The establishment of the first gym in Athens
“Grappling with fate is like meeting an expert wrestler: to escape, you have to accept the fall when you are thrown. The only thing that counts is whether you get back up.“
Deng Ming-Dao
While Coutalianos was in Istanbul, he received an invitation from Greek state officials to go to Athens to actively participate in the organization of the first Olympic Games to be held in 1896. The athlete is overwhelmed with joy because he thinks that his efforts are finally justified, but when he arrives in Athens he quickly becomes disappointed. He gets tangled up in the cogs of bureaucracy and is given a position that does not befit his reputation and abilities. He refuses to take on the tasks assigned to him and decides to set up his own gym, in an outdoor space that was located almost opposite the archaeological museum of Athens, on a street that was then called Cyclovorou (Featured image: Cyclovoros stream in old Athens) and today is called Marnis . There he began to train several athletes, both Athenian and others who had come from Cyprus and Asia Minor. Among the athletes he happened to train was Georgios Tsitas who in 1896 became the second Olympic champion in the wrestling event. Despite this, Panagis gave up training other athletes relatively soon and decided to continue his tours in various cities of Greece.




Schumann beat M. Tsitas. The match had been played on November 4, 1896 in front of 55.000 fans.
( posted 01-14-2020 11:54 AM Phil Lions )




The businessman A. Tsochas (1840-1904 ) was one of the pioneers of Greek entertainment. Among the great artist and great talents that his theater hosted was the athlete Coutalianos.













