Makis Voridis: “The successes of taekwondo do not happen by chance – The sport should be taken from the State

The event of the Taekwondo Union of Southern Greece, apart from the Minister of the Interior, Makis Voridis, was honored with their presence by the MP of SYRIZA-PS, Giorgos Katrougalos, the parliamentary representative and MP of ND, Haris Theocharis, the MP of ND, Anna Karamanli, the representatives of PASOK-KINAL, Panagiotis Ganiatsos and Thanasis Zannias, representatives of the sports leadership, members of the Plenary Assembly of the EOE, members of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Taekwondo Federation and the Union, representatives of federations, local bodies, coaches and, of course, the athletes and the female athletes of associations that belong to the power of ETANE.

“Taekwondo is one of the fastest growing sports in Greece. No one could have imagined when I was involved in the sport, with the great Stamatis Kassis as a teacher, that there would be this explosion in the number of clubs and athletes. But nothing happens by chance. Michalis Fysentzidis together with his close associates gave their lives for the sport to reach where it is today.

I looked at him and wondered: He is alone, how far will he go? But, he has been surrounded by great people who support the effort. I know that the training camp has been launched in Thessaloniki and we need to do something similar in Athens. We can contribute to this. It’s something that needs to go forward. It is important for a sport that has offered so much to the country to get what it deserves from the State,” said Mr. Voridis, who hinted that the center that will house the dreams of thousands of Olympic taekwondo athletes would be a wish project to not only have a training character, but also a purely competitive one, so as to provide a solution to the problem of finding closed gyms for holding ELOT and ETANE events.

In his brief greeting, the president of the Hellenic Taekwondo Federation, Michalis Fysentzidis, mentioned the development course of the Taekwondo Union of South Greece, who in 1999, together with a group of his associates, envisioned and created ETANE, which today lists, within its geographical boundaries, more from 280 clubs and thousands of athletes.

“It is gratifying to see a project, like the one that was implemented in 1999 by the efforts of a few people, grow and mature. Because, partnerships are what make the difference with whatever we tackle in life. The teamwork and spirit of solidarity that must exist between people who are called to create something from ‘scratch’.

This is what we did at ETANE, this is what we are doing at the Hellenic Taekwondo Federation. And for the creation of the South Greece Taekwondo Association, there was a group of people who chased the dream. And now, with great joy, I can say that I am proud of what the Union has achieved. And all those who reached ETANE to this level are to be congratulated. I feel proud to note, at every opportunity, its development and I would like to personally congratulate the President, Makis Karandaglis, and the Secretary General, Lykourgos Katakis, for the serious and thorough work they have done all these years.

Also, I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to my two main companions for the realization of the vision regarding the new era in which we want Olympic Taekwondo to pass and they are none other than the General Secretary of ELOT, Nikos Thomaidis and the president of ETABE and member of ELOT’s Board of Directors, Christos Manolis”, said, among others, the president of ELOT.

The president of the Taekwondo Union of South Greece and treasurer of the federation, Makis Karandaglis, announced that annual scholarships will soon be instituted for promising young athletes, in memory of the great teacher Ioannis Armaus.

“ETANE, from its foundation until today, we consider that it has achieved the goal it had set from the beginning, presenting a sporting, social face always oriented towards the athletes, the coaches, the unions and the offering to the weak. I wish the Union, in 2023 and in the following years, to experience even greater successes.

We, for our part, pledge to remain faithful to the values ​​of Eu Agonizesthai”, and together with the Secretary General of the Union, they handed over to Amalia Pizante-Konstantinou, a member of the AMKE “Together for the Child”, a check with an amount collected by the subscriptions of the young participants in the development tournaments Ilis and Paris Ev Agonizesthai.

Before the start of the awards, the president of ELOT asked for a minute’s silence in memory of people who wrote their own history in Olympic taekwondo (Konstantinos Thomaidis, Alexandros Nikolaidis, Ioannis Armaos, Konstantinos Tzidimopoulos, etc.).

During the event, the following sportsmen, sportswomen, coaches and associations were honored:

– World E/N-P/C medalists: Nasia Repoulias, Raphael Pappa, Anna Maria Kriatsiotis, Nikolaos Papacharalambous.

-European South/Northern Medalists: Ioannis Papadopoulos, Despina Pantou, Philippos Dimitrakopoulos, Georgios Pantazis, Agoritsa Artemia Kitsiu, Stella Marentakis

-European P/C medalists: Phoebus Kiskyras, Aristides-Nicolaos Psarros, Christos Bakalexis, Konstantinos Tsagournos, Marios Leonidas Papaioannou, Dimitris Mitsos

-5th place World E/N: Agoritsa-Artemia Kitsiu

-5th place World P/C: Apostolos Panagopoulos, Dimitris Mitsos

-5th place European A/C: Dionysis Rapsomanikis, Phaedra Kaltekis

-5th place European SE/SW: Nasia Repoulia, Magdaleni Maria Mytiliniou, Athena Makrygianni, Konstantinos Dimitropoulos, Ioannis Mylonas, Christos Sakellariou, Charalambos Fluskounis, Sotirios Michopoulos, Dimitrios Boutsiarakos, Phaedra Kalteki

-5th place European P/K: Apostolos Panagopoulos, Dimitrios Triantafyllakis, Asterios Fourkiotis, Paraskevi Kalogirou, Theodora Triseugeni Panagopoulou.

-Pre-Olympic team (ETANE association): Phaedra Kaltekis, Dionysios Rapsomanikis, Nasia Mitsopoulou

-Coaches (for the medalists in world & European championships): Konstantinos Petsas, Nikolaos Kyritsis, Kyriaki Malandraki, Konstantinos Kapanis, Theodoros Zinelis, Alekos Gotsis, Konstantinos Vourliotakis, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Areti Athanasopoulou, Ioanna Litopoulou, Panos Sofianos and Kyriakos Parasidis.

-Coaches (for fifth places in European championships): Tzeni Skepetaris, Stefanos Boutios, Michael Kotsopoulos, Antonis Antonakopoulos, Nikos Tzanakakis, Giorgos Stavrakas

– G2 Medalists (A/C): Anastasia Christine Delidimitri, Theofanis Xanthakos, Konstantinos Zouros, Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, Christina Pappa, Andriana Asprogeraka, Dionysios Rapsomanikis, Sotirios Michopoulos, Konstantinos Dimitropoulos, Phydra Kaltekis, Agoritsa Artemia, Ioannis Kitsionou, Magdaleni Maria Mytiliniou, Charalambos Fluskounis and George Pantazis

-Panhellenic Championships: Ayantas Ag. Dimitriou (1st place A/C & NA/N, 2nd place E/N, 3rd place P/K), AGS Byron (3rd place A/C, 1st place E/N), Sports Club Niki Peania Glykon Neron (2nd place NE/N), AS Ethnikis 95 (3rd place NE/N), AS Kaisarianis (3rd place NE/N), AS Attiki Dynami (1st place E/N, 1st place P/K)

-General Ranking of Ilis and Paris: AS Antimachos (1st place in the 1st and 2nd development tournaments), AS Olympiacos Nikias (2nd place in the 1st and 3rd place in the 2nd), Kallithea Theageni Sports Association (2nd place in the 2nd, 3rd place in the 1st )

The president of the World Fencing Federation and member of the EOE Plenary, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, as well as the president of the National Olympic Academy and member of the EOE Plenary, George Alikakos, were honored by ETANE for their contribution to the Olympic Movement.

Dr. Xenia Argitaki was honored for her decisive contribution to the development of Olympic Taekwondo in the University Community, while the president of the Stadium of Peace and Friendship, Christina Tsiligiri, for her contribution to society and sports.

OPEN TV journalist Elvi Michailidou and ERA SPORT 101.8 journalist Vicky Spyrou were honored for promoting the successes of Olympic taekwondo on television and radio.