Gavelas: “Nothing is given to you freely – It gives me joy to inspire some people”

A guest on an ERT TV show was Mr Nassos Gavelas!

The Paralympic gold medalist in the 100 meters (T11) spoke both about his great success at the Games held in Paris, about the difficulties he has faced during his sports career, but also about how he dealt with his illness.

In detail what he said:



“After the injury of my companion, Dimitris, at the World Championship in Paris, I ran with Theodoris. We got canceled in Japan at the Worlds and then went to the Panhellenic in Thessaloniki. There, many people told me “you’re done”. I’m glad they say it in front of me, while they were talking about it behind my back. It bothers me that I was in a difficult psychological situation, because one of my people was injured and it affected me. They take the opportunity to step on you a little more to make themselves feel better, and I didn’t like that. I had kept it inside”.

On his vision problem and how he dealt with it: “I didn’t need anything. From the first moment I did what I loved and what I liked, I just took it as a joke “guys, I’m starting to not see you”. It’s a genetic condition, one gene from my father, one from my mother, and over time I got the joker, it presented itself slowly. The eye muscle was being destroyed. All I cared about was moving on and living my life. I knew what I really liked. As I was a child, so I am now. How I was raised by my family certainly played a role in the character. Since I had a craze and love for sport, the smell of tartan when I walked in, why should I be deprived of that?’.

“The family is the core, they are the first stimuli you get. It is a blessing to have such good people by my side. Of course, it’s not just my family, it’s my friends, my coach, my companion, everyone plays their role. I used to bug my parents to take me here and there for sports. My brother was the first attendant on the field”.

For his second Paralympic gold medal: “You have to transform all this joy, because every goal is ahead. All this is to give you beautiful memories. Nothing comes lightly. It’s very difficult”.

For his daily life: “My life is doing this, alongside the Psychology school I had. Training in the morning, coming home at noon and training in the afternoon. The whole process is around that. If the period is too tiring, I won’t go for a drive. My exit, my joy, is the stage”.

For the recognition of: “I’m just happy that people see that what you want you can do. People talk to me, it’s nice… It gives me joy if I give someone the inspiration they want to feel”.

For the changes that Athens needs in order to make it easier for people who have problems with their sight: “Accessibility. Just to build things properly and not to have a greenhouse everywhere for no reason and to have a sidewalk, which in the end we have for the tree and not for the people.”