The Municipal Conservatory of Larissa held an honorary event by the Region of Thessaly, in recognition of the significant contribution of Thessalian Olympic and Paralympic champions in sport.
A total of 46 athletes were awarded at the event, including 33 Olympic medallists and 13 Paralympians. Among the honoured were Olympians of ETHNOA, such as the President of the National Olympic Academy and two-time Olympic gymnastics champion, Demosthenes Tabakos, the member of the Board of Directors of ETHNOA and Olympic wrestling champion, Konstantinos Thanos, as well as the Olympic champions Stergios Papachristos, Nikos Skiathitis (rowing), Eleftheria Ftouli (artistic swimming) and Alexandros Albanos (handball).
Nikos Skiathitis received the award from Demosthenes Tabakos and commented:
«It is a great pleasure and honour to be here to receive the award from a very good colleague, Demosthenes Tabakos. Together with the rest of the ETHNOA team, we participate in the «Kids Sports - I Love Sports» and «I Experience the Olympic Values» programmes, and it is a great pleasure to see children being inspired by sports and the Olympic principles».
Demosthenes Tabakos sent a message of thanks to the Vice-Regional Governor of Sports - Culture, Mr Sotiris Souloukos, stating:
«Sport is a phenomenon where we laugh and cry together. It is the purest expression of life and so, by honouring sport, we honour the power of life. Whether it's politics, economics, music, art, religion or sports, there is a common goal in all of these avenues: happiness. And sport is one of the most important tools for creating it.».
In his message he stressed that the National Olympic Academy of Greece is willing to participate in joint programmes for the students. Already, Thessalian Olympians such as Eleftheria Ftouli and Stergios Papachristos, as well as Olympic champions Dimitrios Georgalis and Dimitrios Avramis are visiting dozens of schools across Thessaly, bringing their experience and promoting Olympic values to students.
The event began with an introductory narration by sports journalist Vassilis Skountis and was accompanied by the choir «InDONNAtion», which performed the Olympic Anthem. At the end of the evening, Mr Skountis was honoured for his overall contribution to sports journalism.
In addition, personalities with a long contribution to the Olympic Movement were honoured, such as Yannis Papadogiannakis, four times Chief of Mission of the Hellenic Olympic Team and holder of the Olympic Order of the International Olympic Committee. The Olympic champion in athletics, Voula Patoulidou, was also honoured at the awards ceremony, recognising her long-standing contribution to Greek sport and her international achievements.
List of awarded athletes:
Olympians: Demosthenes Tabakos, Fani Halkia, Voula Patou, Vassilis Polymeros, Antonios Papaconstantinou, Stergios Papachristos, Nikolaos Skiathitis, Konstantinos Thanos, Dimitrios Georgalis, Christos Papanikolaou, Giannis Bourousis, Demosthenes Dtikoudes, Konstantinos Patavukas, Efthymis Regias, Vassilis Spanoulis, Theodora Gountoura, Dimitrios Avramis, Olga Vassdeki, Lambros Papakostas, Alexandros Albanos, Philippos Caiafas, Vangelis Patras, Xenophon Koutsioumpas, Georgios Koutsioumpas, Fani Tzelis, Konstantinos Filippidis, Maria Patra, Konstantinos Papanikolaou, Katerina Voggoli, Antigoni Drisbioti, Eleftheria Ftouli, Maria Christodoulou, Apostolia Ioannou, Savina Anastasiou
Paralympians: Leda Manthopoulou, Simeon Paltsanitidis, Despina Batzianouli, Georgios Dontas, Thanasis Regios, Evangelia Sarakatsani, Lambrini Agagiotou, Ioannis Vavatsikos, Panagiotis Vaiopoulos, Panagiotis Dtikoides, Konstantinos Patsias, Eleftherios Minas, Nikolaos Ganatsios
The reception area of the Municipal Conservatory hosted an exhibition of Olympic exhibits from the personal collection of Pantelis Koutzanoulis, giving the public the opportunity to see important objects of modern Olympic history.
