The Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC; Greek: Κυπριακή Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή) is National Olympic Committee representing the Republic of Cyprus. It is responsible for promoting the Olympic ideals on the island and for ensuring that Cyprus is represented with athletes at the Olympic Games and other multi-sport events.
Members of the committee are 31 sports federations, which elect the Executive Council composed of the president and twelve members.
The Cyprus Olympic Committee was founded on June 10, 1974, and became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1979. Prior to that, Cypriot athletes competed in international events representing Greece. Amongst the most well known Cypriots who have represented Greece are Ioannis Frangoudis[2] (triple shooting medalist in Athens 1896), Aristidis Konstantinidis (cycling gold medalist in Athens 1896), Stavros Tziortzis[3] (7th in the 400m hurdles in Munich 1972) and Lakis Georgiou Psimolofitis (8th in skeet shooting in Munich 1972).
Cyprus’ first ever Olympic participation came in the Winter Games of 1980[4] at Lake Placid in United States, while the debut of Cyprus in the Summer Olympics came six months later in Moscow. Since then, Cyprus has been present at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as other multisport events in continental and world level.
Cyprus' best placing in the Commonwealth Games came in 2010 at Delhi, India, when the island was 10th among 75 nations in the medal standings at the XIX Commonwealth Games.
The COC twice hosted the Games of the Small States of Europe, in compliance with the hosting rotation of the participant countries. The capital Nicosia hosted the III Games in 1989 while the event returned to the island in 2009 for the XIII Games with Nicosia and Limassol hosting events.
List of presidents
Since 1974, six individuals have served as President of the Cyprus Olympic Committee. The longest term was that of Kikis N. Lazarides who served as president between 1984 and 2008. The current president is George Chrysostomou who was elected in October 2020 for the Olympic Cycle 2020–2024.
Following the scheduled elections for the four-year circle until 2024, in October 2020, George Chrysostomou was elected president, after serving as vice-president in the previous four-year cycle.
The Cyprus National Federations are the organizations that coordinate all aspects of their individual sports. They are responsible for training, competition and development of their sports. There are currently 29 Olympic Summer and two Winter Sport Federations in Cyprus.
The Olympic House, headquarters of the COC, opened on September 16, 2006, in a ceremony attended by the then President of the Republic of CyprusTassos Papadopoulos and president of the IOC Jacques Rogge. The three-story building houses almost every sporting federations of the island, including sports which aren't on the Olympic schedule. The Olympic House covers an area of 7500 m2 and cost 5,63 million Cyprus pounds.[8]
The Olympic House also houses the Cyprus Olympic Museum, which spans since 2012 on all three floors of the building. More than 400 artifacts are on display in the Olympic Museum, including the suit worn by Pavlos Kontides at London 2012, a medal won by Theofanis Theodotou in the Zappas Olympics in 1888 and sporting gear of the 1946 Boston MarathonwinnerStylianos Kyriakides.
Events and awards
In a way of implementing the beliefs and ideals of the Olympic Movement, the COC organizes events which inspire people and the younger generation. The special events vary from year to year and include multisport events as well as local and national events. These are the Olympic Day,[9] Pierre de Coubertin student conference,[10] National Olympic Academy conference, Olympic Education program, Woman in Sport conference,[11] Award Banquets for the best junior athletes,[12] and Fair Play ambassador appointment.[13] The COC also organizes events which target to integrate and introduce sports to persons from sensitive groups such as refugees.[14]
Sponsors
The Cyprus Olympic Committee is supported by a number of sponsors, with the funds assisting the participation of the country in international events and for the organization of various non-sporting events.
