The Cypriot flag will fly at the Paralympic Village in Paris from Thursday, and by August 25 all members of the Cyprus Paralympic team will be in the French capital.
Preparation for the Cyprus Paralympic Committee’s participation in the Paris Paralympics does not start from the Opening Ceremony (August 28), but much earlier, head of Cyprus’ mission Andreas Theofylaktou told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Wednesday.
The mission consists of 14 people: Karolina Pelendritou (athlete, swimming), Stylianos Kakavogiannis and Ioannis Alexakis (coaches), Efthimios Polydorou (chaperone), Maria Markou (athlete, powerlifting), Dimitris Ioannidis (coach), Maria Christina Kalli (chaperone), Viktor Pentaras (athlete , track and field), Elias Agapios (coach), Eleni Biniari (physiotherapist), Maria Psyhoudaki (sports psychologist), Paris Andreou (photojournalist), Savvas Lakerides (Assistant Head) and himself.
The flag bearer at the opening ceremony on August 28 will be Paralympic Champion Karolina Pelendritou, who will be competing in the Paralympics for the sixth time. Maria Markou will compete in the para powerlifting for the second consecutive time and Viktor Pentaras in track and field for the first time.
Theofylaktou said the team believes it is possible for Cyprus to win a medal, with all eyes turned to Cyprus’ top athlete in the world and in Europe, as he described her, Pelendritou.
“Pentaras is a young, very ambitious athlete, he jumps well, and he can have a good placing. Markou, who changes category, will compete at 61kg. She is participating for the second time in the Olympics, I consider her very experienced and she can also have a very good placing. In general, I think the delegation will be very successful in terms of participation and I hope that we will bring new Paralympic medals back with us,” he added.
The athletes, he said, are in the final stage of their preparation and are looking forward to taking part in the opening and closing ceremonies in the official uniforms of the mission.
Concluding, Theofylaktou said that most of the mission’s members will leave Paris on September 9, one day after the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
