Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
English, Greek
Coach
Panagiotis Petridis [national]
International senior debut
2015
Injuries
He was affected by back pain at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. (olympic.org.cy, 08 Oct 2019; gym.longinestiming.com, 07 Oct 2019)
An ankle injury forced him to withdraw from the men's individual all-around final at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He competed with the same injury at the 2017 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. (intlgymnast.com, 23 Jun 2017)
He suffered a finger ligament injury during the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, and missed two weeks of training. (Athlete, 04 Aug 2016)
Start sporting career
He took up gymnastics in 2003.
Reason for taking up the sport
He was selected to practise gymnastics by a specialist.
Milestones
He became the first artistic gymnast representing Cyprus to win a medal at the European championships by claiming bronze in the individual all-around at the 2019 edition of the tournament in Szczecin, Poland. He then became the first Cypriot artistic gymnast to win gold at the European championships with victory on horizontal bar in 2022 in Munich, Germany. (SportsDeskOnline, 11 Oct 2022; gymmedia.com, 14 Apr 2019)
He became the first artistic gymnast representing Cyprus to compete at the Olympic Games when he took part in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 19 Sep 2019; ueg.org, 28 Oct 2016)
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning gold on horizontal bar at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany. (intlgymnast.com, 21 Aug 2022)
Hero / Idol
Japanese artistic gymnast Kohei Uchimura. (Athlete, 04 Aug 2016)
Most influential person in career
Coach Panagiotis Petridis. (eng.gymnovosti.com, 25 Apr 2019)
Philosophy / Motto
"Sports make you a better person and that's because during training you'll experience both happiness and sadness. You'll feel excited and also disappointed, you'll feel proud and you'll feel that you've been wronged." (eng.gymnovosti.com, 25 Apr 2019)
Awards
He was named Top Athlete of the Year for 2022 by the Cyprus Sports Writers Association [EAK]. (Facebook profile, 15 Jan 2023; sport-fm.com.cy, 12 Jan 2023)
He was flag bearer for Cyprus at the opening ceremony of the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. (laspos.com, 28 Jun 2015; gettyimages.ie, 12 Jun 2015)
Additional information
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has worked with the anti-bullying campaign 'Be the Hero'. "When I was a student I was bullied at school. They would tease me about the colour of my skin, other traits that made me different and my sport. Words can be very harsh. That's why I wanted to take an active part in this campaign." (eng.gymnovosti.com, 25 Apr 2019)
Last update : 2023-09-22
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