LIMASSOL (CYPRUS) - Pavlos Kontides tightened the zip of his wetsuit with hands dried and calloused by rope and sea salt. It is part of a ritual that takes the only Cypriot Olympic medal winner 30 minutes as he gets his Laser dinghy ready for the Mediterranean winds. "Pavlos has become the role model for many young sailors," said Yiannos Photiou, president of the Cyprus Sailing Federation. If he comes first in his class, Kontides will become the island's first son to win an Olympic race since antiquity. "Pavlos actually proved that it's possible," said Olga Piperidou Chrysaphy, director general of the Cyprus Olympic Committee.

Source: Bangkok Post July 24, 2016 03:45 UTC