A surprise visit yesterday to the offices of “Peloponnisos” by a man who has written his name in “golden” letters in Greek sports, as he has won four Olympic medals.
The reason for the four-time Olympic champion in Weightlifting and legend of the sport, Pyrros Dimas, who came to Patras yesterday on the occasion of his award from the Association of Retired Officers of the Prefecture of Achaia. After the event, Pyrros Dimas was at the “Peloponnisos” building and had a conversation with the publisher Theodoros Louloudis and the journalists of the sports department.
Mr. Dimas referred to current issues, the recent proposal of the swimmer Noras Drakou, who asked for insurance for all athletes, Weightlifting in Patras, the problems of Greek sports and the damage done by doping in the past .
Regarding insurance: “I totally agree with Nora, we shouldn’t even be talking about it. What a champion does is a job and some people do championships until they are 32 and by then they have nothing. Most, if not all, athletes should have insurance.
On How Doping Has Affected Weightlifting: “The issue of doping has done a lot of damage to our sport. Unfortunately, from 2008 until 2019 we received a big blow. From 2022, the grant was cut from 1 million 800,000 euros, we fell to 570,000 euros and we also had to cover debts to third parties. Then we had a big fight to cover the debts and we succeeded. In 2015, SYRIZA came and dropped our grant to 320,000 euros with our operating costs reaching 270,000 and there it was as if we were living on plants. With personal contacts we participated in certain events just to exist as Greece”.
On the current state of Weightlifting: “Despite the successes, we don’t have many children like in other sports. First of all, they require the unions to work at different rates, to have an accounting and legal department. It is positive that they now receive a small grant, however, not all unions can respond and they are not even enough to cover the expenses.”
About Pelopa’s work in Patras: “I know that Giorgos Michalopoulos is doing an excellent job, he is a person who combines both athletics and weightlifting, but the downside is that there is not a large amount. Unfortunately parents are afraid and send their children to football and basketball. In America this perception does not exist, I have worked with the federation in recent years, we have created a coaching school and we have done a very good job as a result of which the federation now has income”.
For the sports facilities: “Things are bad and fortunately in recent years we have seen an attempt to upgrade. I recently went to Ioannina and we saw that the facilities at PEAKI have been upgraded and if it weren’t for Miltos Tedoglou, the sports facilities at OAKA would not have been built. Journalists must also highlight this issue so that they can be upgraded to provide safety to young children.”
However, Pyrros Dimas said that he will return to Patras in the next period, since it is his intention to present his book.
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