The skier Giannis Antoniou will be the first Torchbearer at the Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic Flame for the Winter Olympic Games "Beijing 2022" which will take place in Ancient Olympia on October 18, at 11:30. The next day at the Panathenaic Stadium, the last Torchbearer will be the skier Paraskevi Ladopoulou.
Due to safety meters from the coronavirus there will be no Torch Relay on Greek soil and following the Lighting Ceremony in Ancient Olympia the Olympic Flame will be transferred to the Acropolis where it will stay overnight. On the next day, October 19, it will go to the Panathenaic Stadiumw here at 12:00 it will be delivered to the delegation of the Organizing Committee “Beijing 2022”.
Giannis Antoniou was born on January 27, 1995. He started skiing in 1999 when he was 4 years old and was an athlete of EOS Karpenisi. His coaches are Stergios Pappos and Jean-Baptiste Fourrat. He comes from an athletic family with two parents being Physical Education Teachers. He is a member of the National Ski Team and has competed in more than 340 international races, including four World Junior Championships and five World Alpine Ski Championships for men. The biggest success of his career is the two bronze medals in slalom and giant slalom he won at the 2012 World Youth Championships in Rocarasso, Italy. He is studying at the University of Physical Educa
tion and Sports in Thessaloniki to get his degree. Ioannis Antoniou was the first torchbearer at Lighting of the Flame on 2.2.2013 at the Pana
thenaic Stadium, for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival of “Brasov 2013”. He was also the first torchbearer on 29.9.2013 at the Lighting of the Olympic Flame in Ancient Olympia, for the Winter Olympic Games of Sochi in 2014. He also participated in the Winter Olympic Games of Pyeong Chang 2018.
Paraskevi Ladopoulou is a Cross Country and Biathlon athlete from Florina Sports Club. She was born on 16/11/1979 in Florina, where she lives and works in the private sector. She is the mother of 13-year-old Christina Rosa, who is also a Cross Country ski champion in her category.
Paraskevi Ladopoulou became Greek champion in all categories, has won titles in the Balkans and holds the best international result (fis points) among Greek athletes in recent years. Highlights of her sporting career include participation in the Men’s and Women’s World Championships in Seefeld, Austria and Oberstdorf, Germany.
At the same time, she has qualified for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games in the discipline Cross Country. She is also an elected member of the Executive Board of the Hellenic Ice Sports Federation, representing the ski athletes. Her goal is to be a decent and healthy role model for the new generation of skiers.
