“I’d like to thank the Greek and Cypriot community for their support so far and I hope they come to the Commonwealth games and show their support for our athletes.”
Olga Piperidou Chrysafi, Cyprus’ Chef de Mission and General Manager of the Cyprus Olympic Committee says the athletes were overwhelmed by the warmth and kindness the community showed them upon their arrival in Australia.
Leading a team of 46 athletes, Ms Piperidou can’t stress enough the importance of Cyprus taking part in the Commonwealth Games.
“For us the Commonwealth Games are the most important ones after the Olympics,” she says. “There’s a large number of countries and athletes participating and the level of excellence is very high – in parts, it’s even higher than the Olympics. It is a very competitive event.”
All participating countries share the same view – which is why this time round the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation applied a quota, to make participation manageable.
“This is the first time that such a policy [has been] applied and it is a gamble for them,” Ms Piperidou says, explaining the Cypriot delegation has previously comprised 50–55 athletes. Despite having to put a limit to the number of athletes participating, ambitions are still high.
“Our goal is for our athletes to be well, to be well-prepared and perform to the best of their abilities,” she explains. “If they do that, we definitely expect some medals. Any number above five will be satisfactory, if we manage to break our previous Commonwealth record, and bring home more than eight medals, the number we accumulated in Glasgow in 2014, [that] would be a major success for us.”
As far as goals go, this is realistic – and a testament of a trend in Cyprus where the sports sector seems to be in constant rise.
“We’re certainly evolving, considering that we managed to be in seventh place seven times at the latest Olympics,” she agrees. “This is an important development and we’re constantly improving.”
The growth is due to various factors, she explains: “First and foremost, we’ve received significant financial support from the state. How long this will last depends on the country’s finances. When the state cooperates with all key parties: the sports federations, the Cypriot Olympic Committee and the Cypriot Commonwealth Games Committee, then it’s certain that we’ll be able to have better outcomes. Other than that we’ve gained knowledge, experience and maturity taking part in large sports events. Our athletes are in very good shape and we are hopeful that we’ll get good results.
“The only challenge is to get used to the weather conditions in Gold Coast,” she laughs.
