Greek Athlete Scales Mount Olympus Carrying his Differently-abled Student, Fulfils Her Dream

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Last Updated:October 13, 2020, 14:52 IST

He had even taken to Instagram to reveal that Eleftheria would be the first person with a disability to reach the highest point on Mount Olympus. Giannakou wrote the post in Greek.

People often go out of their way for someone they care about. Sometimes, special deeds are performed just to bring a smile to the face of friends or loved ones. An athlete from Greece made a special effort to fulfil the dream of his differently-abled student of climbing Mount Olympus.

The athlete named Marios Giannakou met Eleftheria Tosiou, a 22-year-old Biology student, last month. During the meeting, Eleftheria expressed her wish that she wanted to scale Mount Olympus. A few weeks after the meeting, Marios, who had already climbed the mountain 50 times in his career, decided to do it for the 51sttime to make her dream come true.

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Με την Ελευθερία θα προσπαθήσουμε να ανέβουμε την επόμενη εβδομάδα στην ψηλότερη κορυφή της Ελλάδας, κουβαλώντας την στην πλάτη με ένα ειδικά τροποποιημένο σακίδιο. Αν το καταφέρουμε θα γίνει ο πρώτος άνθρωπος με αναπηρία που θα δει την Ελλάδα από το πιο ψηλό σημείο της. Για μένα όλοι οι αγώνες του κόσμου , τα μετάλλια και οποίες διακρίσεις μέχρι τώρα είναι πολύ λίγα μπροστά σε αυτόν τον σκοπό. Προσωπικά νιώθω πιο έτοιμος από ποτέ για κάτι τέτοιο και ευχαριστώ πολύ την Ελευθερία που δίνει την ευκαιρία να γίνω καλύτερος άνθρωπος και να μου υπενθυμίσω αυτό που ξεχνάμε όλοι μας συχνά : ότι την ζωη πρέπει να την ζούμε χωρίς φόβο . 10 days left #mtolympus
A post shared by Marios Giannakou (@marios_giannakou) on Sep 25, 2020 at 4:37am PDT

Before climbing the mountain, Marios checked the diary, studied the meteorological forecasts, and organised the appropriate support team. He carried Eleftheria on his back and started climbing. They reached the highest point of

Mount Olympus, Mount Mytikas, on October 5 at 9.02 am. Giannakou informed his Instagram followers that they had scaled the mountain, posting a picture in which he can be seen smiling and carrying the student on his back.

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A post shared by Marios Giannakou (@marios_giannakou) on Oct 4, 2020 at 11:20pm PDT

The caption of the post reads, “There is nothing more real than the dream. 09:02 am, We reached the top of Greece with Eleftheria and our team."

Giannakou and his team first reached a refuge situated at a height of 2,400 m. They rested there before setting off for Mt Mytikas, Olympus’ highest peak located at 2,918 m. It took them more than 10 hours to scale the mountain.

“For me, all international races, the medals and the distinctions so far, mean little compared to that goal," Greek Reporter quoted the athlete as saying.