Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a conference call with Olympic champions, current and former national champions who have glorified Greece, and other great athletes.
During the meeting, they discussed the valuable contribution of the sports family to the success of the “Stay Home” message and the use of the crisis to enhance the spread of exercise, fair play and volunteering in Greek society.
Pyrros Dimas, Nikos Kaklamanakis, Anna Korakaki, Lefteris Petrounias, Grigoris Polychronidis, Maria Sakkari, Katerina Stefanidi and Stefanos Tsitsipas participated in the conference call. The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the “Live Athletically” initiative Andreas Glyniadakis, the Vice Chairman Dimitris Papanikolaou, Panagiotis Giannakis, Voula Kozompoli, Evi Moraitidou and the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Lefteris Avgenakis, as veterans who remain active in sports institutions, also participated in the conference call.
The athletes pointed out that the State reacted in a timely and effective manner, which is recognised abroad. They spoke about the challenges of “home” training and declared that they were determined to continue to support any efforts to raise awareness and make a shift towards a healthy lifestyle, as expressed by the “Live Athletically” initiative.
The Prime Minister noted that the special conditions caused by the pandemic gave many Greeks the opportunity to discover sports. As improving public health has been one of the Government’s long-term goals from the beginning, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that the crisis experience could be a huge legacy for the future, as sometimes citizens need an opportunity to adopt good habits to their daily lives.
“I am confident that when we will be able to get out of our homes in a more organised way, the whole society’s perceptions on the issues of healthy exercise and volunteering as a whole will have transformed” he stated.
He also stressed the importance of volunteering, which is deeply related to sports festivals. The spirit of offering that developed in the summer of 2004, when the Athens Olympic Games were combined with the conquest of the Euro Cup, has reappeared in the current situation and can become our constant asset, the Prime Minister claimed. In this context, Mr. Avgenakis noted that through the blood donation campaigns a large number of blood bottles have been collected.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that if April goes on smoothly, the gradual return to normal life may begin in May, including an increase in opportunities for sports.
Special mention was also made to the Government’s plans to build the Paralympic Training Centre in Rafina, an issue mentioned by the Paralympic athlete Grigoris Polychronidis. “This centre is a big dream for me and we will make it, because I think the Paralympic movement worths such an infrastructure,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while the Deputy Minister said that we are ready to begin with the project as quickly as possible.
The Prime Minister thanked the athletes for their contribution to the promotion of the “Stay Home” message, while he emphasised the fact that the Greek people, for their part, proved to have large reserves of self-discipline and patience. “We really have the opportunity to put it into practice, to change our habits and to come out stronger from this adventure,” he said.
During his introductory speech, the Prime Minister stated:
“I am very happy to see you all together. It is my great pleasure to be able to communicate, even so, in these very special times.
I want to thank each and every one of you individually, because I believe all of you have contributed, in your own way, to this great effort we are making, not only to keep everyone at home -I think that is something we have achieved much better than many other countries – but at the same time to give a boost to people to make productive use of this time. We have the chance to re-evaluate some priorities, to realise the importance of a healthy lifestyle and -why not – to rediscover sports. This can be done even from home, with sports such as jogging or other activities allowed during this period. We have the opportunity to realise the importance of personal hygiene and public health. Of course, for me -since I am not only a politician, but also an athlete, who can’t imagine life without sports – maybe this crisis is an opportunity to bring the world closer to sports. I am confident that when we are able to go out of our homes in a more organised way, social perceptions on the issues of healthy exercise and volunteering as a whole will have transformed.
So, thank you very much for your personal support on all online platforms, for the collective and individual videos you have made. I think we gain credibility overall as a country with this great effort, so that the day after, when we overcome the crisis, Greece will no longer be perceived as the black sheep, but, why not, as an example to be followed on how we managed this great challenge.”
The Deputy Minister of Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis, stated the following, among other things: “We proceeded quickly with making videos of our Olympic champions for home sports classes, as well as with broadcasts on the Greek National Television channel (ERT) (…) But the most important step, which stands out among everything else, was the blood donations. It was touching also to see Mr Giannopoulos, from “The Smile of the Child” organisation at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, so moved, saying he had never recorded such a number. 164 bottles of blood in two and a half days (…) The sports family managed to collect them in a disciplined manner.”
During the discussion, the participants from the field of sports mentioned, among others:
Pyrros Dimas, President of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation and four-time Olympic Weightlifting Champion stated that “it is time to bring back the 2004 volunteer movement, which stopped at some point. We are all volunteers, we want to help, especially in these critical and difficult times. We do everything we can. We are here. We are ambassadors of sports. We help.”
Lefteris Petrounias, Olympic Champion on the still rings issued the following statement: “I think we have all become united. Without spending anything special, we have managed to push people towards sports and this is a very good opportunity.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas, tennis player, ranking number six in the world said that “it’s an opportunity to spend a little more time with my family and do things I didn’t have time to do before. Specifically, right now I’m trying to learn some French on a daily basis, it’s something I’ve always wanted but I didn’t have the time, it’s an opportunity now.”
Maria Sakkari, tennis player, ranking number 20 in the world mentioned that “first of all, I would like to thank you and congratulate you for what you and the Government have done. We all understand that it is not easy, it is something very difficult, we are all grateful – I think I am speaking on behalf of everyone – it is admirable what you have achieved.”
Katerina Stefanidi, Olympic Champion in pole vaulting said the following: “I think that from now on things will become a little difficult; the more we are inactive, the more it will take us to return to our normal life (…) We will go through difficult times, but I think everyone is doing what they can in their homes, as Maria said, out on the streets or by the beach.”
Anna Korakaki, Olympic Champion in Shooting: “First of all, I want to thank you for all the measures taken. I live in a very small and provincial town and I am very happy to see that the people here at least are disciplined. Also, I’m happy because a lot of people who stayed home and didn’t have any motivation to go out, to exercise, even to walk on a daily basis, they do it now.”
Grigoris Polychronidis, President of the Hellenic Paralympic Association and Paralympic Champion in Boccia mentioned that “the “Live Athletically” initiative of the Minister is something that yielded results – at least in personal terms – much more than expected. We have seen the whole sports family united. It is showing its power in helping psychologically above all. Because the Greek people need a lot of psychological support at the moment. I think that all athletes together have managed to boost the morale of the Greek people and to actually encourage them to be strong and optimistic, to expect the best tomorrow.”
Andreas Glyniadakis, Chairman of the Executive Committee of “Live Athletically” initiative and European Basketball Champion: “We want to spread the values of sports in schools, we want to change the culture of the people, to make athletes part of society for their whole life, and not just during their years of championship or only when they bring medals or distinctions. We mainly aim for what is happening in other countries, such as the USA, for example, where sports culture – as you mentioned – may become something that can be spread among the Greek people.”
Panagiotis Giannakis, President of the Association of Greek Basketball Coaches, Olympic Champion as a coach and European Champion as a player: “Sports have great power. We experienced this in 1987, we experienced it in 2004, we experienced it with the great successes of all athletes and the gold medals awarded. It has tremendous power. Beyond that, we need slightly better organisation with regards to how we can really stimulate people who have the power in them, but they don’t know how to get it out and can really find a way to evolve themselves in sports, but not only there.”
Takis Fyssas, European Champion in Football, Sports Director of the National Team: “Therefore, I consider this a first class opportunity for my children to learn how their father lived, to learn to discipline themselves in measures and rules, to have limits on their travels – after all, we couldn’t move or go out of our home whenever we wanted it – and also learn to be patient and make sacrifices. We are ready to make such sacrifices.”
Nikos Kaklamanakis, two-time Olympic Champion in Sailing: “Restraint, delayed reward and the notion that our lives must have a higher purpose, have become part of our lives. (…) We have managed to introduce self-discipline in our lives. Not us, who are champions and Olympic champions, but our whole family and every Greek. This was a very big bet that has been won, not because it was imposed, but because it was inspiring. And for this point congratulations are due to you and your team.”
Evi Moraitidou, President of the Hellenic Olympians Association and Olympic Champion in water polo: “Indeed we have seen many who have not been involved in sports in the past, many of our fellow human beings, going out with their trainers and taking a walk, a jog, a run outdoors. We would like to see this continue in the future. So the “Live Athletically” programme and all the initiatives that you and the Deputy Minister of Sports are taking would be a very solid foundation for the future.”
Voula Kozompoli, President of the Hellenic Association of Participants in the Olympic Games and Olympic Champion in water polo: “Let’s pay great attention to how Greek sports may restart, in cooperation with the Government, with the Ministry of Sports and of course wherever might also help. And starting to see how we will support amateur sports, which is being hit severely at the moment.”
Dimitris Papanikolaou, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the “Live Athletically” initiative and Basketball Olympic Champion: “There is an increase of 625.6% in fitness equipment until yesterday. We all look only at food consumption, but we also have a large consumption relating to sports equipment, and this needs to be emphasised. We have a lot of plans for the future, when athletes should tell children to organise healthy, good social groups in schools; so that they may become responsible and decent adults when they grow up.”
