Kallimarmaro was “flooded” by Olympic Taekwondo as part of the action “Together in Sport – Together in Taekwondo”

At the Kallimarmaro Stadium, more than 400 young and older Olympic taekwondo athletes were present and had the opportunity to give a different performance in a major sporting event called “Together in Sport – Together in Taekwondo”, as part of the “Together in Taekwondo” program. Sport – Phase II” and the activities of the Refugee Week Greece Festival.

The Hellenic Taekwondo Federation, which was represented by its president, Michalis Physentzidis and its general secretary, Nikos Thomaidis, had a catalytic role in the event, in collaboration with METAdrasis, the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the Olympic Museum of Athens and the High Commission of UN for Refugees.

Apart from the demonstrations, in competition and poomsae, children and young refugees had the pleasure of getting to know Olympic taekwondo, with our experienced coaches teaching them the secrets of the sport. In fact, refugees and athletes became one just before the end of the event, giving a different note to this important event.

The “pole of attraction” for the attendees was the silver medal and competition chest of our late Olympian, Alexandros Nikolaidis, from the Olympic Games “Athens 2004”, which the Olympic Museum of Athens had the opportunity to display at the venue of the event. At the same time, Kallimarmaros hosted a painting exhibition of the Pan-Hellenic Competition “We all belong to the same team” by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in which more than 1,800 students participated with sketches, posters and comics.

“A lifelong dream came true. Olympic Taekwondo was found in one of the most important monuments of Athens, of the whole of Greece and of the whole world, the Panathenaic Stadium, in a landmark event in sports events. The Olympic Taekwondo family was present, giving intensity and pace to an event that was realized in collaboration with many organizations, sports and not only, to whom we especially thank.

Especially, METAdrasi and its people who warmly supported an action with a special semiotics, since it takes place at a time when our planet is “plagued” by wars with children as victims, who, among all others, are called to leave the their homelands with an unknown, most of the time, destination. ELOT will support the efforts of every organization that has to do with children”, stressed Michalis Fysentzidis.

In closing, Mr. Fysentzidis congratulated all the sportsmen and women of the Olympic Taekwondo family who participated in the event, the coaches, the referees, but also the volunteers of the action, which, as he characteristically said, “achieved its purpose”.

“And that was just the beginning. The Hellenic Taekwondo Federation will continue to undertake, with the same fervor and with the same dedication, actions for the further promotion of the sport in our country. It is our honor to serve the first individual sport in Greece and this is what we will continue to do, at any cost”, he concluded.

And if for Michalis Fysentzidis the presence of Olympic taekwondo was a lifelong dream come true, for Morpho Drosidou her presence in Kallimarmaro after 32 years brought memories of victory and glory.

“When I first entered the Stadium in 1992 immediately after the return of the Olympians from Barcelona, ​​I felt shivers of emotion. I felt the same today, watching our hundreds of sportsmen and women take their place in Kallimarmaro for an unprecedented demonstration. I am glad that I lived such a moment. Congratulations to the Hellenic Taekwondo Federation for this action. Greek Olympic Taekwondo, day by day, rises even higher. And this is the question for everyone who is close to the sport”, emphasized the first Olympian of the sport in the Catalan capital.