Pyrros Dimas

He is married to Anastasia Sdougkou, a former reporter with Greek National Television (ERT), with whom he has four children – daughter Eleni (1995), son Victor (1998), daughter Maria (2000), and son Nickolas (2009).

Pyrros Dimas was born as Pirro Dhima on October 13, 1971 in Himara, southern Albania, to Greek parents.

He started training in weightlifting at the age of 11 and by the time he turned 14, he started competing at the junior level.

He received training under Zef Kovaci and became a triple champion in Albania in 1989 under the 82.5 kg category, which he repeated in 1990 as well.

He participated at the 62nd World Championship of Weightlifting in 1989 and rose to the world rank of 12, helping Albania attain the 13th position.

Through his phenomenal performance at the 1990 European Weightlifting Championship, held in Aalborg, Denmark, he improved his world ranking from 12 to 4, while Albania catapulted to 3rd position, behind Soviet Union and Bulgaria.

At the 1990 European Cup, held in Antalya, Turkey, Albania rose to rank 2 in Europe.

He went to Greece in 1991 on the pretext of getting a surgery but stayed back and became a Greek citizen in 1992.

He became a national hero overnight when he claimed his first Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, in the 82.5 kg clean-and-jerk category raising a total of 370 kg, shouting his famous cry ‘For Greece’.

He was his country’s flag-bearer at the 1996 Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, where he won his second Olympic gold medal in the 83 kg class, making a world record by lifting 392.5 kg in total.

In his third Olympic competition, he clinched his third consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games, in the 85 kg clean-and-jerk class.

He was the flag-bearer of the Greek team at both opening and closing ceremonies at the 2004 Olympic Games, held in Athens. He won a bronze medal in the 85 kg class, despite suffering from a wrist injury and recovering from a knee surgery.