The former president of the Cyprus Olympic Committee (KOE), Dinos Michaelides, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 78.

“The family of Cypriot sport and the olympic movement in Cyprus was saddened by the news of the death of the former president of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, Dinos Michaelides, at the age of 78,” KOE said in a statement.

Michaelides dedicated his life to education and sport. He served as president of KOE from June 2016 – October 2020. He was also president of the National Olympic Academy of Cyprus (NOC) for the period 2012-2020. He was director of KOE for 12 years (1985-1996), as well as dean of the NOC from its foundation in 1985 until 1996.

In the international arena, he was, a member of the technical committee of the European Association of National Olympic Committees (1989-1996), a member of the tripartite international committee that drafted the statutes of the Olympic Games (Switzerland 1985), and a member of the technical committee of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG).

In October 2021 the ICMG honoured him with its highest honour by awarding him the Order of Merit to a number of persons for outstanding services to Mediterranean sport.

Michaelides was born in Paphos in 1944 and as a track and field athlete, he was a pancyprian, panhellenic and Balkan champion.