The Minister of Culture and Tourism of Greece, Pavlos Yeroulanos, and the President of AIMS, Paco Borao, opened a permanent headquarters for AIMS in offices within the Olympic Complex in Athens at an address bearing the name of the first Olympic Marathon winner, as it is located in Spyros Louis Avenue.
Remarking on the currently adverse economic conditions in Greece, Paco Borao commented that despite this background:
“The main purpose we are here today is most important for the organizations present here: the promotion of running in general and especially the marathon race. I would like to thank the hundreds of AIMS members and the millions of runners around the world that I am proud to represent here today; our sponsors for the trust they have in the running movement and our Association as the world entity representing them; the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism for giving us this great opportunity to establish our headquarters here in Athens – where better than where both the legend and the first marathon race originated?; and to the people at the Hellenic Athletic Federation and the Athens Classic Marathon organising committee who have done so much to realise this achievement.
“This alliance will help to bring tourists to Athens, and to the whole of Greece. Not any tourists but sporting visitors who deeply believe in such values as goodwill, friendship and solidarity with the intention of visiting the birthplace of the event that has had such an impact on their lives – the Marathon. We, AIMS, are here because we also believe in these values and we believe in the capacity of the country to continue to fulfil them. We will do our utmost to make this agreement a success for us both.”
Posted by the Easytraveller Team
Posted by the Easytraveller Team