“Bring them back”: In Athens, the cyclists who ran for the return of the Parthenon Marbles

The five cyclists with the slogan “Bring Them Back” reached their “Ithaca”.

It was a matter of duty. Not an obligation, but a moral extension of a vision. And everyone did their duty. Five cyclists, with plenty of physical endurance and at the same time countless mental and moral reserves, completed the 3,000 km route from London to Athens, “carrying” on their two wheels and in their hearts the message for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

On Sunday, August 28, a celebration was completed, a march of joy and symbolism, for the enormous success of the effort of Vasiliki Voutzalis, Stephen Streich, Yiannis Efthymiou, Vassilis Kordas, Stavros Soumas. Their road, which started on the morning of August 14, outside the British Museum, in the English capital and passed through France, Belgium, Switzerland, and southern Italy, together with the slogan “Bring Them Back” Sculptures”), brought them from the dawn of August 23 back to their homeland.

From Igoumenitsa, their two-wheelers passed through Kastoria, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Delphi, Thebes and ended up in Athens on 8/28. Their procession, together with dozens more amateurs and non-cyclists, starting from OAKA and after characteristic short stops at the statue of Melina Mercouri, the Acropolis Museum, the Battleship Averof and the Flisvos marina, completed its route at 1 Kalypsous Street , in Paleo Faliro.
At that point, at the “Honey & Bread” of their major sponsor, Alexis Koulas, they were welcomed by the Mayor of Palaio Faliro, Ioannis Fostiropoulos, who initially emphasized that “through the efforts of the children who crossed Europe on their bicycles, Greece taught that with a peaceful march of athletes there can be culture, sports, but also the most important for us, justice and equality”.

Mr. Fosteropoulos praised the presence – on Greek soil – of Christos Koromilas, a visually impaired cyclist, “who helped us put the word ‘inclusion’ in our vocabulary.” Something to which the 79-year-old cyclist, Mr. Peridis, who accompanied the children to Athens, also contributed. We remained modestly and humbly under the effort of the cyclists, since as the Municipality of Palaio Faliro and as operators we believed in it, because we want to show that ordinary people who set great goals, can achieve them”.

Vasiliki Voutzali explained that “we did the route to create a movement for the return of the Marbles and at every point of the route we talked to people about the issue and Greek culture. We put the appetite and power into the pedals, however, to do what we did, some people helped us. The one who contributed the most was our sponsor, Alexis Koulas, whom we thank for his support, as well as the Municipalities of Larisa, Thebes and of course Palaio Faliro and the mayor, Mr. Fosteropoulos”.

The major sponsor of the project, Mr. Koulas, pointed out that “next year I would like to be more and we thank all the cyclists for their effort and their message. I met Vasiliki Voutzali in 2017 through a friend, who told me that the girl wants to go around Australia with the Greek flag. Since then I have always stood by her side. When she told me she wanted to do the London-Athens route for the Marbles, I found an additional reason to support her without a second thought.”

The apotheosis for the five cyclists was universal, however it was… a little more for Stephen Streich, who has lived in Mytilini since 2003, participates in every race with the Greek flag and is the only one to have finished the demanding TransAfrica races , TransAmerica, TransContinental and Indian Pacific! The German pointed out that “I met the guys just two days before we left. I just wanted to support the message about the Parthenon sculptures.”

The team was flanked by Stavros Soumas, Vassilis Kordas and Yiannis Efthymiou, who added their own message during their award. The first, visibly moved, said that “it was an honor to meet them. In these 14 days I created a new family and together we sent a message of culture”. Vassilis Kordas recalled that “everything started as a joke, but our idea took on a new dimension. The journey sounds long, but we had the support of those Greek cyclists who followed us all over Europe for a few kilometers.”

For his part, Yiannis Efthymiou joked that “we ride bicycles so we can… eat! I was a bit slow, but on the downhill, after the Alps, I passed them all”! Before meaningfully adding that “the people who met us on the street heard the message and were in our favor. We carried the message “Bring Them Back” everywhere, before reaching Faliro and the always friendly “Honey & Bread” of Alexis Koulas”.

It was the course of a handful of people with vision and ideals who wanted to confront “beasts” and wrong perceptions and ideas. A group that reached its “Ithaca”, having valuable collaborators and animators, who do not consider the request for the return of the Marbles as “our version”, but as the only version. The five cyclists, Vasiliki Voutzali, Stephen Streich, Yiannis Efthymiou, Vassilis Kordas, Stavros Soumas returned to their Ithaca. Hoping that, soon, the sculptures will follow the same path…

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