President of the Cyprus Sports Organisation Yiannos Ioannou, praised on Wednesday the excellent performance of the Cypriot delegation at the Games of Small States of Europe (GSSE) at all levels, pcongratulating particularly the athletes. He also announced that he will soon meet a request by the President of the Cyprus Olympic Committe, George Chrysostomou, to reward the athletes, whether they have clinched a medal or not.
Ioannou was speaking at a press conference regarding Cyprus’ participation in the 20th Games of Small States of Europe, which took place in Andorra from 26-31 May, at which the country ranked first, receiving a total of 108 medals.
President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, George Chrysostomou, said that it was not an easy task and that planning was needed at many levels. He noted that this was the largest ever delegation at the Games. Concluding, he noted that “the Games were a triumph of ethos, effort and investment in the future”.
Head of the mission of the Cyprus Olympic Committee at the Games, Efthimios Polydorou, said that the Cypriot delegation with several young athletes in the team, achieved first place after 14 years.
Polydorou noted that “achieving 1st place was not an end in itself, but nowadays we are all unfortunately judged by numbers and results and therefore this result confirms our unwavering faith in the capabilities of the members of the delegation and Cypriot sports in general”.
He referred to the “fair play” move by trap shooter Nikolas Kyriakou to identify and claim a successful shot by his main competitor for the gold medal, San Marino shooter Gianmarco Berti, which was deemed invalid by the judges.
“This move did not go unnoticed by Prince Albert of Monaco, who was watching the competition in person and who congratulated the Cypriot shooter for his action,” he said.
All athletes who took the floor said they were proud to represent Cyprus, noting that they honored the national emblem in the best possible way.
They also stated that with hard training they will try to defend the first place they secured in the Andorra Games during the next GSSE and in 2031 when Cyprus will be the organising country of the Games
