Cypriot sailor Pavlos Kontides met with the Cypriot-origin State Minister for Arts, Small and Family Businesses, Consumer Affairs, and Business Relations of South Australia, Andrea Michaels, during his stay in Adelaide for the ILCA World Championship earlier this month.
Ms Michaels attended the event held on January 25 as part of the ILCA World Championship organisation.
Until Tuesday, January 30, the London 2012 silver Olympian was in the 11th position in the overall ranking after the first two final races.
He made a significant jump in the general ranking after securing the fifth position in the second final race on Monday, January 29.
The last two final races of the championship took place on Tuesday, January 30, where Kontides attempted place in the desired top ten and his participation in the medal race on Wednesday, January 31 where he finished 11th.
In a recent interview with Neos Kosmos journalist Michael Georgiou, Kontides mentioned that while he was aware of the “large Greek community” in Australia, especially in Melbourne and Sydney, he did not know that “there were so many Cypriots.”
Having visited Australia several times during his career, including Sydney in 2008, Perth in 2010, and winning a championship in Melbourne in 2016, where he also participated in the ILCA World Championship in 2023, Kontides expressed his anticipation for the Greek reception that many athletes from Greece receive when visiting Australia.
The first Greek Cypriot athlete to ever win an Olympic medal arrived in Adelaide earlier for training before the championship, scheduled to take place from January 26 to January 31.
This specific event will serve as preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, as the goal of the Limassolian athlete is to renew or improve his 2012 successes, where he was crowned the silver Olympian.
The 33-year-old athlete also secured the seventh position in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, narrowly missing a podium finish in the 2021 Olympics held in Tokyo as he finished in the fourth position.
