Pavlos Kontides the candidate of Cyprus for the IOC Athletes' Commission

Olympic medalist sailor Pavlos Kontides has been put forward by the Cyprus Olympic Committee as a candidate for election to the IOC Athletes’ Commission, during the elections that will take place in Tokyo and the 2020 Olympic Games.

Competing in the Laser class, Pavlos Kontides is a 3-time Olympian and Olympic silver medalist in 2012, who is currently preparing for his 4th Olympiad this next summer in Japan. In 2012 he became the first -and so far only to date- Cypriot to win an Olympic medal representing the Mediterranean island.

The 11.091 athletes who will participate in the Tokyo Olympics will be eligible to vote for the replacements of the IOC Athletes’ Commission members who were elected back in 2012 and will have completed their eight-year term.

Besides his Olympic accolades, which have elevated Kontides to the status of national sporting hero, the 29-year-old is also three-time World Championship medalist and a two-time World Champion, as well as the 2018 Rolex World Sailor of the Year.

Pavlos Kontides spoke about his candidacy: "The proposal by the Cyprus Olympic Committee truly honors me. I have agreed to their proposal and I will seek election in the Commission, since I deeply believe I am able to become an advocate for all athletes, both due to my experience from the sporting career and my academic qualifications".

In case Kontides is elected to the Commission, he will automatically become an IOC member, an honor only one Cypriot has had so far. Former (1984-2008) Cyprus Olympic Committee president and current EOC treasurer Mr. Kikis Lazarides was an IOC member from 2002 until 2006, when he reached the age limit of 70 years.

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