The Hellenic Olympic Committee bids farewell with great sorrow to the legendary Olympic medalist Giorgos Roubanis, who passed away at the age of 95.

Giorgos Roubanis, the oldest living Olympic medalist, won the bronze medal in pole vault at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games with a performance of 4.50 meters, following a long competition that lasted approximately 11 hours.

One year earlier, in Barcelona, took the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games 1955 in the pole vault final with a jump at 4.25 behind the Italian Giulio Chiesa  with 4.28. It was the second edition of the Mediterranean Games after the first in Alexandria.

The President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Mr. Isidoros Kouvelos, speaking on behalf of the entire plenary session, stated:
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of the great champion Giorgos Roubanis, the most distinguished and senior living Olympic medalist, and the first post-war athlete to bring glory to our country by raising the Greek flag high on the mast of honor! Throughout almost his entire life, he served sports and Olympism, offering Greece moments of national pride, with the highlight being his bronze medal at the 1956 Olympic Games. Even after the end of his athletic career, he continued to serve Olympism, founding the Hellenic Olympians Association in 1985. He shared his love for sports with thousands of young people in our country and was a shining example of both an athlete and a human being. I want to express my condolences to his family and loved ones. Farewell to eternity, great Greek Olympian. You will forever belong in the pantheon of the greatest athletes of our country.”

The funeral of the legendary Olympian Giorgos Roubanis will take place on Monday at 11:00 AM at the First Cemetery of Athens. The Hellenic Olympic Committee will cover all funeral expenses and issue a resolution in honor of his passing.

Giorgos Roubanis was born on August 15, 1929, in Thessaloniki. He came from a family of athletes with origins in Stemnitsa, Arcadia. His father, Savvas, was a gymnastics coach, and his brother, Aristidis, was a track and field athlete (javelin), though he abandoned the sport due to injury and later excelled as a basketball player.

Ηe was initially involved in boxing, basketball, and track and field before discovering his exceptional talent in the pole vault.

Roubanis, who was the flag bearer for Greece at the Melbourne Olympics, traveled to Australia from the US, where he had relocated. He later competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics but did not achieve success and retired from athletics the following year.

Roubanis remained in the US, where he founded an advertising company and worked closely with Greek-American film industry pioneer Spyros Skouras, the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. Upon returning to Greece, he established his own film distribution company.

He remained passionate about sports well into his later years, regularly visiting the Panellinios club to support all its divisions. In 1985, Roubanis co-founded the Association of Greek Olympians.

He retired from athletics in 1961. Along with Dimitris Thanopoulos, he founded the Hellenic Olympians Association in 1985.

Roubanis was the flag bearer for Greece at the Melbourne Olympics