Biographies of the Administrative Council of HOA

BOARD OF DIRECTORS – TERM OF 2010 – 2011

HONORARY PRESIDENTS

JACQUES ROGGE

President of the IOC. Honorary President of the HOA, in accordance with the charter of the WOA. He is (from 2001) the 8th President of the IOC. He was born in 1942, in the Belgian city of Ghent. He is married and has 2 children. He is an Orthopedic Surgeon. He competed in the Olympic Games of Mexico (1968), Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976) in Sailing and he also competed for the Belgian National Rugby team.President of the NOC of Belgium (1989 – 1992) and of the Association of ΝOCs of Europe (1989 – 2001). He became a member of the IOC in 1991 and was elected to the EXCO of IOC in 1994.

SPIROS KAPRALOS

President of the HOC. Honorary President of the HOA, in accordance with the charter of the WOA. He is the 21st President of the HOC. He was born in Athens in 1955. He graduated from the University of Athens, in 1978, with a degree in Economics and in 1979 he obtained an MBA degree in Business Administration from INSEAD in France. He is President of the Athens Stock Exchange CEO of HELEX. He participated in the National Water Polo Team at the Olympic Games in Moscow (1980) and Los Angeles (1984), while he was also the leader of the Greek Mission of 1996 (Atlanta). He was Secretary General of the Olympic Games at the Ministry of Culture and City Manager for Athens (2004). He also was Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Greece, President of ETEBA, CEO of the Bank of Athens, etc.

PRESIDENT

GEORGE ANDREADIS

His is President of the Hellenic Olympic Association for the 5th consecutive term. Previously he was Vice President, while in 1987 he was one of the 65 founding member – athletes from 12 different sports who co-signed the statutes headed by George Vichos. He still competes in top level sailing races, being one of the distinguished competitors in worldwide competitions. He was the Vice President of the International Sailing Federation for eighteen years. He graduated from the University of Geneva with a degree in Economics. He was Assistant General Manager of the Commercial Bank of Greece. He has participated twice in the Olympic Games (1968, 1976) in the International flying Dutchman Class and International Soling Class respectively.

VICE PRESIDENTS

GEORGE ZAIMIS

He has been President and remains a Vice President of HOA for many terms. He was a Gold Medalist in Sailing in 1960 in Rome (Naples) aboard the boat “Nireus” of the International Dragon class, where he sailed with Crown Prince Constantine as shipper and Odysseas Eskitzoglou as the other crew member. He also competed in the same class in Tokyo in 1964 together with O. Eskitzoglou and T. Magoulas where they finished 8th, and in 1968 in Mexico together with O. Eskitzoglou and A. Vogiatzis where they took the 15th place. He is a successful businessman who still remains close to the sea and Piraeus, where he was born in 1937.

PANAGIOTIS FASOULAS

He was elected (for the first time in 2010) with a high majority as one of the five Vice Presidents of the HOA. He was a member of the Greek Basketball National Team in the Olympic Games of 1996 (Atlanta). This was the 2nd time that our National Team competed in the Olympic Games (the 1st was in 1952) and this time succeeded in obtaining the 5th place. The Mayor of Piraeus comes from Thessaloniki, where he was a Basketball player for PAOK, while from 1996, he was on the Olympiakos team.

SOFIA BEKATOROU

She was elected Vice President during the latest elections of 11/01/2010. She is one of the few members of the Board who still competes at an Olympic level. She is still active, not because Sailing has no age restrictions (like Horse Riding, Shooting or Golf), but because she is still young and full of potential for more Olympic achievements. She has already competed three times in the Olympic Games (2000 – 2004 – 2008) with one Golden and one Bronze Medal, while she is also en route to London 2012 and may continue even further.

IOANNIS PALIOS

He is constantly re-elected as Vice President. He was born in Piraeus in 1946. An athlete of Water Polo player and Swimmer for Olympiakos. He competed in the Olympic Games of 1968 and 1972, on both occasions as a member of Polo National Team. He scored 20 goals in 8 games in Munich and helped our team finish at 14th place. After 4 years he scored 4 times in Mexico, in the qualifying matches. He is considered one of our most able scorers (as well as Stathakis, Seletopoulos and Afroudakis). He was the Leader of Swimming Team in Barcelona in 1992, while he has also been President of Greek Swimming Federation. He is a Piraeus based Lawyer at the Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law and specializes in maritime affairs.

GEORGE MARSELLOS

Vice President for the 2nd consecutive term. He was born in Athens in 1937 and participated in the Olympic Games of Rome in 1960 and of Tokyo in 1964, where he was the flag bearer of the small numbered Greek Team. He has also been the 1st Torch Bearer in Ancient Olympia twice. He has been involved in combined sport events since he was a teenager. He was a Greek Champion in 110m Hurdles, High Jump and Decathlon. He comes from a family of athletes as his father was an excellent athlete, as well as his son who was a youth champion in High Jump. He was President of Greek Athletic Federation (SEGAS), while nowadays he is occupied with concentrating and writing memoirs. He has been awarded with the Golden Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix.

GENERAL SECRETARY

GEORGE LIVERIS

He is a founding member of the HOA. He has been in the chair of General Secretary during all the terms of the last 2 Presidents of the Board, covering almost two decades, he may as well remain there for life. This is in no small part due to his professional experience in writing as well as to his enhanced experience in the administrative matters. He comes from the sport of Shooting while he also has strong roots in Athletics and Weightlifting and his rich experience of the Olympic Games, where he was present in 11 Olympics Games from 1960 to 2004. As a shooter he participated in Rome at the year 1960.

HONORARY TREASURER

DIMITRIOS KOUGEVETOPOULOS

He has been the Honorary Treasurer for many consecutive years. He was member of the Water Polo Olympic Teams of 1968 (Mexico) and 1972 (Munich). In Mexico they were placed in the 14th position after 8 matches in which he scored 3 goals. Next, in Munich, he played with the National Water Polo team in only 4 qualifying matches where he scored 1 goal. He had won innumerable matches and titles with the legendary Water Polo team of the time, Ethnikos Piraeus. No matter the workload of his profession as a Chemical Engineer (member of TEE – TCG), he still provides his service and is always interested in the happenings of the HOA and Ethnikos Piraeus.

MEMBERS

ANDREAS VGENOPOULOS

He is a member of the Board of Directors for a 3rd term. He grew up in the stadium of Panathinaikos FC as he is a son of a family of athletes and Panathinaikos fans. His grandfather (who had the same name) was the President of the Athens Football Union and his father was a football referee. He was champion of Greece in Fencing (coming from the great school of Ksenofontas Chatzisarantos) and participated in the Olympic Games of Munich in 1972 with the Foil as well as the Epee. He studied Law with a specialization in maritime affairs and also in the field of banking. He has established a multitude of corporations with the well-known MIG at the core.

NIKOS KAKLAMANAKIS

He is a member of the Board of Directors for a 4th term. He was a golden medalist in 1996 in Sailing in the “Mistral” category, in the difficult sea of Savannah, the port of Atlanta (Georgia of the USA). The same year he also was world champion. He is unique in his dedication to windsurfing, the subject of nutrition and his studying of the winds. This was the 2nd time he participated in the Olympic Games. In 1992, in Barcelona he had finished at the 9th place. In Sydney in 2000 he finished 6th, while in 2004 he won the Silver medal at the Saronikos Bay, always competing at “Mistral”. The years may be coming by, but his dedication remains ever steady.

GEORGE PAPAVASILIOU

Member of the Board of Directors. He was born in 1930 in Thessaloniki and is one of the founding members of the HOA. He was the legendary first Steeple winner in 7 consecutive Balkan Games, with 2 participations in Olympic Games (1956 and 1960). He was 18 times champion of Greece during the years 1954 – 1964. 11 times at the 3.000m Steeple and 7 times at the 5.000m. Those records impress even today. He has never been far from his activities regarding the Sport of Athletics and the team of AEK, where he keeps selflessly providing his services.

SPIROS KONTOSOROS

Member of the Board of Directors. He was born in Corfu in 1947. He was enrolled by Kerkiraikos G.S. where he remained throughout his sport career. He succeeded Giorgos Papavasiliou in the Balkan area in the 3.000m Steeple where he won 9 times in the Balkan Games. In 1972 in Munich he finished in 8th place with a record of 8.41.0. Later, he followed an academic career and became a university professor. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Athletics Veteran Athletes Federation.

DIMITRIOS KITEAS

He is a member of the Board of Directors for the 4th consecutive term. He was born in 1954 and competed in the Olympic Games of Montreal in 1976 at the Pole Vault. He was involved with sports from an early age and loved the Pole Vault since during his years of youth, Greece was a dominant force of the Sport, at first with Roubanis and later with Papanikolaou and others. At the age of 16, in 1970 he jumped 4.12 and was the top of his age, and even though there were 7 youths total who were above 3.90 and with only the Club of PAO having 13 pole vaulters of 3.90, in the end, through his tenacity and dedication, he managed to overcome them all in 1976 and go to Montreal where he jumped 5m.

DIONISIS LIVERIS

Member of the Board of Directors. He was born in 1962 in Athens and participated in the Olympic Games of 2004, competing at Running Target. Champion of Greece from infancy with 2 medals in the Mediterranean Games (1991 and 1993) at the 50m Free Pistol and 10m Air Pistol. He is also a journalist, member of ESIEA, PSAT and the EU. He was never away from the games, while he also provides his services as a regent of Panathinaikos S.C. He still competes at championship level even after 40 years of dedication.

ILIAS ROSSIDIS

He is a member of the Board of Directors who for many terms is always present and shows a will to participate. He competed with the National Football Team in the Olympic Games of 1952. This was the next participation after 32 years, since 1920 of Antwerp with the grand names of Andrianopoulos, Kalafatis and Nikolaidis. After the participation of 1952 with Emmanouilidis, Linoksilakis, Kotridis, Darivas, Mouratis, Petzaropoulos, Delavinias, came the participation of 2004 with Salpigidis, Vintra, Sifakis, Stoltidis, Nempegleras, Amparis, Agritis, Fotakis etc.

KOSTAS THANOS

Member of the Board of Directors. Born in Karditsa in 1973, he participated at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 at Wrestling at 97kg and in Athens in 2004 at 96kg. In Sydney he finished in the 4th place, while he has also achieved distinctions in other international competitions like the following: 3rd in the Youth World Games of 1993, 3rd at the European Games of 1997, 3rd at the Mediterranean Games in Tunisia in 2001. Being modest but competitive he keeps fighting for the Greek Wrestling society. He aspires that we may return to the prestige of the many Olympic medals of past years.

DIMITRIS PAPPOS

Member of the Board of Directors for many terms. He has two participations in the Winter Olympics (1964 – 1968). He represents the winter sports at the HOA. He is a graduate of the Austrian Ski School in Caprun, the Alpine School of the German army in Gkarmisch – Partenkirchen and the Swiss army survival school of Antermatt. He is the director of the Ski School Pappos – Mpalntoumis. Currently, he operates as a businessman in Parnassos, where he rescued a Belgian tourist in 1983 and was subsequently honored by the Athens Academy.

CHRISTOS PIERRAKOS

Member of the Board of Directors for his 3rd term. He was born in 1939 and competed in the Olympic Games of Tokyo in 1964 as a member of the small numbered team of (only) 5 athletes. The other 4 who accompanied him were D. Maglaras, G. Tsakanikas, G. Marsellos and C. Papanikolaou. He was chosen because that year he broke the record of Javelin with 77.30. His record remained for almost a decade. He became mostly known in Greece as the Torch Bearer who remained on course even though the torch flames were burning his right arm, due to a technical error.

ARIS KEFALOGIANNIS

Member of the Board of Directors. He was born in Crete in 1960, and he excelled while competing for the Water Polo team of “Panathinaikos S.C”. He participated in 3 Olympic Games: in 1980 (Moscow), 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul). The only Water Polo players with more appearances in Olympic Games are: Mavrotas, Giannopoulos, Kaiafas and Loudis. As for the last two years, he is acting as official Sponsor with the food company “GAIA”. Aris Kefalogianis has contributed greatly to the Hellenic Olympians Association, something that is appreciated immensely by all Olympians.

EVANGELOS PATRAS

He is a member of the Board of Directors for his 2nd term. He took part in the Olympic Games of 1988, 1992 and 1996 with 22 event appearances. There are only 4 Water Polo players (throughout all time) with more appearances at events or participations in Olympic competitions. In 1988 in Seoul (S. Korea) he took the 9th place after 7 matches with the National Team. In 1992 in Barcelona (Spain) they finished 10th, also after 7 games, while in 1996 in Atlanta of the USA, after 8 matches our National Team finished 6th.

MARIA GEORGATOU

Member of the Board of Directors. She was born in Corfu in 1984 and has shown her unwavering devotion in following the Sport of Rhythmic Gymnastics in all its forms. She was a member of the same team with Klelia Pantazi and the other “young ones” when they won the Bronze Medal in 2000 in Australia, where they finished first in the qualifiers with 39.400p to compete in the final. Today, she shows a special appeal for studying Medicine at the University of Ioannina, while she keeps making an impression by her affection towards the society as well as her participation at the Sessions of the Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia.

ALTERNATE MEMBERS

PANAGIOTIS SPIROU

Member of the Board of Directors. He was born in 1947 in Athens and for many consecutive years was champion of Greece in Weightlifting, where he was competing mainly in the category of 75kg. He competed in Munich in 1972, where he finished 12th with a total of 430kg. He has always represented the teams of Olympiakos or the team of Police. His son, Christos, has followed in his footsteps with two entries in the same Sport. In 1996 in Atlanta at 70kg and in 2000 in Sydney at 85kg, where he finished at 11th place. He was coached by his father.

KLELIA PANTAZI

The youngest member of the Board of Directors. Born in Athens in 1985, she won the Bronze Medal in Sydney in 2000 during her first participation with the National Team Ensemble. This brilliant team consisted, apart from Klelia, of the young girls Kariami, Aindili, Georgatou, Pollatou and Christodoulou. We may recall the final standings as following: 1) Russia 39.500, 2) Belarus 39.500, 3) Greece 39.283, 4) Germany 38.899, 5) Japan 38.850, 6) Italy 18.483. Nowadays, Klelia offers her services as a professor of Gymnastics.

FANI PSATHA

Member of the Board of Directors. Born in Athens in 1976, she is competing at Wrestling for “Atlantas S.C” of Kallithea. She participated as coaching supervisor in Sydney in 2000, while in 2004 in Athens she competed in 48kg. She ranked 4th at the World Championship in USA in 2003. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science with specialization in Wrestling, while she is also attending the Faculty of Legal Studies. Furthermore she is also a coach of Judo, referee of Wrestling and a lifeguard.

AUDI COMMITTEE

ALKIS PAPAGEORGOPOULOS

He is the henceforth established President of the Audi Committee. He has been imposed at his position by his formal personality as well as his direct judgment, attributes that were (perhaps) acquired during his service as an international Shooting Judge. A founding member of the HOA, he is one of the 65 who established the Association and keep providing their services with gravity and consistency. A champion from his first steps as an army cadet, he defined an ambiguous path in sports society (and not only there). He participated in three consecutive Olympic Games (1960, 1964, 1968). In Moscow (1980) was a classification Judge in Shooting.

EVLAMPIOS MANTHOS

Member of the AUDI Committee. Born in 1934, he is a founding member of the HOA, but this is the first time he is part of the AUDI Committee. He has participated in the Olympic Games 4 times: 1964 (Tokyo), 1968 (Mexico), 1972 (Munchen), 1976 (Montreal). His main competing Sport was the Shooting with Small bore Rifle from the “prone” position, at which he has matched the world record of 600/600 and become world champion in Phoenix, Arizona. He was an Officer of the Commando Forces and the Special Forces of the Army. He is married with 2 children who were also champions at Shooting.

EFROSSYNI SFYRI

She is a regular member of the Administration of the HOA. Not only that. She is studying for a postgraduate degree at the American College of Ag. Paraskevi, after receiving the scholarship that is offered by our Association to Greek Olympians. She was born in 1971 in Piraeus where she was involved in sports from a young age. She was a European champion in 2001. She participated twice in the Olympic Games in Beach Volleyball. In 2000 and 2004, always as a duo with Vaso Karantasiou. In Sydney they finished at the 17th place, while in Athens they finished 9th.

ALTERNATE MEMBER

ARIS KARAGIORGOS

He regularly provides his services to the Board of Directors or the AUDI Committee. He was born in 1951 and competed in the Olympic Games of Moscow in 1980 at 20.000m Walk Race where he finished 15th with a time of 1 hour 36,53,4. At the same Games his younger brother Chris (born in 1953) competed in the 50.000m Walk Racewhere he finished 12th with a performance of 4 hours 24,36,0. The Karagiorgos brothers compose the recent history of Greek Race Walk. They began racing as youths in the 2nd half of the sixties, broke every conceivable record and they continue 50 years later as coaches of new or older athletes, publishers of Race Walk magazines, as leaders of the sport etc.

SPECIAL MEMBERS

VOULA ZYGOURI

Special Consultant of the Board of Directors. Born in Athens, she is an active athlete of Wrestling for the “Atlas S.C” of Kallithea Club. She participated in the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004, while in 2003 she was placed 6th in the World Championship of USA at 67kg. She also won wrestling title in the Mediterranean games of Tunisia in 2001. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, and she has also demonstrated her interests in the e-media.

NIKOS MILAS

Special Consultant. He has been Vice President and Honorary Treasurer. He was born in Athens in 1930 and is married with 2 children. He has a continuous activity in Basketball since 1946, at first as a player of Panathinaikos and later of the National Team. In 1960 he began his coaching career in PAO, where he won the championship. Following that, in 1968 he won the European title as a coach of AEK. He is a member of PAO and an international coach of FIBA.

IOANNIS CHATZISARANTOS

Special Consultant of the Board of Directors. He was born in Athens in 1948 and participated in the Olympic Games of Munich in 1972, competing in Fencing with the “Sabre” while Andreas Vgenopoulos participated with the “Foil” at the same Sport. They were both nurtured in the great Fencing academy of “Panathinaikos S.C”, which was headed by Lawyer Ksenofontas Chatzisarantos, who is the founder of the dynasty. Ioannis Chatzisarantos is an active Lawyer at the Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil and Penal Law and Secretary General of the Veteran Champions of Panathinaikos S.C” Association.