The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, visited the Olympic Village yesterday Sunday, where he met with the athletes of the Cyprus Olympic Committee's delegation to the Paris Olympic Games, the "best ambassadors of Cyprus abroad" as he said.
During his visit to the Olympic Village, the President of the Republic met the athletes and their coaches, the Administrative Team, the Medical Team, and visited the office of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, in which the Administrative Team handles issues related to the mission, and then he was given a tour of the village. Afterwards, he went up to the building and on the floor where the Cypriot mission is housed, he saw the rooms, the doctor's office and a physical therapy clinic.
He was also informed about the life of the mission in the Olympic Village and had the opportunity to talk and discuss with the athletes and their coaches about issues that concern them, especially the issue of sports infrastructure and that of professional rehabilitation.
In his statements, President Christodoulidis said that "I felt an obligation to visit the Olympic Village and meet personally with our athletes, to wish them good success, to thank them for the fact that they are the best ambassadors of Cyprus abroad" while he stated that through the discussion "some issues arose that they have to deal with".
"Some topics which are very different to hear from the athletes themselves, the stakeholders themselves. Some issues, which are of particular concern, especially in two aspects of everything we discussed," he said.
Referring to the issue of infrastructure, President Christodoulidis gave as an example "the fact that Marios Georgiou and the other children will not be able to train at Spyros Kyprianou due to the renovation that is being done for the games in 2025. We have advanced the procedures with a specific room in Limassol, in a school, the Neapolis school, where the work will be completed by the end of August, so that the team can train normally".
“So one is the issue of facilities in general. I referred to the example of Mario because there is this aspect," he added.
The other, President Christodoulidis continued, is the issue of professional rehabilitation.
"There are ways, there are plans that can cover our athletes coming to the Olympics." If we really want to use them as role models for our society, but also to further develop our sport, these children must stay within the field of sport, so that they not only feel that professional security but at the same time for to attract new kids, he noted.
He said that for these two issues, they will discuss specifically and we will proceed with announcements on this specific issue", he concluded.
After the excellent start of the first two athletes of the KOE Paris 2024 mission, Marios Georgiou and Sofia Asvesta, there is currently optimism, excitement and confidence in the Cypriot Olympic team.
PtD was accompanied by his wife, Filippa Karseras Christodoulidis, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athina Michailidou, the Ambassador of Cyprus to France, Pavlos Kobo. On the part of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, in the Olympic Village were its President, Georgios Chrysostomou, its Secretary General, Andreas Georgiou, and the Head of Mission, Giotis Ioannidis.
The Minister of Education, who returned to Cyprus on Sunday, after her visit to the Olympic Village, posted on her social networks: "Departing from Paris, we greeted our athletes and conveyed our love, admiration and pride to them again , because they are already winners! Be good guys, strong and strong, with successes! We will support you and make you proud!".
Source: KYPE