Legendary champion Pyrros Dimas (GRE) appointed as Weightlifting Ambassador
The IWF is pleased to announce that Mr Pyrros Dimas was appointed as an official Weightlifting Ambassador for our International Federation. This prestigious assignment recognises his exceptional achievements in the sport of weightlifting, his distinguished international profile, and his longstanding contribution to the promotion and development of our Sport worldwide.
Pyrros Dimas is a triple Olympic champion, having represented Greece at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Games. He then concluded his prestigious career at home, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, with a bronze medal. He is the most successful lifter in the history of the IWF and also the most decorated athlete in his country (all sports included).
With personal bests of 180.5kg in Snatch, 215kg in C&J, and 392.5kg in Total, Dimas was also world champion on three occasions (1993, 1995, and 1998). In 2009, he was inducted into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame and between 2012 and 2015, he was a member of the Hellenic Parliament.
Presently, Pyrros Dimas is a member of the IWF Executive Board and leads our International Federation’s Innovation Committee.
A truly inspirational idol in Greece and in our Sport, the new Weightlifting Ambassador will now have the opportunity of reaching a wider audience.
“I am very honoured with this recognition and really humbled to be the ‘face’ of Weightlifting among our fans in the five continents. I take this new role with a huge sense of responsibility, as I want to do my best to promote Sport I love in the best possible way,” considered the legendary champion. “Moreover, I will also devote my best energy to reaffirm Weightlifting’s strength and value within the Olympic Movement. Let’s not forget that we were one of the nine founding sports in the first edition of the modern Olympic Games, in 1896 in Athens. We have a long and successful tradition!” added Mr Dimas.
The Hellenic ace was recently in Lausanne (SUI), where he had the opportunity to sign the Olympian’s Wall at the Olympic House. On that occasion, the IOC President Kirsty Coventry met the Weightlifting champion, in a ceremony also attended by the IWF President Mohammed Jalood and IWF General Secretary José Quiñones.
“Our International Federation had many great athletes over its 120 years of history, and I am certainly privileged to be among those lifters that contributed to our rich trajectory since the foundation of the IWF in 1905. In my different capacities, and since my retirement, I always tried to give back to the Sport the maximum I could. The title of Ambassador is the corollary of that effort. We know that not every child that begins a physical activity will be a champion, but he or she will definitively be part of a happier and healthier world – and that remains the most important!” concluded Pyrros Dimas.
IWF Communications
