In an exclusive interview with ‘SportsIn‘, Panagiotis Bitados, a leading athlete of the Hellenic Triathlon Federation (HTF), shared his views on the worrying current state of Greek triathlon and the challenges it faces in its preparation for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Bitados, a rising star in the sport, made no secret of the problems surrounding the governance of triathlon in Greece.

The story of Panagiotis Bitados is an example of perseverance and passion for the sport. Born in Mytilene (Lesvos Island) on October 2, 2003, he began his sporting career in swimming, but had to give up the sport at the age of 9 due to the closure of the local swimming pool. This led him to explore other disciplines such as mountain biking and athletics.

At the age of 12, he discovered triathlon through social media and decided to try his luck. Without access to a pool on his island, he trained in open water year-round and used the island’s roads for cycling and running. “Without a triathlon coach on the island, I trained on my own,” he recalls. He then moved to Athens and just over a year ago, preparing his qualification for Paris 2024, he got injured and had to give up his dream or at least postpone it for four more years.

“My most important success is the European IRONMAN”

At 21 years old, Bitados has already made his mark in the world of triathlon, excelling in both national and international competitions. “I am very excited about my recent successes, as I am getting better results in every race. The most important success is the IRONMAN European Championships in Tallinn in 2023. Although it is only one race, I consider my biggest success is to have achieved five consecutive wins in the middle distance,” admits who also finished second at the World Triathlon Under-23 World Championships that year.

Bitados described what a typical week is like for a top-level triathlete and IRONMAN athlete: “The week includes many hours of training. My only occupation is triathlon, as I am a professional athlete.” His dedication to the sport is total, and his daily routine is designed to maximize his performance in each discipline: swimming, cycling and running. He also stressed the importance of a balanced diet in his preparation: “My diet includes a complete nutritional program. My nutritionist prepares a plan with proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits and some sweets. Balance is very important.”

“Triathlon in Greece is not recognized enough”

Despite his achievements, Bitados lamented the lack of recognition of triathlon in his country: “Unfortunately, in Greece triathlon is not sufficiently recognized, but it is constantly developing. The Greek authorities try to promote my success as much as they can.”

The young triathlete also talked about the challenges he faces in his daily routine: “The most difficult part of my day-to-day is time, as I have a lot of training.” Despite the difficulties, Bitados keeps his focus on his goals, especially in his preparation for the upcoming season. “My expectations for this new season are to start strong in the World Triathlon races to facilitate my qualification for the next Olympic Games…. My main goal is my participation in Los Angeles 2028.”

From Bitados’ dreams to reality in Greece

According to precise information from SportsIn, the Supreme Court of Athens whose fully documented decision we have in our hands, with final judgment in force, ordered the dissolution of the newly created Triathlon Federation, recognized by the attached Ministry of Sports in 2022, by considering its creation illegal, since there is the legally established by the Greek Justice “Hellenic Triathlon Federation” (HTF) since 1995 and which is a full member of the International Triathlon Federation, the World Triathlon (WT). According to the Greek laws only one federation can be established for each sport and also according to the Greek sport law, the one to be recognized by the Greek Ministry of Sport is the member of the international federation and the permanent member of the WT for the sport of Triathlon in Greece, which is the HTF.

Conclusions shown by the above report:

• Laws are not enforced in Greece and the sports leadership through the former Deputy Minister of Sports who was episodically dismissed by the government, is the first to violate them by illegally establishing a second federation for the same sport in 2022, because in the already existing federation, as we were informed, the then administration was not politically affiliated to the episodically dismissed former Deputy Minister. The Supreme Court came and annulled the illegal creation of the new federation.
• The IOC statutes, which oblige the national sports authorities to recognize the membership of the international federation and not to interfere in the self-government of the federations, were not respected.
  The non-compliance with the law maintains an illegal situation with the dissolved federation continuing to function normally, creating total confusion in Greek triathlon and, above all, harming the sport and the athletes.
• The new governmental leadership of the sport is observing the situation without concern for the application of laws and the execution of court decisions.
• Any initiative by the Greek NOC to find a solution has failed due to the intransigence of the dissolved federation because it arrogantly believes it has the cover of the government.

This case is ongoing and SportsIn will follow the issue closely, to protect Greek athletes and especially athletes of the level of Panagiotis Bitados, who is fighting for his qualification for the LA 2028 Olympic Games and is an HTF athlete of which he is declared in the WT qualifiers and want in a healthy environment to focus on his sporting activities.

Panagiotis is a very promising Hellenic Triathlon Federation’s athlete and should be protected, just like the other talented athletes of the Hellenic Triathlon Federation.