2024-02-20 00:07:05
At the celebration of the top athletes and clubs that took place last night in Athens, the Athletic Gymnastics Association of Ioannina was also awarded, which for 2023 was declared the champion of Greece in the field of classical sports.
The club was represented by the registrar Mrs. Fotini Angeli, who received the champion’s honorary plaque from the first special secretary of SEGAS, Panagiotis Dimakos. Mrs. Angeli in her greeting said, among other things: “We do not make transfers, we rely on our own children, in the nursery of the club. They are children of our city and for that we are all proud. With good work we reached high.”
AGSI, in addition to its award for being ranked first in the general standings of all categories, was also awarded for the special honors as the first club in the U16 boys and girls categories of the northern group and as the first provincial club of 2023.
All the sportsmen and women who stood out in 2023 were awarded, among them Miltos Tedoglou, Antigoni Drisbiotis, Nikos Andrikopoulos, Emmanuel Karalis, Elina Tzengo, Panagiota Dosi, Christos Chitas and others. Special awards were also given to former Olympians Voula Patoulidou 100m hurdles, Niki Bakoyannis height, Lambro Papakosta height.
The celebration was opened by the president of SEGAS, Sofia Sakorafa, who, after speaking with words of pride and love for the children of Greek athletics, took the opportunity to thank Deputy Minister Yannis Vroutsis for his immediate and effective actions, which have reformed the closed training center of OAKA .
“Today we are awarding the top athletes, their coaches, associations and personalities who played and are playing a positive role in the development of athletics. It is a special honor for the athletics family, which makes us feel satisfied and proud”, said the president and added: “I am very happy that they are here with us today (including yesterday), former glories of our area. Giorgos Vamvakas, Kosmas Stratos, Stratos Vassiliou, Anna Veroulis, Koula Giannakidou, with whom we met in the stadiums”, said, among others, the president of SEGAS Sofia Sakorafa, who shortly before stepping down from the podium, spoke from the heart about the Deputy Minister of Sports, Yannis Vroutsis. “You know my political stance. I have always believed and I still believe that policies are implemented by people and it takes determination from the people who implement them. Minister, I’m talking about you. I want to thank him because from the beginning he accepted us in his office and listened to us. He took important measures for us, such as the circular for the specifications of the stadiums and of course his directness on the matter of the closed OAKA. With his actions, important projects were immediately carried out, which upgraded the training of sportsmen and women. Mr. Minister, I want to thank you and I will do so by giving you this gift. The appearance of the national team with the signatures of the athletes who train at the facility,” said the president, who pleasantly surprised the Minister by presenting him with a windbreaker of the national team with the signatures of the top athletes, as well as coaches, who use of OAKA.
After thanking the president of SEGAS, Sofia Sakorafa, Mr. Vroutsis said in his short greeting: “These words moved me. When I took over and heard about the situation in the closed OAKA, I decided to provide an immediate solution. I went there and saw that great athletes were training in a place that was not as it should be”, said the Deputy Minister of Sports, who pledged to continue to be next to the Federation and its sportsmen and women.
A little later, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, who was awarded by the president of SEGAS for her contribution to the work of the Federation, took to the stage. “I am present to support every effort you make to support the brightest, healthiest face of our country to the outside,” said the Minister of Tourism.
The turn was then taken by the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, who, on the occasion of the greeting, also referred to the cooperation that the Federation has in collaboration with the Ministry and for which there will be announcements in the next period. But the evening was dedicated to the sportsmen and women who won medals in the top competitions, the Budapest World Championships, the European Indoor Championships, the European U23 and U20 and the Olympic youth days.
One of the strongest moments of the evening was when three great figures of Greek sports took to the stage, Voula Patoulidou, Niki Bakoyannis and Lambros Papakostas. The three great figures of Greek athletics were awarded by the vice-president of SEGAS, Kostas Kenteris, who presented the new medals of the Panhellenic games.
NOTE: The information from the report is from the website runbeat.gr