Dimas is visiting the United States at the invitation of the Panepirotic Federation of America World Council of Epirotes Abroad

PANEPIROTIC FEDERATION OF AMERICA PRESENTS OLYMPICS CHAMPION PYRROS DIMAS

   Olympics Champion Pyrros Dimas, considered one of the greatest weight lifters of all time with three Olympic gold medals and three world championships, has arrived in the United States to spend several weeks visiting  Greek-American communities to raise concern and solicit support for the Greek minority in Albania.

Pyrros Dimas began his journey to America by marching as an honorary marshal in the Greek Independence Day parade in New York on March 25 and will also be grand marshal at the Boston parade on April 22 to mark the liberation of Greeks from 400 years of Ottoman rule.  The day before the parade he will headline Greek Independence ceremonies at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

             Dimas is visiting the United States at the invitation of the Panepirotic Federation of America World Council of Epirotes Abroad.   During his stay he will be the guest of honor at dinners in Boston, New York, Baltimore and Chicago sponsored by the Federation and the Council.   He will also visit Washington with Federation and Council leaders to seek support for the Greek minority in Albania from the Congress and the Obama Administration.

“All the funds raised at the dinner for Pyrros Dimas will go to support programs of the Panepirotic Federation, most of which focus on improving conditions for Greek communities in Northern Epiros and ethnic Greeks throughout  Albania,” said Demitrios  Koutoulas , president of the Panepirotic Federaton.

Dimas was born in 1971 in Himara, the historic Greek community in Northern Epiros, a region that was part of Greek territory since ancient times but was ceded to Albania by the Great Powers after World War I.  Twenty years later he emigrated to Greece, was granted Greek citizenship in 1992, and competed  under the Greek flag  in that year’s summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in the 82.5 kilogram class. 

During his 202.5 kg lift at the clean and jerk, he shouted  “Gia tin Ellada!”; meaning “For Greece!”), thus dedicating his victory to Greece.  This is the catchphrase with which he is most associated in Greece.

At a time when Greek success at the Olympics was limited, he became instant national hero.  He was greeted as such on his return to Greece at a grand ceremony attended by 60,000 people at the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens, with a further 30,000 outside the stadium.  His birthplace gave rise to his nickname “The Lion of Himara”.  His outstanding number of Olympic Gold Medals created another nickname “Midas”.

With the 1992 and 1995 World titles under his belt, Dimas was the favorite to win Olympic Gold in the 83 kg class at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was the flag bearer of the Greek Olympic team.  He won the event with two new World Records.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won yet another gold medal, this time in the 85 kg class.  This made him one of just three weightlifters at that time to have won three Olympic gold medals.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Dimas was again chosen as Greek flagbearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies.  Dimas was recovering from knee surgery and a hurt wrist and was not expected to compete in these Olympics, but he came away with a bronze medal in the 85 kg class, becoming only the fourth weightlifter in history to win a medal at four different Olympic Games and only the third to win them successively four times, thus cementing his status as a national hero in Greece. 

             After earning the bronze medal he signaled his retirement by leaving his shoes on the platform, while the appreciative Greek crowd gave him a standing ovation.

In June 2008, Dimas became vice-president, and in October 2008 president of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation.

Dimas is married to Anastasia Sdougkou, a former sports reporter for Greek National Television, who is accompanying him on his visit. They have two daughters and two sons, ages three to 17.

Besides his march as a marshal in the New York and Boston parades, Dimas will make a number of appearances at Greek American communities throughout Eastern part of the United States sponsored by local chapters of the Panepirotic Federation. They include St. Spyridon’s Church in Worcester, MA the evening of April 20 after his appearance at the State House; the 57 Restaurant in Boston on April 21 sponsored by Federation chapters in Boston; St. Nicholas Church in Baltimore, MD on April 25;  Sts. Constantine and Helen Church in Anapolis, MD on April 26; St. Sophia Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on April 27, and St. Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria, Queens on April 28. Other events in other cities are in the process of being organized.

During their visit to the United States, Dimas and his wife will based in Worcester, MA, as guests of the founding chapter of the Panepirotic Federation, Enosis. 

http://www.panepirotic.org/