1. Pyrros Dimas is currently the technical director for USA Weightlifting, having taken that position in June 2017.
20 Facts About Pyrros Dimas
1. 2.
Pyrros Dimas is the most decorated Greek athlete in the Olympics and is widely considered one of the greatest weightlifters of all time, having been three times Olympic Gold Medalist, and three times World Champion.
3.
Pyrros Dimas was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 1992,1993,1995, and 1996.
4.
Pyrros Dimas was born in 1971 in Himare, southern Albania, to ethnic Greek parents.
5.
Pyrros Dimas started the sport at 11 and competed at a junior's level at 14.
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Pyrros Dimas was part of the Albanian weightlifting team to which he made important contributions: In 1989 in the 62nd World Championship of Weightlifting Dimas ranked 12th in the World and helped Albania rank 13th in the world.
7.
Pyrros Dimas managed to cross the Greek-Albanian border at 7 February 1991, after a several hour exhaustive trip.
8.
Pyrros Dimas's birthplace gave rise to his nickname "The Lion of Himara".
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Pyrros Dimas won the event with two new World Records.
10.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Pyrros Dimas was chosen as Greece flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies.
11.
In June 2008, Pyrros Dimas became vice-president, and in October 2008 president of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation.
12.
In 2012, Pyrros Dimas entered politics as a member of PASOK, being elected as a member of Greek parliament in the May and June 2012 elections.
13.
Pyrros Dimas was polemical with Greece's policies with Northern Epirus- his place of origin- claiming that the Greek government has "forgotten" it.
14.
Pyrros Dimas has campaigned for the rights of ethnic Greeks in Albania, drawing attention to alleged human rights abuses, while calling on the Greek government to intervene.
15.
On 17 February 2014 Pyrros Dimas participated in the ceremony of 100th anniversary of the declaration of Autonomy of the Republic of Northern Epirus.
16.
At December 2018 Pyrros Dimas protested against the confiscation of properties that belong to the ethnic Greek community of Himara and called the Albanian government to avoid discrimination of this kind.
17.
On May 15,2023, Pyrros Dimas protested against the arrest and imprisonment by the Albanian authorities of the representative of the Greek minority, Fredis Beleris, on charges of vote buying.
18.
Pyrros Dimas was candidate for European Parliament in the 2024 elections with New Democracy but failed to get elected.
19.
Pyrros Dimas was married to Anastasia Sdougkou, a former Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation sports reporter.
20.
Pyrros Dimas's wife died of brain cancer on 14 June 2018.