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It is a special honour for me to welcome you to the Presidential Palace, together with five members of the Government, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Transport, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and the Deputy Government Spokesman, and it is indicative of the importance to us at today's event to welcome all of you, our female athletes, our male and female athletes, you who have made us and continue to make us proud through your successes and your special distinctions. All of you who have contributed decisively over the years through your own personal journey - I know that in many cases this human and lonely one - so that we can be proud of Cypriot sport.
And before any other reference, a lot has been said tonight about what we have done as a state, not only we have done, but also the previous governments have done for Cypriot sport. Let me say, it's a bit of a paradox, but I'll say it because I feel it strongly, we have done nothing for sport and culture in this country.
Any financial support - because financial support is needed in terms of sport and culture, Madam Chairman of the Finance Committee - as the President of the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO) mentioned earlier, should not be approached through financial accounting. I believe it is the greatest investment we can make in this country. That is why I will start by saying that we want to do much more.
I had seen a while ago, on social media, a colleague of yours, I will not mention his name, who will join the team in Paris, who was talking about the stadiums where he was training. He didn't have a stadium to train on.
In a country, a member state of the European Union, in the year 2024, we cannot boast that we are doing as a state what we have to do for sport when there is no infrastructure. Many of you are forced to travel abroad to train.
So the least we have to do as a state is to invest, Mr. President, Madam Vice President and members of the Cyprus Sports Organisation, much more in infrastructure.
I will talk a little bit about the event, as the title suggests, taking inspiration from the upcoming Olympic Games, the event offers us a retrospective of the major events that marked the revival of this premier sporting meeting from 1896 in Athens, up to all the Olympiads that followed, up to Paris.
Much has been said about all these years, I hold one constant, whatever evolution you note, there is always one constant, dear Voula [PATOULIDOU], and that is the birthplace of the Olympic Games, wherever the Olympics are held, everything starts from Greece, which is why your presence here tonight, in addition to what I mentioned, is particularly honourable, taking into account the role of Greece.
And there is another dimension with Voula, I will mention it later, but I want to say it now. She is not only a successful athlete. She is a model athlete, managing through her own struggle, as she did in athletics, to be a successful politician in Greece.
In tonight's event, apart from the review of the course of the Olympic Games, the reference to events and personalities of world sport, the spirit of the Olympic Games, which is based on the principles and values of fair play, excellence and fair play, is highlighted, which is very important. And it is precisely these values that the athletes of our country, the "Olympians", served.
Mr Papakosta, through their presence in the great organization of the Olympic Games, but also in every sports organization. And the most important thing, which I would like to highlight tonight, is that the "Olympians", having as their goal the promotion, dissemination and development of the principles and values that the Olympic Ideal stands for all over the world, despite the completion of their competitive action, continue to be active for the benefit of the local and international society, being - and you are, Mr Papakosta - a model and a source of inspiration for each of us. And think of the difficult circumstances that our athletes have to face today.
This activity of yours, as well as the Olympic history of our country, and the people who contributed with their personal history to its recording, are roughly outlined in the content of the book, which was very aptly presented to us by the Vice President of the Cyprus Sports Organisation.
What I would like to stress is that as a State, both the competent Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth and the Cyprus Sports Organisation, appreciating the action of you, Mr Papakosta, of the Cyprus Olympic Games Participants Association, we recognise you and approach you as one of our most important partners in this effort we are making to upgrade even more the Cypriot sport. And it is precisely for this reason that we support your every action, your every initiative.
Attendance tonight at the event by members of the Cyprus Olympic and Paralympic team for Paris 2024 and taking advantage of the title of the first volume of the book, allow me to mention something else that I thought of while listening to George [MELETIOS]. The third book, George, should be written about you, by you, because you play an important role in the promotion of sport in our country. The culmination of your contribution without meaning retirement will be the recording of a book.
So you, all of you, of whom we are particularly proud, are the continuators of a tradition that began in 1980, when for the first time our country participated in the Olympic Games under the flag of the Republic of Cyprus. You are continuing the tradition started and developed by Mr. Costas Papakostas, and his fellow athletes, who had the highest honour of being the first flag bearer of our country in the 1980 Olympics. Since then, many distinguished personalities of our country have followed and you should be particularly proud.
But the main thing is that all of you are evolving this tradition through your sacrifices and your high effort that precedes your qualification for the Olympics. An effort, which is required by the involvement in sport in general, much more so in championship sport. An effort which I want to say again, I am sure you feel it, is in most cases a lonely one.
Already, at several events preceding tonight's, related to the Olympic Games, I have had the opportunity to talk privately with some of you, and I have stressed to you the pride we take in your participation and the spirit with which you participate in the Olympic Games.
What I would particularly like to emphasize tonight is that we recognize the benefits that accrue to Cypriot society as a whole through your efforts. You may not see or feel the benefits, but Cypriot society does and we are very proud of all of you.
At the same time, we want your tradition and the tradition that you are now recording to be the motivation and impetus for even more achievements that our country will be proud of.
It's important, it's another dimension - I don't know if it was mentioned before, I don't remember - this year we are participating with 9 female and 6 male athletes, achieving the goal that France has set by hosting the Olympic Games.
I will be there to cheer you on. I will be there to meet you in the Olympic Village. I will not promise much. But what I can say with certainty is that as a State, we will do everything possible, firstly in the direction of infrastructure, I repeat for the umpteenth time, to make sure it happens, and secondly, Madam Minister of Education, there are no better models to build on for our students.
Thank you very much.
(NZ/NYAN)
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