Kontides’ triumph is a lesson in hard work and dedication

Congratulations to Pavlos Kontides, Cyprus’ greatest ever sailor, who won the Olympics silver medal on Wednesday in the men’s Laser class. This was the second silver medal he won at the Olympics, his first having been secured at the London Games 12 years ago. He is the only Cypriot to have ever won Olympic medals, which places him in a class of his own, above all our other sportsmen.

Kontides may have had some good luck when Wednesday’s original medal race, which started with a delay of an hour-and-a-half and in which he was not doing very well, was abandoned because of a lack of wind. It started again, an hour later at a different place and the Cypriot champ finished behind Australian Matt Wearn. He became only the sixth athlete in the history of this discipline to win more than one medal.

Politicians all lined up to congratulate Kontides, starting with President Christodoulides who said it was “a historic day for our country,” and expressed “the Cypriot people’s feelings of deep emotion and joy at the feat of our champion, who made Cyprus proud and we are all deeply grateful for his excellent achievement.” House president Annita Demetriou said he “fought hard and succeeded,” while Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said, “you made us proud with your immense achievement.”

It was a pity that none of the politicians spoke about the shining example Kontides set by showing us all what someone can achieve with continuous hard work, mental fortitude, total commitment and sacrifice. We never heard him complain during his preparations, that he had to work too hard, that conditions in which he was training were difficult or that he was inadequately rewarded. What was even more remarkable was that he won his second silver at 34, an age at which most athletes are past their peak and have the pressures of family life to contend with.

The example set by Kontides is especially relevant to today’s Cyprus society, in which the big majority of our youth grow up with a sense of entitlement that shuns hard work, commitment and sacrifice. The youth of today believe they have a right of maximum return for minimum effort – they complain collectively if their exams are too difficult, go on strike because having exams twice a year is too tiring for them, demand that the school curriculum is reduced and dream of joining the public service in which the easy life is guaranteed.

Our politicians were united in congratulating Kontides for his great achievement, but they should have pointed out how he climbed to the top his sport. It was not by moaning, by seeking an easy life and feeling entitled. It was because he worked hard developing his undisputed talent and made sacrifices to win his Olympic medal. And he did it for a second time on Wednesday, which probably needed even greater effort on his part.

We salute a modern-day Cyprus hero for his truly astonishing achievement.