The Hellenic Olympic Committee Gender Equality Committee is organizing, for the first time, an award ceremony for athletes who were parents while participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The 8 athletes Byron Kokkalanis (Sailing), Alexis Ntanatsidis (Judo), Voula Papachristou (Athletics), Lefteris Petrounias (Gymnastics), Emilia Tsoulfa (Sailing), Kostas Filippidis (Athletics), Yiannis Fountoulis (Water Polo), Evangelia Psarra (Archery) will be awarded.
Ms Annamarie Phelps, Vice-President of the British Olympic Committee and President of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the European Olympic Committees, will be the mail guest speaker of the event.
The purpose HOC and the Gender Equity Committee is supporting the Olympians – parents is to highlight the fact that the sports career does not end by starting a family, acknowledging the changes in everyday life as well as the new responsibilities and obligations.
However, creating a family should not be an obstacle for female and male champions to continue their sports career and compete in the international high-level competitions. This is why the HOC and its Gender Equality Commission, in the context of promoting the institution of the family in high-level sport, decided to support the champions who have families and took part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Among its actions, the Hellenic Olympic Committee Gender Equality Committee participates in the two-year Erasmus+ GAMES project https://games-project.com/ on “More Equality in Sports Leadership” where 8 European Olympic Committees participate.