Austria was selected by the Special Olympics Committee to host the XI Special Olympics World Winter Games.  The games which will take place from the 14^th to the 25th of March 2017, will be held in the cities of Graz, Schaldming and Ramsau where 3,000 athletes representing 110 countries are expected to take part.

To kick off the 2017 Special Olympics Winter Games, the “Flame of Hope” Torch Lighting Ceremony took place on Thursday, March 2, 2017 in the Zappeion Megaron Peristyle.  Immediately following the lighting, the Torch Relay, covering a distance of 8.5 km, began.  It saw Special Olympics athletes, members of the Hellenic Police known internationally as the “Law Enforcement Torch Runners –LETR”, as well as students from local and private schools participating.  The torch relay passed through the streets of Athens, in front of historical and cultural monuments, and was delivered to the residence of Austrian Ambassador to Greece Mag. Andrea Ikić-Böhm in Psychico.

Our School had the honor of being invited to the Torch Lighting Ceremony and to have student members of its “A” Association participate in the Torch Relay. 

The students who took part were:

Nikolaos Mpourlos, Humbertos Mavros, Milena Siapera, Velissarios Christodoulou, Alexandros Katsinis, Minas Sigalas, Maria Dima and Ioannis Friligkos from Athens College;

Nikolaos Fragkos, Nikolaos Papaliakos-Athanasiou, Marianna Empeoglou, Nikolaos Papandreou, Georgios Vlastarakis, Eleftheria Kazantzi, Afroditi Georgiadi and Antonis Michalopoulos from Psychico College.

The students were accompanied by Mr. Vasilis Moschos, Interschool Head of Physical Education and Sports.

Also present at the Torch Lighting Ceremony were:  Mr. Nikos Tsavliris on behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr. Andreas Potamianos on behalf of the HAEF Somateion as well as in the capacity of honorary member of Special Olympics Hellas, as well as Prof. Spiro Pollalis, President of Athens College – Psychico College.