Cyprus Olympic Committee


The Cyprus Olympic Committee 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 COC organized twice the Games of the Small States of Europe, in 1989 and in 2009.

Mission and Games

The Cyprus Olympic Committee is responsible for safeguarding and implementing Olympism and the Olympic ideals in Cyprus. It's also responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing teams for the Olympic Games, European Games, Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games, Mediterranean Beach Games, Games of the Small States of Europe and other Junior-level multisport competitions such as the Youth Olympic Games, the Summer and Winter European Youth Olympic Festival and the Youth Commonwealth Games.

History

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, Aristidis Konstantinidis, Stavros Tziortzis and Lakis Georgiou Psimolofitis.
Cyprus’ first ever Olympic participation came in the Winter Games of 1980 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.

Landmark moments

The greatest accomplishment for Cyprus at the Olympics came in London 2012, when Laser sailor Pavlos Kontides won the silver medal, which is the only Cypriot Olympic medal. Other successes for Cyprus at Olympic level were the 4th and 5th place by Antonis Nikolaidis and Georgios Achilleos respectively at the Beijing 2008 skeet shooting event, and the placing of six athletes in their event finals in the Rio 2016 Games.
Cyprus' best placing in the Commowealth 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, five 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 Dinos Michaelides who was elected in June 2016 for the remainder of the Ouranios Ioannides presidency and was re-elected in November 2016.
PresidentTerm
Stelios Garanis1974-1976
Demetrakis Demetriades1976-1984
Kikis N. Lazarides1984-2008
Ouranios Ioannides2008-2016
Dinos Michaelides2016–present

Executive committee

Following the scheduled elections for the four-year circle until 2020, in November 2016, Dinos Michaelides was re-elected president. Michaelides was first elected president five months earlier, in June 2016, when Ouranios Ioannides resigned due to health issues.
Mr Dinos Michaelides is a former athletics champion who represented Greece in the 60s, while after retiring as an athlete he served Cypriot sports as a gymnast, coach and official in various positions.
The 2016-2020 committee of the COC is represented by:
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.
National FederationSummer or WinterHeadquarters
Cyprus Archery FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Athletics FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Badminton FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Basketball FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Boxing FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Canoe FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Cycling FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Equestrian FederationSummerNicosia
Cyprus Fencing FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Football FederationSummerEngomi, Nicosia
Cyprus Golf FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Gymnastics FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Handball FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Hockey FederationSummerNicosia
Cyprus Judo FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Karate FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Pentathlon FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Rowing FederationSummerLimassol
Cyprus Rugby FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Sailing FederationSummerLimassol
Cyprus Shooting FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Skating FederationWinterNicosia
Cyprus Ski FederationWinterOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Swimming FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Table Tennis FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Taekwondo FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Tennis FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Triathlon FederationSummerNicosia
Cyprus Volleyball FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Weightlifting FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia
Cyprus Wrestling FederationSummerOlympic House, Nicosia

Olympic House and Museum

The Olympic House, headquarters of the COC, opened in September 16, 2006 in a ceremony attended by the then President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos 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.
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 Marathon winner Stylianos 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, Pierre de Coubertin student conference, National Olympic Academy conference, Olympic Education program, Woman in Sport conference, Award Banquets for the best junior athletes, and Fair Play ambassador appointment. The COC also organizes events which target to integrate and introduce sports to persons from sensitive groups such as refugees.

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.
OPAP Cyprus are the Long Time Sponsor. RCB Bank, Carbo One and Charalambides Christis are the Major Sponsor. CYTA, Toyota and Metro Supermarkets are the official sponsors.