Giorgos Roubanis, Greece’s oldest living Olympic medallist, passed away on Tuesday, February 11, at the age of 95.
Roubanis won a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, securing Greece’s first post-war Olympic medal and providing much-needed joy to a nation recovering from World War II and its civil war.
He achieved his bronze with a 4.50-metre leap, setting a national record.
Born to a gymnast father, Roubanis initially pursued boxing, basketball, and track and field before discovering his pole vaulting talent.
He served as Greece’s flag bearer in Melbourne and competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics before retiring in 1961.
After relocating to the US, Roubanis founded an advertising company and worked with Spyros Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox. He later returned to Greece, where he established a film distribution company.
A passionate supporter of sports, Roubanis co-founded the Association of Greek Olympians in 1985. His funeral will be held on February 17 at Athens’ First Cemetery.
Source: Ekathimerini.
