In a particularly glamorous evening with the theme “16 Years in a Single Thank You,” the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Mr. Spyros Capralos, celebrated his 16 years to date as the head of the country’s top sports institution. The event was a tribute and expression of gratitude to all the people who have stood by him as companions, friends, and collaborators throughout his athletic and broader journey.
In the packed “Lighthouse” hall of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Mr. Capralos welcomed Olympic champions, sports officials, numerous representatives from the political, shipping, and business worlds, athletes, journalists, and close friends early in the evening.
The event, hosted by the top international presenter and journalist Nikos Aliagas, who came to Athens for just a few hours to honor his close friend, began with an emotional video tracing Spyros Capralos’ journey from his days as an athlete, champion, and Olympian, to his current roles as President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the European Olympic Committees, and a member of the International Olympic Committee.
The video included messages of recognition, respect, and trust from the President of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Thomas Bach, the legendary Nadia Comaneci, the flying Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, the oldest living Olympian George Roubanis, and Olympic champions Anna Korakaki, Spyros Gianniotis, Pavlos Kagialis, Elina Tzengko, Dora Gountoura, Milena Kontou, as well as the influential shipping magnate Mr. Petros Pappas.
Subsequently, the stage hosted speeches by individuals who spoke about their close relationships, deep appreciation, and collaborations with Spyros Capralos. Among them were Gold Olympic Medalist Lefteris Petrounias, the coach of Olympic champions George Pomaski, and the President of the Hellenic Swimming Federation, Kyriakos Giannopoulos.
A particularly touching moment was the surprise emotional speech delivered by his daughter, Danae Capralos.
After the speeches, Spyros Capralos took to the stage, visibly moved, to thank his collaborators, athletes, federations, the successive leaderships of the Ministry of Sports and Culture, his colleagues, amateur sports officials, the employees of the Olympic Committee, his friends, and his family.
In closing, the host, who is running again for the Presidency of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, pledged, stating: “I will continue to stand by every athlete, every effort for the benefit of Greek sports, and every ‘battle’ that unites us and elevates us ever higher.”
I will continue to stand by every athlete, every effort for the benefit of Greek sports, and every ‘battle’ that unites us and elevates us ever higher.
Spyros Capralos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee
Among those present at the event were the Deputy Minister of Sports I. Vroutsis, the Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection A. Nikolakopoulos, the General Secretary for Sports G. Mavrotas, the President of the Freedom Sailing Party Zoi Konstantopoulou, the Secretary of the New Democracy Party Maria Syrengela, MPs Lefteris Avgenakis and Domna Michailidou, the President of the Hellenic Olympic Academy I. Kouvelos, the President of SEGAS Sofia Sakorafa, Fani Palli-Petralia, Petros Efthymiou, Pyrros Dimas, Olympians of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games such as Lefteris Petrounias, Apostolos Christou, Milena Kontou, and Zoi Fitsiou, as well as representatives from the sports, shipping, financial, and business sectors including Messrs. Petros Pappas, Dimitris Melissanidis, Michalis Sallas, Sofia Staikou, Theodoros Fessas, Michalis Tsamaz, Takis Theocharakis, Peggy Antonakou, Stelios Zavos, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Thomas Varvitsiotis, Nikos Nanopoulos, Alexis Pilavios, Eleni Vrettou, Apostolos Tamvakakis, Stratis Liarellis, Nikos Vernikos, among others.
