More than 700 Greek Australian athletes chased glory last weekend, competing in the 5th Biennial Oceania Pan Hellenic Games.

Despite some harsh weather conditions surrounding the games thanks to the NSW bushfires, people still managed to navigate the closed roads and altered flight plans to make it to Canberra.

The Games are an initiative by the World Council of Greeks Abroad of Oceania (SAE) and coordinator George Angelopoulos says early problems were sorted quickly.

“The highway was closed and they [the athletes] could not travel,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“Some came by aeroplane, some came through other ways, 12 hours of travel.”

The South Australian women’s soccer team didn’t have the best of luck, when they had to forfeit their first game when they couldn’t get there in time. They managed to pick up play the next day, and competed as normal.

Seven sports were available and every athlete didn’t just have to stick to one sport, with many taking the opportunity to try their hand at their second favourite sports.

The women’s soccer final on Sunday saw a heated match that ended in a penalty shootout,with NSW taking the title.

The men’s final also became a heated battle between Victoria and NSW, with the boys from Melbourne taking the title.

“The final with the boys was very tense,” Mr Angelopoulos says. “They wanted to win.”

“It’s like they think they’ve won the World Cup.”

NSW took home this year’s title, with a total medal count of 88 and was named the next host state for the Games in 2015.

Victoria came second with a total of 40 and the ACT came third with 14.

After very successful Games in Darwin and Canberra, Sydney will be putting out the red carpet for the games in 2015.

“I think we have to take it to a big town now,” says Mr Angelopoulos.

“In Sydney we’ll get more athletes, and we’ll try and organise it in a different way.”

For the athletes, the paniyiri organised in their honour on Sunday was a big highlight, all thanks to the Greek and Cypriot community volunteers and the
Hellenic Club.

Much needs to be said about all the volunteers and the organising

committee who put in countless hours to make sure the games ran smoothly.

What many on the weekend were left thinking was why the games weren’t a yearly thing. Hopefully, as the popularity grows, the Pan Hellenic Games can
develop into an annual event that fills the sporting calendar of Australia.