The National Olympic Academy expresses its deep sorrow for the loss of the great Olympic champion coach Thanasis Kapnidis, who was the coach of Ioannis Melissanidis and Demosthenes Tabakos.
During his funeral ceremony, the Academy paid the minimum tribute to his memory by laying a wreath, while expressing its respect and gratitude for his invaluable contribution to Greek sport.
His contribution to the sport of gymnastics was enormous and multidimensional, with a decisive influence on the promotion of Greek gymnastics to the global elite. He led Ioannis Melissanidis to win world and European medals, as well as the Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
At the same time, he was for many years a coach and supporter of the Olympic champion Demosthenes Tabakos, both as his personal coach for a decade and as head coach, contributing decisively not only to his career, but also to the development of the entire National Gymnastics Team.
He was an innovator, with a pioneering approach to the composition of racing programmes and the creation of new exercises. Among his most important innovations are the famous «Melissanidis jump» and the «Nemov jump», which was first performed by George Papadimakis in 1994 at the Brisbane World Championships. The Melissanidis vault was the subject of his doctoral thesis at the University of Lesgaft in St Petersburg.
After the foundation of the Hellenic Gymnastics Federation, he became National Coach of the men's and women's gymnastics team (1997-2000), while he was also President of the Technical Committee for Men's Gymnastics.
In addition, he served as President of the Athletic Union of Gymnastics Associations of Northern Greece (2006-2007), as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the E.G.O. (2007-2012), holding, among others, the office of First Vice President. In 2013, he was named Honorary President of the Hellenic Gymnastics Federation, in recognition of his long and invaluable contribution to the sport.
ETHNOA expresses its sincere condolences to the family and relatives of Thanasis Kapnidis and sympathizes with the Hellenic Gymnastics Federation for the loss of such a great man of Greek sport.
