About Greece

SPORTS
by Iakovos Filippoussis
Journalist
Greece has become a leading power in the sports world following
the great success of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, in which Greek
athletes also performed brilliantly, winning 16 medals in total in individual and team competition.
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By hosting the 28th Olympic Games
in Athens in 2004, Greece managed
to show the world not only that the
country has the technical and management skills, that it is a great European country with a developed
economy, experienced staff and
state-of-the-art infrastructure, but
also that the country has the incomparable advantage of leaving its own
unique mark on the ideals of the
Olympic Movement and the values
of sports.
On the one hand, the success of
the Athens 2004 Olympic Games
put Greece’s name in gold letters
on the world sports map and, on
the other, it created a unique capital gain to the benefit of the country itself, as well as to the benefit
of the Olympic Games.
However, first and foremost, this
success created the conditions for
an unbelievable social consensus.
Almost the entire Greek population
wanted the Olympic Games, almost
all Greeks contributed – in their respective fields of activity – so that
we could host a successful Olympic
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Games, and today all Greeks rise to
every new organizational challenge
that develops in the sports arena.
Sports in all their aspects have become a way of life for Greek citizens,
who now enjoy a firm, familiar connection to sports and share a strong
belief in the ideals of the Olympic
Movement, deep respect for the environment and an adamantly positive view of volunteer work.
Greece has taken full advantage of
the way society has welcomed the
Olympic Games and their positive
impact; together with the incomparable “Olympic Heritage” and experience, Greece is now one of the
most important brand names in
sports worldwide, being the winner
of a unique and multi-faceted
“bet”, which gave the country:
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State-of-the-art sports facilities
High-level national teams and
athletes
Highly skilled human resources
Exceptionally well-trained volunteers
Extensive and multifarious serv-
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ices to the sports family
A safe and secure environment
An exemplary link between
sports and culture.
Therefore, the natural course of
events was for post-Olympics
Greece to win a permanent seat in
the sports arena, which has been
achieved in the past three years by
hosting excellent competitions in
all Olympic sports, achieving great
performances in individual and
team sports, and showing a dynamic presence in all the international fora of the Sports and the
Olympic Movement.
As far as the Greek State is concerned, it has made and is currently implementing the strategic decision to invest in all aspects of
sports, so as to benefit the young
people in this country on the one
hand, and, on the other, to adhere
to the historic “commandment” of
being the guardian of the international Sports Movement over the
course of centuries. This is the reason why the Greek Government
guarantees and commits itself on
every occasion to the best possible
organization of sports events, providing full financial support to the
creation of the necessary infrastructures, to the preparation and
to the event itself.
THE INFRASTRUCTURES
Greece is now equipped with
sports venues, unique in terms of
architecture and state-of-the-art in
terms of technology, while it can
also count on a huge network of
supporting infrastructures when
hosting important international
sports competitions. All these assets make our national sports federations able, firstly, to bid for – in
cooperation with the Ministry of
Sports – and be assigned to hosting some of the biggest annual
sports events on the planet and,
secondly, to host the sports family
and also organize the awarded
competitions in a flawless manner.
The Olympic Rowing and CanoeKayak Center in Schinias, the
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Olympic Beach Volleyball Center in
Faliro, the Olympic Sailing and
Tae-Kwon-Do Centers on the city’s
seafront, the Sports Complex at
Hellinikon, the Olympic Center in
Nikaia and, of course, the Athens
Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA)
are all globally one-of-a-kind venues, covering a broad spectrum of
high-level sports, providing excellent services, offering cultural
and other activities in total harmony with the environment and with
respect to green spaces, while
also being totally accessible to
the citizens of the capital and of
the greater region of Attica.
Similar perspectives have emerged
as high-level sports planning has begun in the other “Olympic Cities”,
namely Thessaloniki, Volos, Heraklion and Patra, as well as in other
cities equipped with outstanding
sports infrastructure that were not
lucky enough to have been included
in the organization of the 2004
Olympics, these being the cities of
Larissa, Ioannina, Kalamata and
Rhodes.
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All these facilities available around
the country, apart from offering the
possibility of hosting important
events, have also evolved into
sites of international interest, able
to develop and upgrade Olympic
sports, and this is why they have
become a destination of interest for
athletes from all over the world and
a springboard for promoting the
country at the international level.
The international federations of
rowing, softball and cycling are
already cooperating with the company Hellenic Olympic Properties
SA, which is responsible for managing and utilizing the Olympic
venues after the Athens 2004
Olympic Games, so that they can
use our facilities for international
training centers or for holding international competitions, thus covering their needs on the European
continent.
Thousands of athletes from all
over the world now consider the
Olympic venues in the country as
their point of reference and they
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plan their training in Greece, a fact
which has a great impact on the
country’s economy, culture and
promotion. Apart from that, our
country is part of the annual programming of the international
sports federations, whereas the
strategy for making the most of the
Olympic infrastructure in Athens after the Games is becoming a model not only for other big cities
wishing to host the Olympic
Games, but also for the International Olympic Committee.
Further, such agreements are the
introductory product of a unique
project of “Sports Tourism”, resulting from the cooperation between
the Ministry of Tourism and the
Ministry of Culture; this project
brings together the following aspects:
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The country’s development in
terms of sports, since Greece
has become a sports destination for foreign athletes who
cannot train in their countries
all year round.
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The operation, maintenance
and upgrade of the Olympic facilities using our own resources.
The creation of a new source of
income for public finances.
The international promotion
of Greece.
The upgrading of Greek
atheletes’ performance, training and competition skills,
since they will have the opportunity to come into in frequent
contact with international
sports stars, Olympic medallists and world champions.
HUMAN RESOURCES
As far as the world community of
sports is concerned, it is of paramount importance not only to have
the infrastructure that we do, in
terms of sports venues and the
chance to provide excellent transport, security and conditions of
stay, but, in addition to that, to have
the sophisticated know-how of
sports executives in the country. The
Olympic Games motto “the best athabout GREECE
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letes, in the best venues, in the best
conditions” continues to apply after
the Games.
Thousands of people have taken
part in the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games endeavor; they have acquired unique knowledge and incomparable experience to such
an extent that Greece now can export know-how in sports, while
Greek executives contribute to the
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excellent organization of sports
events around the whole world: the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the
London 2012 Olympic Games, the
Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games,
the Qatar 2006 Pan-Asian Games,
the Germany 2006 Football World
Cup and the South Africa 2010
Football World Cup. Hundreds of
Greeks now have ambitious careers
as sports executives, working in
every country that has assumed a
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similar responsibility towards the
greater sports community.
Our volunteers have similar skills.
The training they received during
the Olympic Games is their comparative advantage; they have given new meaning to the concept of
volunteer work in this country and
through their associations they
contribute to the successful organization of big sports events.
The human factor combined with
the updated plans guaranteeing
security for visitors, the impressive
infrastructure in terms of accommodation and hosting capacity, as
well as the transport system form
a unique heritage for the present
and the future of Greece in sports.
TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE
The undoubtedly unique “Olympic
experience” is a solid pillar, supporting the country’s close cooperation with the International
Olympic Committee and the Beijing
2008 Organizing Committee. Ministries involved in hosting the
Olympic Games together with the
General Secretariat for the Olympic
Utilization and the elite executives
of the Athens 2004 Organizing
Committee are very active in transferring Games organizing knowhow, while both sides work together in the field of security, of
Olympic works and organization to
Olympic standards, of coordination
between central Government and
each venue, as well as in the field
of crisis management.
At the same time, the General Secretariat for the Olympic Utilization
is also responsible for managing
and supporting every undertaking
or initiative that can promote and
highlight the role of our country in
the world Sports Movement, thus
covering the numerous needs that
have emerged since the end of the
Games.
In this framework, the leading undertakings are the following:
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The Olympic Education program, outcome of the coordination of educational projects,
exhibitions and special educational publications.
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Activities and events undertaken
by the Greek community living
abroad, with the objective of
promoting the Olympic Games
in cooperation with the General
Secretariat for the Greek Community in other countries at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ATHLETES
The most important role in all
sports events is played by the
athletes, on whom all organizational efforts are focused at all important international sports meetings.
Greece wishes to create the best
possible conditions for the athletes, so that their stay is without
complications, so that they can
compete under ideal conditions,
and so that they can achieve their
best performance and please the
spectators.
Special attention must be paid to
the sports program, to promote
popular sports and attract visitors
and spectators from all over the
world. The achievement of this
goal, by television coverage and by
attracting sponsors, is what creates the best possible perspecabout GREECE
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tives in promoting each sport and
in illustrating the best image of
each sport.
Furthermore, Greece is able to
host high-technology sports meetings; the country continues to invest in sophisticated technology
which has been used exclusively
during Olympic events. Greece
wishes to continue this tradition of
top-level investments, which started with the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games.
Last but not least, the international
effort to fight doping demands
great emphasis. The Greek Government has laid down the institutional framework – by creating the National Council in the Fight against
Doping (ESKAN) – to prevent and
crack down on doping phenomena, in cooperation with the WADA
and the Hellenic Olympic Committee. The antidoping center at the
Athens Olympic Sports Complex
(OAKA) is one of the best in the
world in terms of sophisticated
technology and unquestioned
credibility.
EVENTS
In this framework, in 2006 Greece
undertook the assignment and
managed to successfully host the
World Cup in Athletics, the European Athletics Championship
“Bruno Zauli”, the European Gymnastics Championship, the “Tsiklitiria” Athens Super Grand Prix in
Athletics, the World High School
Championship, the European
Championship of Track Cycling,
the final round of the Water Polo
World League and the European
Archery Championship. In 2005,
the series of splendid events hosted in Greece included the Euro416
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pean Final Four of the Volleyball
Champions League, the “Tsiklitiria”
Athens Super Grand Prix in Athletics, the Canoe-Kayak World Cup,
the World Beach Volleyball Tournament and the World Cup Jumping
Competition in Equestrianism.
Athens has the honor – unique
among all European capitals – to
host in 2007 the major team competitions of the “old continent”, in
other words the UEFA Champions
League football final and the ULEB
Euroleague Final Four.
Moreover, in 2007 Greece will also
host the following competitions:
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The World Championship of
Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics.
The worldwide high-profile
Equestrian Competition of series CSI Global Tour 5*****.
“Onassis International Horse
Show”.
The annual Meeting of the Culture and Education Commission of the International
Olympic Committee.
Furthermore, Greece saves a special place in its heart for Paralympic
sports: following the impressive organization of the Athens 2004
Paralympics, in which participation
records rocketed with 4,000 athletes from 136 countries taking
part in 19 sports, the leaders of the
Sports Movement in the country
provide full support to this sector
while Greece seeks to foster in
many ways the sports performance
of people with special needs on
the one hand and, on the other,
the Special Olympics. The country
has already placed its bid to host
the 2011 World Special Olympics,
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while it was recently appointed as
host-country for the 2013 Deaf
Olympics. In addition to that, the
Association of Greek Paralympics
Champions has also been established, which cooperates with
competent bodies in order to develop sports in as many ways as
possible and to create motives
for all athletes, whether members
or not.
SPORT DISTINCTIONS
The country’s sports performance
has been equally impressive. The
men’s national basketball team
ranked first in the Belgrade 2005
European Basketball Championship
and second in the Japan 2006
World Basketball Championship.
The men’s national water polo
team won the bronze medal in the
2005 World Championship in Canada. In 2006, sprinter Pericles Iakovakis was crowned European Chamabout GREECE
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pion in the 400 meters at the European Championship held in Sweden, while he also won the IAAF
Grand Prix Final in Monte Carlo. Furthermore, Pighi Devetzi and Fani
Halkia ranked second in both the
long jump and the 400-meter hurdles at the same European Championship in Sweden.
In swimming, Aris Grigoriadis won
two medals at the European Championship held in Budapest. Great
achievements were also made in
synchronized swimming and tennis, with Lena Daniilidou climbing
up to the 23rd position in the
women’s doubles world ranking,
not to mention weightlifting, artistic gymnastics, table tennis,
equestrianism, wrestling, sailing,
cycling, tae-kwon-do and rowing.
In 2007, Greece will enhance its key
role in the world Sports Movement,
attracting the attention of the entire
world, since it will host the “finals
of the finals” in European football
and basketball, while the prospects
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are good in bidding for the 2013
Mediterranean Games and the
2013 Universiad.
Moreover, Greece recently undertook the hosting of SportAccord in
2008, which is a major annual
sports exhibition and annual
sports conference, held under the
auspices of the International
Olympic Committee.
Having passed the baton to Beijing
for the next Olympic Games,
Greece can be proud that in the
four years in between 2004 and
2008, it will have cashed in, in the
best possible way, on the bet of
undertaking and hosting the
Athens 2004 Olympic Games, being a point of international reference in the world of sports.
USEFUL LINKS
Deputy Ministry of Sports / Secretariat
General of Sport
www.sportsnet.gr
Hellenic Olympic Committee
www2.hoc.gr