The first Greek medal at the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games “Heraklion 2023” had the signature of Nikolas Papadimitriou, who won the 3rd place in the Men’s Triathle, as a worthy successor of a family with the DNA of champions. 

The 18-year-old athlete stood out in the premiere of the event on the beach of Ammoudara, in Malevizi, achieving an unbelievable – as he himself admitted – distinction and giving joy to the Greek team and his father: The top former hammer throw champion Alexandros Papadimitriou, who has five Olympic Games appearances to his credit (1996, 2000, 2004, 2004, 2008, 2012) and the bronze medal at the 2002 European Athletics Championships, while he remains to this day the holder of the national record in the men’s hammer throw with 80.45 m.!

“The truth is that I didn’t expect to win a medal. I didn’t really expect to be so consistent in shooting, because of the strong wind. But after I did well in shooting, I was able to do well in the other two events, running and swimming,” stated Nikolas Papadimitriou after his success. He was involved for the first time with the coastal events of the Modern Pentathlon last year, and had remarkable results, both at the European Championships K19 (1st in Biathle Junior and Biathle Mixed Relay) and at the corresponding World Championships (2nd in Biathle Junior).

“What I want for Nikolas, as for all the kids, is for him to follow his own athletic path. We are happy to support him. It was his wish to switch to modern pentathlon, that’s the sport he prefers and the coastal events are complementary. After all, he has been swimming since he was born and he is also very good at running,” noted the father of the “bronze” medalist of the Beach Games, Alexandros Papadimitriou.

The family’s athletic distinctions are not limited in Nicolas success. The eldest daughter of the family, 20-year-old Anastasia, is a member of the Women’s National Team of Trampoline and she is going to participate in the upcoming pre-Olympic World Championship, while she was also European champion in the junior category. 

Next is 15-year-old Lydia, who has chosen to stick to athletics and is a pole vault athlete!