Pyrros Dimas is the most decorated Greek athlete in the Olympics and is widely considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time.
He was born in Himara, Albania on October 13, 1971. He came to Greece in 1991 with many other athletes of Greek descent in order to strengthen the Greek weightlifting program. He became a member of the Athletic Club Milon of Nea Smirni. He succeeded in becoming a member of the Greek National Team that same year.
The following year became the start of his career. He was a member of the Greek National team for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games in the 82.5 Kg category. There, with the eminent cry “for Greece”, he conquered the golden medal, raising a total of 370 kilos and Greece to the top of the world. In the years that followed, he took two world titles in 1993 and 1995 and also a European Championship in 1995. The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games marked the athletic career of Pyrros Dimas and led him to worldwide recognition in the 83 Kg. class. At the Atlanta Olympic Games, he won three gold medals, simultaneously achieving world records equal in number in arase 180 Kg., zete 213 Kg. and total 392.5 Kg.
He was elected the top Greek athlete of the year in 1992,1993 and 1995 and 1996. For his successes, the Government of Greece awarded him the distinction of a Captain in the Hellenic Army.
“Για την Ελλάδα!”
“For Greece!”
In 1998, in the 85 Kg. Category, he finished in first place in the World Championships of Athens. Two years later in the Olympic Games of Sydney and in front of thousands of fellow countrymen, he won his third Olympic gold medal.
