Cyprus Olympic Committee

Cyprus Olympic Committee

Cyprus Olympic Committee logo
Country/Region	Cyprus
Code	CYP
Created	1974
Recognized	1979
Continental Association	EOC
Headquarters	Olympic House, Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus
President	Dinos Michaelides
Secretary General	Charalambos Lottas
Website	www.olympic.org.cy

The Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC) (Greek: Κυπριακή Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή) is National Olympic Committee representing the Republic of Cyprus. It is responsible for promoting the Olympic ideals on the island and for ensuring that Cyprus is represented with athletes at the Olympic Games and other multi-sport events.

Members of the committee are 31 sports federations, which elect the Executive Council composed of the president and twelve members.

The COC organized twice the Games of the Small States of Europe, in 1989 and in 2009.

Mission and Games

The Cyprus Olympic Committee is responsible for safeguarding and implementing Olympism and the Olympic ideals in Cyprus. It's also responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing teams for the Olympic Games, European Games, Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games, Mediterranean Beach Games, Games of the Small States of Europe and other Junior-level multisport competitions such as the Youth Olympic Games, the Summer and Winter European Youth Olympic Festival and the Youth Commonwealth Games.

History

The Cyprus Olympic Committee was founded on June 10, 1974 and became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1979. Prior to that, Cypriot athletes competed in international events representing Greece. Amongst the most well known Cypriots who have represented Greece are Ioannis Frangoudis^[1] (triple shooting medalist in Athens 1896), Aristidis Konstantinidis (cycling gold medalist in Athens 1896), Stavros Tziortzis^[2] (7th in the 400m hurdles in Munich 1972) and Lakis Georgiou Psimolofitis (8th in skeet shooting in Munich 1972).

Cyprus’ first ever Olympic participation came in the Winter Games of 1980^[3] at Lake Placid in United States, while the debut of Cyprus in the Summer Olympics came six months later in Moscow. Since then, Cyprus has been present at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as other multisport events in continental and world level.

Executive committee

Following the scheduled elections for the four-year circle until 2020, in November 2016, Dinos Michaelides was re-elected president. Michaelides was first elected president five months earlier, in June 2016, when Ouranios Ioannides resigned due to health issues.

Mr Dinos Michaelides is a former athletics champion who represented Greece in the 60s, while after retiring as an athlete he served Cypriot sports as a gymnast, coach and official in various positions.

The 2016-2020 committee of the COC is represented by:

• President: Dinos Michaelides
• Vice President: Georgios Chrysostomou
• Secretary General: General Charalambos Lottas
• Treasurer: Damianos Hadjidamianou
• Members: Yiotis Ioannides, George Apostolou, Sotos Trikomitis, Michalis Krashias, Sofoklis Charalampidis, Georgios Papageorgiou, Ioannis Photiou, Kalli Hadjiiosif, Andreas Chasikos (president of the Athletes Committee)

Member federations

The Cyprus National Federations are the organizations that coordinate all aspects of their individual sports. They are responsible for training, competition and development of their sports. There are currently 29 Olympic Summer and two Winter Sport Federations in Cyprus.

Olympic House and Museum

The Olympic House, headquarters of the COC, opened in September 16, 2006 in a ceremony attended by the then President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and president of the IOC Jacques Rogge. The three-story building houses almost every sporting federations of the island, including sports which aren’t on the Olympic schedule. The Olympic House covers an area of 7500 m2 and cost 5,63 million Cyprus pounds.^[7] The Olympic House also houses the Cyprus Olympic Museum, which spans since 2012 on all three floors of the building. More than 400 artifacts are on display in the Olympic Museum, including the suit worn by Pavlos Kontides at London 2012, a medal won by Theofanis Theodotou in the Zappas Olympics in 1888 and sporting gear of the 1946 Boston Marathon winner Stylianos Kyriakides.

Events and awards

In a way of implementing the beliefs and ideals of the Olympic Movement, the COC organizes events which inspire people and the younger generation. The special events vary from year to year and include multisport events as well as local and national events. These are the Olympic Day,^[8] Pierre de Coubertin student conference,^[9] National Olympic Academy conference, Olympic Education program, Woman in Sport conference,^[10] Award Banquets for the best junior athletes,^[11] and Fair Play ambassador appointment.^[12] The COC also organizes events which target to integrate and introduce sports to persons from sensitive groups such as refugees.^[13]

Sponsors

The Cyprus Olympic Committee is supported by a number of sponsors, with the funds assisting the participation of the country in international events and for the organization of various non-sporting events.

OPAP Cyprus are the First Top Sponsor. CYTA and RCB Bank^[14] are the Major Sponsors. Petrolina, Charalambides Christis and PEAK are the Official Product Services.

Social media

The COC is present on social media, with the Press Office of the Committee running an official Facebook^[15] page, as well as Twitter^[16] and Instagram^[17] accounts, all with the same handle @cyprusolympic. The COC is also present on YouTube with its own channel.^[18]

See also

References

External links

• Official website