriakides’svictory at the International Marathon of Boston(20/4/46) in 2 hrs 29.’27”.0

From 1948-1964 Cypriots yet again did notparticipate in the Olympics. Nevertheless in 1952Antonis Papadopoulos and AndreasHadjivasiliou were contestants in the pre-Olympicteam. Not until 1967 was Cyprus representedagain, at Mexico, by Harry Aivaliotis who set anew Panhellenic record for the 100m. Aivaliotiswas an exceptionally brilliant athlete - aphenomenon with true sporting spirit who wouldundoubteadly have achieved great heights had hehad t he opportunity to complete in the Olympics.

At Mexico in 1968 we took 9th place in shooting inthe skeet event with M. Michaelides who won192 points with 200 rounds (the first three winnerswon 198 points each (24+23+24-23+23+24+25+25+24).

We had the greates number of Cypriot participantsat the Monaco Olympics of 1972 - they werenamely Stavros Tzortzis, Kyriacos Onisiforou,Loucas Louca, and Lakis Georgiou-Psimolophitis. Stavros Tzortzis completed in the400m hurdles coming second in the preliminariesin 50.”54, and fouth in the semi-final in 50.”56. Inthe finals, which proved exceptionally exciting, heran in sixth with a time of 49.”66. It was the r ewardof his unlimited efforts, patience anddetermination. Kyriacos Onisiforou came third inhis preliminaries in 46.”49 and fifth in the semi-finals (47.”.22).

In the shotput event Loucas Louca, not up to hisusual standard scored 17.48m and ranked 24th.The present chairman of the Shooting Federation

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of Cyprus, Lakis Georgiou-Psimolophitis took partin the Skeet and took eighth place with 192 points(23+25+22+26+25+25+24+25) as against the 195points of the German who came first. At the 1976Montreal Olympics we were represented byStavros Tzortzis, Maroulla Lambrou andPanayiotis Hadjistathis.

In 1980, for the first time Cyprus entered its ownOlympic team of Moscow, having become amember of the International Olympics Committee.Our swimmers were Larry Phylactou, LinosPetrides, Annabella Droushiotou, and OlgaLoizou; in Judo we had Costa Papacostas,Panikos Evripides, Constantine Constantinou,Neophytos Arestis and Spyros Spyrou; insailing we had Panikos Rimy, Dimitris Dimitriou,Panayiotis Nicolaou and Marios and GeorgeKarapatakis. In the track events MaroullaLambrou and Lambros Kephala participated asmembers of the Greek team.

We also took part for the first time in the WinterOlympics of 1980 at Lake Placid, USA, with twoathletes, Lina Aristodemou and PhiIipposXenophontos. These same also went tο theSarajevo Games of 1984 together with AlexisFotiades, Lambros Lambrou, Lina Aristodemouand Yiannis Pipes. In 1983, after high leveldiscussions between Cyprus and Greece, Cyprusestablished her independence in athletism andbecame a member of the Ιnternational AmateurAthletics Federation, participating with her ownnational Olympic team in the 1984 Games. Trackevents were entered by PhiIippos Philippou,Marios Kasianides, Dimitris Araouzos; judoevents by Costas Papacostas; cycling by SpyrosAgrotis and shooting by Petros Kyritsis (who took13th place in the Skeet), Tasos Lordos andDimitris Papachrysostomou.

Cyprus was represented in the 1988 WinterOlympics at Calgary, Canada, and in the SummerGames at Seoul, Korea by the folIowing athletes:-

Winter OIympics: Alexis Fotiades, SocratesAristodemou, Carolina Fotiadou.

Summer Olympics: Marios Hadjiandreou (track),Spyros Spyrou (track), Andri Avraam(track),Maria Lambrou-Teloni (track), AndreasKarapatakis (saiIing), Christos Christoforou(sailing), Mike Timvios (shooting), LoukisSourmelIis (shooting), Michalis Skouroumounis(Judo), Elias loannou (Judo).

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Stavros Tzortzis, who took sixth place at 1972 MunichOlympic Games in the 400m hurdle event.

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Since Cyprus’ historic participation at theOlympic Games in Moscow in 1980 as wellas the Winter Olympics in the same year in

Lake Placid, the island’s Olympic Team has beenpresent at the Olympic Games.

Let us take a look back at the most memorableevents and success of our athletes from theOlympic Games in Moscow up until the OlympicGames in Beijing:

Moscow 1980At the Olympic Games in Moscow, Cyprusparticipated in the swimming, judo and sailingevents without any success. The flag bearer for ourOlympic team was Kostas Papakostas.

Los Angeles 1984During the Olympic Games of Los Angeles (18 July– 12 August) we took part in the shooting, trackand field, judo and cycling events.

The best performance was by Petros Kyritsis in theskeet shooting event where he finished 13th. Theflag bearer for our Olympic team was MariosKassianidis.

Seoul 1988At the Olympic Games in Seoul (17 September – 2October), we took part in the track and field,sailing, shooting and judo event.

Mike Tymvios secured 20 position in the skeetshooting event whilst Spyrou qualified for thesemifinals 1,500m event. The flag bearer for ourOlympic team was Mike Tymvios.

Barcelona 1992At the Olympic Games in Barcelona (25 July – 9August) we took part in the track and field,shooting, swimming, wresting, judo, rhythmicgymnastics, sailing and archery.

During the games, Yiannis Zisimidis qualified forthe 100m event, Stavros Michaelides came 20 inthe 50m freestyle event in swimming whilstChristodoulos Katsiniorides secured two victoriesin the judo event. The flag bearer for our Olympicteam was Marios Hadjiandreou.

Atlanta 1996At the Olympics Games in Atlanta (19 July – 4August) we tool part in the track and field,wrestling, sailing, shooting and swimming events.

The period followingCyprus’ historic participationat the Olympic Games in 1980

Andri Avraam took part in the Olympics Games in Seoul,1988 and Barcelona in 1992.

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In shooting, Antonis Andreou secured nine place inthe skeet event whilst wrestler Arout Parsekiansecured two victories. Both track athletes YiannisZisimides and Dora Kyriakou made it through tothe second rounds in the 100m and 400m eventsrespectively.

Anninos Markoullides finishes in the best top 16sprinters and fastest Caucasian in the 100m trackevent. The flag bearer for our Olympic team wasAntonis Andreou.

Sidney 2000At the 27th Olympic Games in Sydney (15September – 1 October), we took part in the trackand field, shooting, sailing and swimming events.

Shooting athlete Antonis Andreou, who was alsothe flag bearer of our team, took eighth place in theskeet event.

Athens 2004At the Olympic Games in Athens (13 – 29 August),Cyprus took part in the track and field, judo,swimming, sailing, tennis, shooting and cyclingevents.

Shooting athlete Georgios Achilleos had the bestperformance for Cyprus after finishing ninth in theskeet event with a scorer of 121/125. The flagbearer for our Olympic team was George Achilleos.

Beijing 2008At the Olympic Games in Beijing (8 – 24 August),where Georgios Achilleos was our flag bearer, wehad our best run in the history of Cypriotparticipation at the Olympics.

Three athletes, two men and a woman, managedto qualify to the final round of the skeet shootingevent. Antonis Nikolaides went on to finish fourthwhilst Georgios Achilleos ended up in fifth. AndriEleftheriou also did well coming in seventh.

It was the island’s finest participation at theOlympics. Our swimmer, Anna Stylianou, also hada fine tournament in the swimming event.

At the games, Cyprus took part in the track andfield, sailing, swimming, shooting, archery andweightlifting events.

At the Winter Olympics As soon as the Cyprus Olympic Committeebecame an equal member of the InternationalOlympics Committee back in April 1979, Cyprustook part for the first time with its Olympic Team atthe Olympic Games at Lake Placid in 1980.

At the time, our participation was with two athletes,Lina Aristodemou and Philipos Xenofontos.

• The 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo followedwith Alexis Fotiades, Lambros Lambrou, LinaAristodemou and Yiannis Pipis taking part for Cyprus.

• During the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary,Canada, Alexis Fotiades, Socrates Aristodemouand Karolina Fotiadou took part for Cyprus.

In the Winter Olympics Games that followed,Cyprus took part without securing a notableaccomplishment.

Beijing 2008

Auckland 1990 During the Commonwealth Games, we havemanaged to achieve some notable success.

• Our first participation came at the CommonwealthGames came in Auckland, New Zealand.

During those games, Marios Hadjiandreou took thegold medal after leaping a distance of 16.95m inthe triple-jump event. It was a remarkableachievement when taking into account that one ofhis opponents was the popular Jonathon Edwards.

During those same games, we secured the silvermedal through a shooting athlete GeorgiosSakellis with a score of 187.

Victoria 1994 At the Commonwealth Games which took place inVictoria, Canada in 1994, we also had a goodperformance.

• Fani Theofanous, the women’s air rifle event,secured the gold medal with 488,7 successfultries.

• The gold medal was also secured by the men’sskeet team, comprising of Antonis Andreou andChristos Kourtellas, with 189 hits.

• Christos Kourtellas wins the silver medal in theskeet event with 143 successful hits.

• Andreas Angelou wins the bronze medal with137 successful hits in the men’s trap event.

• Finally in wrestling, Arout Parsekian wins thebronze medal in the 62k category event.

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Herodotos Giorgallas.

Herodotos Giorgallas.

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Kuala Lumpur 1998 At the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, Cyprus secured a gold medal in the teamskeet after shooting athlete Antonis Nikolaides andKostas Stratis hit 188 successful shots.

Michalis Louka clinched the silver medal with histhrow of 19.52m in the shot put event.

• A bronze medal was also won by boxing athleteRudik Kazandjian in the 48k event.

Manchester 2002At the Commonwealth Games in Manchester,England, Herodotos Giorgallas won the goldmedal in the rings event.

• The skeet team also won the gold medal withAntonis Nikolaides and Christos Kourtellas striking194 successful hits.

• In judo, Christodoulos Christodoulides won hesilver medal in the 73k category event.

• Finally, Antonis Nikolaides won the bronze medalin the individual skeet event with 144 successful hits.

Melbourne 2006At the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,Australia, we also had a good performance.

• In the individual skeet event, shooting athleteGeorgios Achilleos won the gold medal. The sameathlete, along with Antonis Nikolaides, also wonthe gold medal in the skeet event for teams.

• There was another gold medal in the skeet eventwith Andri Eleftheriou coming top in the women’scategory.

• Andri Eleftheriou, along with Louiza Theofanous,also won the silver medal in the team event in skeet.

• Despite carrying an injury, Kyriakos Ioannou wonthe bronze medal in the high jump event with aleap of 2.23m.

• In the rings event, Herodotos Giorgallas alsosecured the bronze medal.

Youth Commonwealth Games,Pune 2008• Cyprus took part for the first time in YouthCommonwealth Games which took place at Pune(India) from 12 to 18 October 2008. Our athleteGeorge Kazakos won the silver medal in the skeetevent.

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Michalis Louca, Shot Put 19.70m. Silver Medalist in theCommonwealth Games in Kuala Lumbur, Malaysia in 1998.

Christodoulos Christodoulides, silver medal in judo.

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Cyprus has been taking part in theMediterranean Games since 1987 andhas had some successful tournaments.

Here we look at some of the very finest momentsin the competition:

Latakia, Syria11-25 September 1987

At the Mediterranean Games in Latakia, Cyprussecured two medals in the shooting and track events.

In the shooting event, skeet athlete Mike Tymviosclinched first place with a scorer of 260/263 whilstMarios Hadjandreou also won first place with aleap of 16.49 in the triple jump event.

Athens, Greece28 June – 12 July 1991At the Mediterranean Games in Athens, GreeceCyprus had another impressive performance in thecompetition.

Marios Hadjandreou again won the gold medal forCyprus after finishing with a score of 17.13m in thetriple jump event.

Yiannis Zisimides finished with a silver medal in the100m track event with a time of 10.41. A silvermedal was also won in the swimming event byStavros Michaelides with a time of 23.64 in the50m freestyle event.

A bronze medal was won by Cyprus in theshooting event with skeet athlete AntonisNikolaides scoring 216/225.

Agde-Roussillon, France, 16-27 June 1993 At the Mediterranean Games in Agde-Roussillon,France, Cyprus secured two bronze medals.

In swimming, Stavros Michaelides clinched thirdplace in the 50m freestyle event.

The same finish was also made by AntonisNikolaides in the shooting (skeet) event with 141successful hits.

Bari, Italy, 13 – 25 June 1997At the Mediterranean Games, which took place inBari, Italy between 13 – 25 June 1997, Cypruswon three silver and four bronze medals.

Wrestling athlete Arout Parsekian came second inthe 63 category whilst Anninos Markoullides, witha time of 10.23 in the 100m track event, also camesecond. Dora Kyriakou finished second as well inthe 400m women’s event with a time of 52.02.

The participation of Cyprusat the Mediterranean Games

Marios Hadjandreou also won first place with a leap of16.49 in the triple jump event.

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Stavros Michaelides who took part in three consecutive Olympiads. In 1992 in Barcelona, he won the 20th place forthe 50m free stroke. At the Atlanta Olympics he was 31st for the 50m, and at the Sydney Olympics where he finished27th. Michaelides has had much international success.

Stavros Michaelides claimed third place inswimming as did boxing athlete Rudik Kazandjianin the 48-51k category event.

In the 4x100 relay event, Cyprus (Zisimides,Katsantonis, Markoullides, Skenter) came thirdwith a time of 39.12.

In the 200m track event, Prodromos Katsantonisalso came third with a time of 20.55.

Tunisia, 2-14 September 2001At the Mediterranean Games in Tunisia, AnninosMarkoullides finished with the gold medal in the200m event with a time of 20.60m whilst in the100m event, he also too the bronze medal with atime of 10.21.

During the same games, swimming athlete MariaPapadopoulou secured third place in the 100mbutterfly event, with a time of 1,01.67 whilstChrysanthos Papachrysostomou won the silvermedal in the 50m freestyle event with a time of23.06. Rudik Kazandjian won the bronze in the 48-51k event in boxing.

Almeria, Spain, 24 June – 3 July 2005• At the Mediterranean Games, which took placein Almeria, Spain 24 June – 3 July 2005, we hadsix positive turnouts:

• Kyriakos Ioannou wins the gold medal in the highjump event with a leap of 2.24m

• A silver medal was clinched in the same eventby Ioannis Konstantinou with his leap of 2.21m.

• Anna Fitidou also got the silver medal in thewomen’s pole vault event with her throw of 4.25m.

• In the featherweight 54–57k category, boxingathlete Ovidiu Bobirnat also won the silver medal.

• Herodotos Giorgallas won the silver medal inthe rings event with a score of 9.56.3.

• In weightlifting, Nayden Rusev won the bronzemedal in the 56k event.

• Shooting athlete, Georgios Achilleos also wonthe bronze medal in the skeet event with 143successful hits.

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Games of theSmall States of Europe

1985 – San Marino

1987 – Monaco

1989 – Cyprus

1991 – Andorra

1993 – Malta

1995 – Luxembourg

1997 – Iceland

1999 – Liechtenstein

2001 – San Marino

2003 – Malta

2005 – Andorra

2007 – Monaco

2009 – Cyprus

In the last 12 participations of the Games of the

Small States of Europe (not including 2009),

Cyprus has managed to come first four times.

At the Games of the Small States of Europe,Cyprus has had a very impressive run ofperformances.

The Games of the Small States of Europe beganback in 1985 and was first hosted by San Marino.The following nations have since hosted thegames up until 2009:

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SAN MARINO 1985Gold Silver Bronze Total

ICELAND 21 7 4 32CYPRUS 15 8 9 32LUXEMBOURG 11 23 18 52SAN MARINO 2 11 11 24ANDORRA 4 4LIECHTENSTEIN 4 4MONACO 2 2MALTA 1 1

49 49 53 151

MONACO 1987

Gold Silver Bronze Total

ICELAND 27 14 7 48LUXEMBOURG 12 24 14 50ANDORRA 11 13 4 28MONACO 6 3 11 20CYPRUS 5 7 23 35LIECHTENSTEIN 3 1 6 10SAN MARINO 1 3 3 7MALTA 1 1 4 6

66 66 72 204

CYPRUS 1989


CYPRUS 26 25 28 79ICELAND 21 19 10 50LUXEMBOURG 12 16 18 46MONACO 5 7 9 21LIECHTENSTEIN 5 2 7 14ANDORRA 3 1 4 8SAN MARINO 2 4 2 8MALTA 1 1 3 5

75 75 81 231

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ANDORRA 1991


ICELAND 27 19 18 64LUXEMBOURG 23 22 15 60CYPRUS 22 16 23 61MONACO 8 13 14 35SAN MARINO 1 2 5 8MALTA 1 2 4 7ANDORRA 5 9 14LIECHTENSTEIN 3 3 6

82 82 91 255

MALTA 1993


ICELAND 36 17 15 68CYPRUS 26 23 22 71LUXEMBOURG 8 14 10 32MONACO 7 13 10 30MALTA 4 7 21 32LIECHTENSTEIN 4 2 7 13SAN MARINO 2 6 5 13ANDORRA 5 10 15

87 87 100 274

LUXEMBOURG 1995


ICELAND 33 17 27 77CYPRUS 22 25 22 69LUXEMBOURG 20 26 12 58LIECHTENSTEIN 5 2 1 8MONACO 3 4 17 24ANDORRA 2 5 8 15SAN MARINO 2 5 2 9MALTA 1 4 7 12

88 88 96 272

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ICELAND 1997


ICELAND 33 32 32 97CYPRUS 30 24 15 69LUXEMBOURG 24 22 19 65MONACO 7 6 14 27MALTA 5 10 12 27ANDORRA 3 5 10 18SAN MARINO 3 4 10 17LIECHTENSTEIN 2 3 3 8

107 106 115 328

LIECHTENSTEIN 1999


ICELAND 29 20 24 73LUXEMBOURG 20 16 19 55CYPRUS 14 13 15 42SAN MARINO 6 5 7 18ANDORRA 5 12 11 28MONACO 5 9 6 20MALTA 4 8 8 20LIECHTENSTEIN 3 3 2 8

86 86 92 264

SAN MARINO 2001


ICELAND 31 18 16 65CYPRUS 27 21 17 65LUXEMBOURG 12 24 16 52SAN MARINO 12 8 16 36MALTA 7 12 16 35MONACO 5 8 14 27ANDORRA 5 6 7 18LIECHTENSTEIN 2 2 2 6

101 99 104 304

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MALTA 2003

Gold Silver Bronze TotalCYPRUS 34 20 27 81LUXEMBOURG 21 17 15 53ICELAND 20 24 23 67MALTA 11 18 15 44MONACO 7 7 10 24SAN MARINO 6 10 9 25ANDORRA 4 6 8 18LIECHTENSTEIN 2 1 2 5

105 103 109 317

ANDORRA 2005


CYPRUS 39 28 24 91ICELAND 26 23 27 76LUXEMBOURG 18 21 23 62MONACO 11 8 18 37ANDORRA 8 14 9 31MALTA 7 13 18 38SAN MARINO 6 9 7 22LIECHTENSTEIN 5 5 3 13

120 121 129 370

MONACO 2007


CYPRUS 36 33 24 93ICELAND 31 23 24 78LUXEMBOURG 20 25 36 81MONACO 19 16 17 52MALTA 4 9 17 30ANDORRA 4 6 7 17SAN MARINO 4 6 6 16LIECHTENSTEIN 3 5 5 13

121 123 136 380

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TOTAL 1985-2005

Gold Silver Bronze TotalICELAND 304 210 203 717CYPRUS 268 220 218 706LUXEMBOURG 184 226 187 597MONACO 64 78 125 267SAN MARINO 52 79 89 220MALTA 39 62 90 191LIECHTENSTEIN 27 34 65 126ANDORRA 28 53 65 146

966 962 1042 2970

TOTAL 1985-2007


ICELAND 335 233 227 795CYPRUS 304 253 242 799LUXEMBOURG 204 251 223 678MONACO 83 94 142 319SAN MARINO 56 85 95 236MALTA 43 71 107 221LIECHTENSTEIN 30 39 70 139ANDORRA 32 59 72 163

1087 1085 1178 3350

• 1991 - Belgium, Brussels Date: 18 - 20 July 1991.

19.95 2 nd place Athletics – shot put ELIAS LOUCA

• 1993 - Netherlands, Valkenswaard Date: 3 - 9 July 1993

48.61 1 Athletics 400 m NICOS CHRISTOFI

• 1995 - United Kingdom, Bath Date: 9 - 14 July 1995

11.01 2 Athletics 100m GEORGIOS SKENDER

• 1997 - Portugal, Lisbon Date: 18 - 24 July 1997.

13.51 1 Athletics 100 m hurdles MARILIA GREGORIOU

• 1999 - Denmark, Esbjerg Date: 10 - 16 July 1999.

14.05 3 Athletics 110m hurdles STEPHANOS IOANNOU

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Participation of Cyprus at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF)

• 2001 - Spain, Murcia Date: 22 - 26 July 2001.

• 2003 - France, Paris Date: 27 July – 2 August 2003.

2.07 3 Athletics – High Jump EMILIOS XENOPHONTOS

The most important accomplishments of our athletes at the European Youth Olympic festivalwere the following:

Summer Edition

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• 2005 - Italy, Lignano Sabbiadoro Date: 2 – 9 July 2005.

56,83 1 Athletics Discus throw SAVVAS ARESTIS

• 2007 - Serbia, Belgrade Date: 21 - 28 July 2007.

• 1997 - Sweden, Sundsvall 8-12 FEBRUARY 1997 •

• 1999 - Slovakia, Poprad-Tatry 7-12TH MARCH 1999 •

• 2001 - Finland, Vuokatti 10-16 March 2001 •

• 2003 - Slovenia, Bled 22 - 27 JULY 2007

• 2005 - Switzerland, Monthey 23 - 29 January 2005

Winter Edition

• 2007 - Spain, Jaca 18th to 23rd February 2007

• 2009 - Poland, Slask – Beskidy 14 – 21 February 2009

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The accomplishments of our teamson the international stage havebeen remarkable when our limited

resources our taken into account.

In basketball, Cyprus has had some specialmoments in European competitionsthrough its teams, Keravnos, AEL, APOELand Apollon.

The teamaccomplishments

KERAVNOS

AEL

APOEL

The start of our Europeansuccess began withKeravnos which managedto make it through to the lasteight of the Saporta Cupback in 2000. This successwas followed by AEL’saccomplishments in Europeand then by other sides.

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The National Teamof Cyprus

Cypriot football As is the case in mostcountries, football is Cyprus’s most lovedsport out of all the team games. The

Cyprus Football Association (CFA), which wasfounded in 1934, is responsible for all the localleague games which take place every year as wellas for the national teams. The best moments inCypriot football are Anorthosis Famagusta’sentry into the group stages of the ChampionsLeague in the 2008-2009 season and the results

that followed in the competition as well as themen’s national team’s remarkable victory (3-2)over Spain on 5.9.1998 in a Euro2000 qualifyingmatch.

This year was topped by the Cyprus SchoolboysFootball Team which managed to win the 2009World Schools Championship back in April. Cypruscrowned off a perfect tournament by beating SouthAfrica 4-1 in the final.

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The vast experience that was gained fromhosting the Games of the Small States ofEurope went a long way in helping the

Cyprus Olympic Committee organise the 10th ISFWorld Gymnasiade, which saw 31 nations takepart. The President of the Organising Committeefor the World Gymnasiade games, which tookplace in May 2004, was Dr. Andreas Fylaktou whowas also a member of the Cyprus National OlympicAcademy and, later, the academy’s president. Allofficials of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, with thethen Director of the Cyprus Olympic Committee,Mr. Dinos Michaelides, at the helm, played theirpart in ensuring that the games were a success. Itwas a major sporting event due to the fact that theWorld Gymnasiade saw 1,107 athletes take partand with the number of delegates also hosted, thattotal reached 1,133 people. More specifically, thegames saw 543 track athletes, 255 swimmers, 181gymnasts and 128 rhythmic gymnasts take part.

Around 1,000 volunteers helped in the organisingof the games which took place between 14 and 21May, 1994. Cypriot football Cypriot footballbecame an official body in 1934 following theestablishment of the Cyprus FootballAssociation. From the start, the sport of footballwas embraced as was the case in most countriesaround the world. On a team level, we have sidesthat can look back on important moments. Themost impressive accomplishment was that ofAnorthosis who managed to qualify for the groupstages of the 2008-2009 Champions League.

On a national level, the greatest achievementcame in Cyprus’ 3-2 victory over Spain at theAntonis Papadopoulos Stadium.

The 23rd Seminar for SecretariesGeneral and Chefs de Mission of theEuropean Olympic Committees

The Cyprus Olympic Committee organised andsuccessfully hosted the 23rd Seminar forSecretaries General and Chefs de Mission whichwas held in Limassol on 26 and 27 April andwelcomed 13 IOC members including the ItalianMinister for Sports Mario Pescante, Sergey Bubkaand other famous personalities. The CyprusOlympic Committee was congratulated for itsorganisation of the seminar.

Sport and peace

Also important was the international IOC event“Sport and Peace” which was organised by theCyprus Olympic Committee at the Forum Hotel on6 and 7 April, 2004. A total of 12 OlympicCommittees took part in the event from nationswho have in the past experienced variousconflicts.

The WorldGymnasiade

Dr. Andreas Fylaktou was President of the WorldGymnasiade Organising Committee

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Cypriot sports boasts some great talentsthat have already shown just what they arecapable of. They are:

• Pavlos Kontides (picture 1) who secured the goldmedal at the World Youth Championships whichtook place in 2007. He followed up that successwith another gold medal at the World YouthChampionships which took place in Denmark thefollowing year.

• Tasos Chapeshis (picture 2) who has alreadysecured a gold medal after coming first at theWorld Championships Games, in the youth event,which took place at the Olympic Shooting Rangein Nicosia on 8 September, 2007.

• Weight lifter Demetris Minasides (picture 3) whohas already made his mark after a successful runat the 2009 World Championships in Bucharest.

• Sergis Kyratzis, (picture 4) who is following in thefootsteps of Marcos Baghdatis after his importantvictories in Bulgaria. His achievements prompted thetennis federation to call him up for the national team.

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

Demetris Minasides with the President of CyprusWeightlifting Federation and COC Treasurer DamianosHadjidamianou.

Sergis Kyratzis.

Great hope forCypriot sports

Pavlos Kontides

Tasos Chapeshis

①

➁

➂ ④

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The Cyprus Rally has a long and prestigioushistory as one of the world’s mostchallenging and best-loved motorsports

events.

The first rallies in Cyprus were nothing like we seetoday. They were a cross between a race and areliability trial, where the overriding problem waswhether the cars would be capable of getting tothe finish! However, as the expertise of the drivers- and the reliability of the cars - improved, it becameevident that something more professional wasneeded.

Therefore, in 1970 the Cyprus AutomobileAssociation joined Rothmans of Pall Mall to run anannual international rally. While it was tough, theCyprus Rally also earned itself a reputation for ablend of superb organisation and warm hospitality– features that enticed drivers, journalists and fansback year after year.

While the Cyprus Rally has always been a showcasefor home-grown talent, the event has also attractedmany of the biggest names in world rallyingincluding, amongst others, Roger Clark, Ari Vatanen,Jimmy McRae, Armin Schwarz and the mostsuccessful WRC driver of all time, Sebastien Loeb.

With word of the Cyprus Rally spreading fast andthe likes of Stig Blomqvist taking victory here, theevent grew increasingly successful during the1970s and was awarded coefficient 3 in theEuropean Championship in 1978. Successcontinued into the 1980s and the event achievedcoefficient 4 in 1982.

Highlights of the 1980s included John Buffum ofthe USA bringing the Audi Quattro to Cyprus in1984 (he led from start to finish), and the ToyotaTeam Europe bringing a powerful team to the1988 event - now at coefficient 20 - to test the newCelica GT-Four prior to its World Championshipdebut. Bjorn Waldegaard won that event, givingthe Toyota its first major victory.

The early 1990s saw young Italian AlessandroFiorio dominate the event – scoring a hat-trick of

History of theCyprus Rally

127

wins. A number of European Championshipbattles took place throughout the 1990s.

The Cyprus organisers were thrown in at the deepend in 2000 when the Cyprus Rally was named asa last-minute replacement for the China Rally in theWorld Rally Championship. The organizers hadjust four months in which to put everythingtogether, but worked their magic to produce anunforgettable event. A crushing all-the-way wingave Carlos Sainz his first victory in the Ford Focusand his 23rd in the WRC. The WRC years saw thetop names in the business competing and takingvictory, including Colin McRae, Marcus Gronholm,Petter Solberg and, of course, Sébastien Loeb.

For the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Cyprus Rallymoved to the FIA Middle East Championship(MERC). In 2007, Charalambos Timotheoubecame the first Cypriot driver to win the island’sleading international sports event since. The 2007

Cyprus Rally was also an official round of the 2007FIA Historic Rally Championship.

The 2008 event was run under the watchful eye ofthe FIA, as the Cyprus Rally was bidding as acandidate event for the 2009 WRC calendar.Young Cypriot driver Nicos Thomas took the eventby storm and, at 20 years of age, became theyoungest driver ever to win the Cyprus Rally andthe youngest driver to ever win a Middle East RallyChampionship event.

The Cyprus Rally made a successful return to theWRC in 2009 and broke new ground as a mixedsurface (both tarmac and gravel) event. Along witha major Ceremonial Start event which included anexclusive concert by Greek singing star SakisRouvas, the 2009 FxPro Cyprus Rally proved ahuge success. The event also proved a WRClandmark, with Sebastien Loeb securing a record50th WRC win in his Citroen.

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

11th Cyprus Rally - J.Clark - M.Fraser.

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Within the large family of the OlympicMovement in Cyprus and within sportsin general, certain people have given a

unique service.

They are the four men who have filled the seat ofPresident of the Cyprus Olympic Committee,namely, the beloved Stelios Garanis (1974-1975),Demetrakis Demetriades (1976-1984), KikisLazarides (1984-1975) and Ouranios Ioannides(2008 - ). Each person gave his own special serviceto sports.

• Stelios Garanis, from his post of CSOPresident, undertook the major role of establishingthe Cyprus Olympic Committee.

• Demetrakis Demetriades acted as Presidentof the Cyprus Olympic Committee between 1976-1984 in what was a difficult time for all due torepercussions of the Turkish invasion. He alsoplayed a big role in getting recognition for theCyprus Olympic Committee.

• Kikis Lazarides was the man who movedtowards the complete upgrading and facelift of theCyprus Olympic Committee, the creating of aninternational network of cooperation with othernations whilst he was also behind the move of theCyprus Olympic Committee to the current OlympicHouse.

• His crowning moment was when he became amember of the IOC in 2002.

• Ouranios Ioannides took over the duties ofpresident in October 2008 with his top credentialbeing his vast experience in the field of sports.

Below are the portfolios of thefour presidentsGaranis SteliosCivil Engineer, Businessman, Company Advisor to‘Garanis & Petrides Ltd.’ Born in Athens on13.5.1926, was married to Katie and has twochildren. Education: Pancyprian Gymnasium,University of Beirut, University of Oklahoma (U.S.).Titles: B.Sc and member of the American Societyof Civil Engineers (A.S.C.E.). Foreign Languages:English. Career: After finishing his studies (1951),he worked for a short space of time in Africa. Hereturned to Cyprus in 1953. He was President andManaging Advisor of the company ‘Garanis &

The former COC President Kikis Lazarides with the currentCOC President Ouranios Ioannides – who took over hisnew duties on 2 October, 2008.

Unique service to theOlympic Movement inCyprus

129

Petrides Ltd.’. He acted as member of the AdvisoryCommittee for Labour at the Ministry of Labour,President and member of the CFA, of the CSO(1969-75), of the CTO and of the Cyprus-AmericanScience Society. He was the first President of theCyprus Olympic Commitee (1974-1975).

Demetrakis Demetriades

He was born in Nicosia on 13/7/1929. Is marriedwith three children.

Studied law at Middle Temple in London andworked as a barrister from 1952 until February1961 when he was appointed District CourtJudge. Was a member of the Pancyprian BarAssociation until 1960, District Court Judge from1961 and then Higher District Court Judge andPresident of the District Court until 1978 when hewas appointed Supreme Court Judge. He held theposition of Supreme Court Judge between 1978until 1997 – one of the longest serving judges inCyprus Supreme Court history.

As of 1954, he was a member of the Cyprus SEGASlocal committee, President of the PancyprianFederation for Youth Sports, board member of theCyprus Automobile Association, board member ofthe GSP and board member and later ViceChairman of the GS Praxandros. He was the firstPresident of the Cyprus Basketball Federation anda board member of the CSO when it was firstestablished in 1969. He was also President of theCyprus Olympic Committee from 1976 to 1984.

Kikis N. Lazarides

Born: 1935, Larnaca, CyprusMarried 1955, 1 son, 1 daughter

Education: Southampton University B. Sc.Economics

Career History:- Cyprus Government Treasury 1958-1963- Central Bank of Cyprus – Manager Economic

Research Department, 1963-1969

- Alternate Governor of International MonetaryFund, 1964-1969

- General Secretary, Apoel Football Club, 1969- President, Apoel Football Club, 1974- Chairman, Cyprus Sports Organization, 1975-

1983 (A Government Corporation responsiblefor sport policy and sports infrastructure)

- President, Commonwealth Games Association- President, Cyprus Olympic Committee, 1984-

2008- Member of the Executive Committee of the

Association of the European National OlympicCommittees

- Treasurer of the International Committee of TheMediterranean Games, 1993-

- Chairman, Association of Cyprus CommercialBanks, 1989-1990

- Chairman, Cyprus Airways, 1989-1993 (NationalFlag Carrier)

- Chairman, Laiki Bank (Hellas) S.A., Athens 1992-2006

- Chairman, Cyprus Heart Foundation, 1994-1996

- Honorary Consul of the Principality of Monaco,1995-

- Group Chief Executive, Cyprus Popular BankGroup, 1970-1992

- Chairman & CEO, Cyprus Popular Bank Group,1992-1998

- Chairman, Laiki Group, 1999-2006- Honorary Doctor of Science in the Social

Sciences (University of Southampton), 1998- Honorary Doctor of Science (City University),

2000- Member of the International Olympic Committee

(IOC) 2002-2006- Chairman University of Cyprus, 2004-2007- Chairman, Cyprus Cultural Foundation, 2005-- Executive Chairman Cyprus Airways, 2007-

Languages spoken: Greek and English

Leisure interests: Sports (tennis)

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Ourαnios Μ. IoαnnidesCBiol, CChem, CSc.- Honorary Professor of Donetsk National

University (since 2002)

- President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee(2008-2012)

- President of the Interim Governing Board(2005-2007) and Chairman of the Council ofthe Frederick Uniνersity (2008-2012)

- President of the Permanent Assembly of thePrivate Universities of Cyprus (since 2008)

- Minister of Education and Culture of theRepublic of Cyprus (1999-2003)

- Α’ Vice President of the Democratic RallyParty (1997-1999)

- Member of the House of Representatiνes ofthe Republic of Cyprus (1996-1999)

- President of the Cyprus Sports Organization(1988 - 1994)

Personal Details Born: December 22, 1944 Marital status: Married, two sons Languages spoken: Greek and English

Education

Pancyprian Gymnasium, Department of Sciences(Cyprus)

Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki, School ofPhysics and Mathematics, Department of NaturalSciences (Greece)

Wales University, University College Cardiff (U.K.)

Academic and Professional Titles

BSc in Natural Sciences

Graduate Diploma in Educational Management,Educational Psychology, Educational Technologyand Research Skills.

Master in Education.

Doctorates, of La Salle University and HonorisCausa Middlesex University, Mariupol StateUniversity of Humanities and World UniversitiesAssociation Plato.

Professor and Academic advisor at La SalleUniversity.

International Visiting Professor of the world AcademyPlato.

Honorary Professor of Donetsk National University.

Chartered Chemist, Chartered Biologist, CharteredScientist

Awards, citations

- The First Prize (Highest Award) of the CyprusSports - writers Union (The Supreme Sports Prizeof Cyprus) from Η.Ε. the President of theRepublic of Cyprus Mr Glafcos Klerides, in 1995.

- The Cross of the 75th anniversary of the GreekOrthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and GreatBritain, Exarchate of Western Europe, Irelandand Malta, from His Reνerence ArchipishopGregorios, in 2000.

- The Cross of the Consecration of the CathedralChurch of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, NorthLondon, from His Reνerence Bishop ofTropaeou Athanasios, in 2002.

- The Decoration of National Cedar, rank ofHigher Officer of the Republic of Lebanon fromΗ.Ε. the President of the Republic of LebanonMr Emil Lahoud, in 2002.

- The Degree of Honorary Doctor of the MariupolState Uniνersity of Humanities (Ukraine) byresolution of the Senate, in 2002.

- The Degree of Honorary Professor (ΟΝ Νο 008)of Donetsk National University by the resolutionof the Senate in 2002.

- The distinction mark of honour of "ThePersonality of the Year" for 2002 from NationalArmenian Committee of Cyprus.

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- The Metal of Honour of the Institute ofInternational Relations of the Kyin NationalTaras Sheνchenko Uniνersity in 2002.

- The Metal of Honour of the Mariupol Institute ofHumanities of the National Uniνersity ofDonetsk (Ukraine) in 2002.

- The Declaration of Gratitude and the Metal ofHonour of La Trobe University of MelbourneAustralia, in 2003.

- The Degree of Honoris Causa Doctor of theMiddlesex Uniνersity (U.K.) 2004.

- Elected as Individual member of the WorldUniversity Association (The Associationincludes 460 universities from 48 countries) andmember of the International Scientific Senate ofthe Association (2004).

- Elected full member (academitian) of theAcademy "Plato" (2004)

- The Degree Doctoris Honoris Causa and theDiploma Celebre of the World UniversityAssociation Plato, in 2005.

- The title of International Visiting Professor of theWorld Academy Plato, in 2005.

- The Metal and the Diploma of Honour of theRepublic of Cyprus for his participation in thestruggle for Iiberty of ΕΟΚΑ 1955-59, in 2006.

He was honoured by proclamation as HonoraryPresident, Vice - President or Member from manyorganizations and clubs.

He was honoured with many mark of Honour byhundreds of Schools, Tertiary EducationFoundations, Communities, Organization Clubsand others in Cyprus and abroad.

Professional and Academic Career

Science schoolmaster from 1971 to 1986.

Lecturer in Biological sciences and Science at thePedagogical Academy of Cyprus from 1986 to

1992. Introduced and delivered the subject ofScience, Technology and Social Improvement.

Assistant Headmaster for Secondary EducationSchools, seconded for special duties (Educationof Educators) at the Pedagogical Institute ofCyprus from 1992 to 1995. Lectured οπ Research,οπ construction examination papers and onevaluation.

Senior Education Officer at the Ministry ofEducation and Culture (Department of Higher andTertiary Education) of the Republic of Cyprus from1995 to 1996.

Professor/Academic Advisor at La Salle Universityfrom 1997 to 1999.

He conducted research in Science and Education.

He published a great number of books (70) andarticles, manuals and other written material in thefields of science, sports, education, culture andpolitics.

Introducer and advisor to the establishment of theOpen University of Cyprus and Chairman of it'spreparatory committee, introducer to theestablishment of the Technological University ofCyprus and editor of the bill of low providing for itsestablishment and of all relevant papers to it'sestablishment, and introducer to the establishmentand operation for Private Universities of Cyprus andeditor of their relevant bill of low.

Preparation of feasibility studies for theestablishment and operation Universities amongstwhich those of Great Moravia at Slovakia and thatof Future at Albania.

Since 1/6/2003 he was working as a consultant -advisor eχpert in the field of his scientificιcknowledge and experience.

President of the Interim Governing Board, (2005 -2007) and Chairman of the Council (2008-2012) ofFrederick University

Chairman of the permanent Assembly of thePrivate Universities of Cyprus (since 2008).

The CyprusOlympic

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35 Years, 1974-2009

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PoIiticaI career

Vice-President (1964) and President (1964-67 and1967-69) of the National Union of Cypriot Studentsof Thessaloniki - Greece.

Vice-President (1965-67) of the Federation of theNational Unions of Cypriot Students internationally.

Vice-President of the 5th (1965) and President ofthe 6th (1966) and 7th (1967) of all over the worldGreek Cypriot Students Congresses.

President of the Cyprus Sports Organisation, thesupreme public authority for Sports in the Republicof Cyprus, from 1988 to 1994, position to whichhe was appointed by the President of the Republicof Cyprus.

Member of the Democratic Rally Party of Cyprus.

Member of the House of Representatives(Parliament), position to which he was elected in1996 and Deputy Chairman of the ParliamentaryCommittee for Education.

Α' Vice President of the Democratic Rally Party ofCyprus, position to which he was elected ίπ 1997.

Minister of Education and Culture from 1999 to2003.

President of the Institute for the Eurodemocracy,2003 - 2004.

Commissioner (shadow Minister) of Education andCulture of the Democratic Rally Party, 2004-2006.

Οn 2002, on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, hesecured the privilege to organize the "2003Conference of the European Ministers of Education".This was the first and the only European MinistersConference which run in Cyprus.

LEADERSHIP ROLES

PresidentPancyprian Naturalists Association (1980-1991)

Olympias Sports Club (1972-1987)

Nicosia Football Clubs Federation (1971-1988)Confederation of Sports Federations of Cyprus(1977 -1988)

Cyprus Fencing Federation (1986-1988) CyprusArchery Federation (1987-1988) Cyprus TableTennis Federation (1986-1988) Cyprus RefugeesFootball Clubs (1975-1988) Union of the Friends ofOld and Classic Cars ( 1994-1997)

Young Men's Christian Association (1992-1997)ΑΡΟΕL S.C. (1996-1999)

Honorary PresidentOlympias Sports Club (since 1987)

APOEL S.C. (since 1999)

Nicosia Football Clubs Federation (since 1988)Confederation of Sports Federations of Cyprus(since 1988).

Cyprus Fencing Federation (since 1988) CyprusArchery Federation (since 1988)

Vice PresidentBiological Association of Cyprus (1982-1989)

Cyprus Table Tennis Association (1975-1986)Cyprus Wrestling Federation (1983-1988)

Honorary Vice President International Union forSports Law (1992-1993)

Secretary GeneralCyprus Volley Ball Federation (1978-1988)

Member of the boardPancyprian Federation of Higher and Tertiary,Educators (1987-1989)

Supreme Councilίl for Army Sports of Cyprus(1990-1994)

Cyprus Automobile Association (1994-1997)

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ANDOTHER ASSOCIATIONS

FellowshipResearch Council of Emerson College (Ca)

MembershipScientist Council (UΚ), Institute of Biology (U.K.),Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.), NationalGeographic Society (USA)

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International College of Leadership in sport, ICLS(Foundation Member)

International union for Pure and Applied ChemistryAssociation for Science Education (U.K.)

European Association for Sports Management

International Association for Sports Law

Union for Educational Management (CY) ArchbishopMacarios III Foundation.

Military Serνice

- Volunteer in the Cyprus Army from December1963 to September 1964 (Training for twomonths in Greece (Redina) in the CommandosSchool

- Military serνice in the Cyprus Army (FieldArtillery) from July 1970 to July 1971

- Serνice ίη the Cyprus Army for the 1974 warbecause of the Turkish troop’s invasion fromJuly 20, 1974 to September 2, 1974.

- Special military serνice in the Cyprus Army (twodays per month) from March 18, 1978 to May18, 1980.

- MiIitia - man (volunteer) from 1994 - 1997.

Sports He was a football player of the Olympias (1959-60),of ΡΑΕΚ of Kyrenia (1961), of ΑΡΟΕL (1961-63), ofHercules of Thessaloniki (1963), of the Universityof Thessaloniki football team (1963-68) and of theOlympias F.C. (1975-1987).

He was also a long jump and high jump athlete.

Member of the youth section (ΑΝΕ) of theNational Organization of the Cypriots Fighters(ΕΟΚΑ) at the period of the struggle for freedom(1955-59).

The CyprusOlympic

Committee

35 Years, 1974-2009

Left to right, Stavros Tzortzis with the then Minister ofEducation Ouranios Ioannides, and Sotiris Kaiafas.

The top Cypriot athletes of thelast century

In 2000, a special ceremony took place tomark the 100 years in Cypriot sports. StavrosTzortzis and Sotiris Kaiafas were elected as thetop athletes of the last century (1900-2000).

• Stavros Tzortzis was honoured for histremendous and continuous internationalachievements in track events; The greatestmoment in his career came at the MunichOlympic Games where he ran with the GreekNational Team and secured sixth place. He isrighteously considered as the greatest figureamongst Cypriot athletes.

• Sotiris Kaiafas is considered to be thegreatest Cypriot football striker of all times. Inthe 1975-76 season, he won the UEFA GoldenBoot after his astonishing haul of 39 goals inthe Cypriot first division.

Both men were honoured by the CyprusSports Organisation

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The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and the CyprusOlympic Committee (COC) signed a memorandumof understanding (MOU) recently for greater bilateral

cooperation in the field of sports. COC Secretary-GeneralGen. Charalambos Lottas, who was in Doha as part of thedelegation of Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, talkedto Qatar Tribune’s Jai Narain Pandey about the areas ofcooperation and future plans of the COC. Excerpts:

What was the highlight of your talks with QOCofficials?

We have made a very good beginning. We signed a MoUfor cooperation in the field of sports.

What are the main features of the MoU?We agreed to exchange visits of players and coaches,besides holding seminars regarding sports.

Which are the main sport disciplines in which Qatarcan support Cyprus?Qatar is very good in football and it has a quality team inhandball. In addition to these two disciplines, I hope we cancooperate with each other in volleyball, basketball, athleticsand high jump.

Which are the sports in which Cyprus is good at?We are proud to have Marcos Baghdatis, a tennis player.He was the runner-up in 2006 Australian Open. We havemany talented tennis players. Our shooters are also verygood. In Beijing Olympics, we finished in the top 10. Wehave an equally good high jump and swimming athletes.

How good is the infrastructure in Cyprus?Infrastructure in my country is excellent and that is thereason why we have good shooters, high jumpers andswimmers. We have modern stadiums equipped with latesttechnology.

Qatar has hired good coaches to promote its sports.Do you have any such plan?We have also hired foreign coaches but I do not agree withthis trend. This is not good for sports. Most of the countriesare hiring foreign players for their national teams.

Do you like this idea?

I am personally against this. We should promote our ownplayers and groom them to become national andinternational heroes.

Has any country tried to poach any Cypriot player?

Yes, many. Greece has weaned away many of our footballplayers. Our boys are also playing for Germany and France.

Besides Marcos Baghdatis, are there any tennisplayers who have the potential to make it to the top?

We have very good players at the junior level who have thetalent to make it big in tennis.

What is the expectation of Cyprus from the nextOlympics?

At least one medal in any discipline.

What is your government’s plan to promote sportsand develop infrastructure?We have about 40 sport federations. The government givesmoney to all of them.

How much is the budgetary allocation for sports inCyprus?

Not much. We don’t get more than 5 percent.

Cyprus has beautiful beaches. What about water andsea sports?

We have beach volleyball and handball teams. We havestarted water polo and deep sea diving, besides scubadiving.

Any plan to host international events in the nearfuture?

In June, we will host the XIIIth Games of Small States ofEurope in which countries like Iceland, Liechtenstein,Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and San Marino, besidesCyprus, will be participating. In future, we are keen toorganise Commonwealth Games and European Games.

Qatar, Cyprus to exchangevisits of players, coaches

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The greatest moment in our sports was the arrival of the Olympic Torchin Cyprus on 9 June, 2004 ahead of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

35yearsC y p r u s O l y m p i c C o m m i t t e e

1974 2009CYPRUS OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

CYPRU

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MITTEE

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