Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas welcomed the athletes and coach of the Greek national men’s water polo team at the Presidential Mansion, following their historic Gold Medal victory at the World Championship in Sydney.
The athletes who attended the meeting with Tasoulas
In attendance at the meeting with the President of the Republic were water polo players Stelios Argyropoulos-Kanakakis, Panagiotis Tzortzatos, Zannis Alafragkis, Manolis Andreadis, Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos, Dimitris Chatzis, Alexandros Papanastasiou and Vangelis Pouros, along with their coach Thodoris Vlachos and his associate Tasos Schizas.
The team was also accompanied by the President of the Swimming Federation of Greece (KOE), Kyriakos Giannopoulos, and its First Vice President, Giorgos Afroudakis.
Also present at the meeting were Deputy Minister of Sports Yannis Vroutsis and Secretary General Giorgos Mavrotas.
Tasoulas: “Water polo is becoming our national sport”
Welcoming the athletes and their coaches, President Tasoulas said the following: “On behalf of the State and the Greek people, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you. You have given us great joy and pride. Through your hard work and through the guidance of your coach, Mr. Vlachos, through his advice and direction, the team was vindicated. And not only vindicated — you managed to overcome that bad luck which so often forces something to go wrong at the last moment, causing us to fall short of our greatest goal. That is over now. We have won the World Championship, and I imagine those final twelve seconds were among the most agonizing of your athletic careers, just as they were for everyone watching. Now the time has come for rest, celebration, and recognition.
You have confirmed that water polo is evolving into our national sport — a sport that is becoming increasingly popular thanks to your performances and achievements. It felt as though you were playing on home soil, when I think of how much faith and warmth our diaspora community in Sydney showed you. And you repaid their love and support generously. But know that here in Greece, all of us were following your journey — every step you climbed, slowly but surely, all the way to that successful final.
I want to wish you continued success in this effort, to once again affirm the supremacy you have achieved at a world level. And know that it is not only the gold medal — won with such well-deserved pride — but also the example, the model you set, especially for the younger generation: that through teamwork, collective spirit, unity and solidarity, we can reach wherever we deserve to be, no matter how high that may be.
So the example you have set for everyone carries just as much value as the medal itself. The State, which is here present, the Federation — they were, are, and I am certain will continue to be by your side, as will your coach, to equip you with everything necessary to showcase your talent, your heart, and your desire to hear our national anthem played ever more frequently from the top step of the podium. Once again, congratulations on this outstanding athletic achievement.”
