Pyrros Dimas... Anomaly?

What do you guys believe is the reason for his strength?

A much keener CNS?
Intense Volume?
Starting olympic weightlifting at the age of 11?

Early introduction to the sport.
Motivation to train.
Good coaching/environment.
Genetics.
Drugs.

What do I win?

As PB Andy said: Starting early.

And simply training 2-3X day 6days a week, and the occasional training on Sunday.

On a similar note… you should check out Naim Suleymanoglu’s interview/bibliography were he explains that often he would have to be carried to bed after training because he was in so much pain. And training would start again the next day.

I just met him and had a discussion with him about a month ago. He is a very articulate guy and a great ambassador for the sport in Greece. He is now president of the weightlifting federation and he is doing a great job promoting the sport. Unless you see him in person, you don’t realize his genetic make up.

He is rather short (1.73m) and he just seems built for the sport. He is no longer in his top lifting form days having gained a few kilos but still looking good, he says he plays soccer once per week and lifts on a per feel basis being very busy with a hands on running management style of his organization.

Don’t underestimate the mind issue. The guy made some right choices. However, to answer the initial question, he told a public television during a televised interview session a few minutes before our discussion that he credited his success to a) being blessed with the genetics for the sport b) being discovered by a great person i.e. his original coach back in Albania at a young age c) his parents and especially his father who made sacrifices for him to train and d) to persistence.

As an anecdote of the latter, he told that when preparing for his last Olympics it was so difficult that he packed up his stuff left the Olympic training center in Athens and went home (to Thessaloniki) 4 times. Each time, he said, he turned around at the door and went back to the gym. He was already an icon in Greece and already had financially secured his future. However, he said, how many times does an athlete have the opportunity to compete in his home? So he bit the bullet and went back each time with the ultimate honour of having won another medal in four Olympics this time in front of his home crowd.

What does that tell you? Add, e) as having the tenacity of a winner, a true champion who honored our sport.
There you have it, there are other genetic anomalies out there and many more have been , but how many make it to this level?
Fortunately, we can still hope to look forward to other such athletes.

[quote]KGeorge wrote:
I just met him and had a discussion with him about a month ago. He is a very articulate guy and a great ambassador for the sport in Greece. He is now president of the weightlifting federation and he is doing a great job promoting the sport. Unless you see him in person, you don’t realize his genetic make up.

He is rather short (1.73m) and he just seems built for the sport. He is no longer in his top lifting form days having gained a few kilos but still looking good, he says he plays soccer once per week and lifts on a per feel basis being very busy with a hands on running management style of his organization.

Don’t underestimate the mind issue. The guy made some right choices. However, to answer the initial question, he told a public television during a televised interview session a few minutes before our discussion that he credited his success to a) being blessed with the genetics for the sport b) being discovered by a great person i.e. his original coach back in Albania at a young age c) his parents and especially his father who made sacrifices for him to train and d) to persistence.

As an anecdote of the latter, he told that when preparing for his last Olympics it was so difficult that he packed up his stuff left the Olympic training center in Athens and went home (to Thessaloniki) 4 times. Each time, he said, he turned around at the door and went back to the gym. He was already an icon in Greece and already had financially secured his future. However, he said, how many times does an athlete have the opportunity to compete in his home? So he bit the bullet and went back each time with the ultimate honour of having won another medal in four Olympics this time in front of his home crowd.

What does that tell you? Add, e) as having the tenacity of a winner, a true champion who honored our sport.
There you have it, there are other genetic anomalies out there and many more have been , but how many make it to this level?
Fortunately, we can still hope to look forward to other such athletes. [/quote]

Howd you get the chance to meet him? Any pics?

Yeah for real, I’m going to Greece this summer, it’d be awesome to train in the presence of Pyrros or to talk with him. What’s the scoop?

Since I am from Greece… as far as I know at least some of the best lifters are present during the nationals. But those are usually in november.

You can look for pyrros on facebook. I think he has two facebooks, one is A and another is B(pyrros dimas A)… I think! He probably will add you if you tell him you are a weightlifter since he has like 4000 friends if I remember correct.

Btw he trained a LOT from a young age. Not just when he got older.

Howd you get the chance to meet him? Any pics?[/quote]

I was in Cyprus for the 2010 European Junior and under 23 Championships and I saw and talked to him. Yes, I do have a picture that the President of our club who was working there as an official took but he only gave it to me in print. If I remember to scan it, I will post it. I also got a chance to talk to other Olympic and World contenders from Greece. They were all very approachable and friendly.
and yes, you can use facebook if you want to see what Pyrros is up to these days. I am not sure that you can easily walk into a training venue and lift with these guys though. I have no ideas where the national team is training but to train there I am sure you need to go through your federation.
The event in Cyprus was really good by the way. Got to see some very nice lifting. Too bad most of the spectators were the other teams. The venue does not help, it `s way out from Lemmessos but the event was really well run.

Throwing in the Highland games like I do I would have loved to see what he could have thrown the weight over the bar event with his explosive strength.