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The Passion for the Olympic Games in a Collection

Passion-for-the-Olympic-GamesThe passion for the Olympic Games to some people is not only about the excitement of the sporting events. For many, it is the spirit and the wholesome endeavor of the competition both in body and spirit and the general ambiance and what remains of it. It is that which inspires passion in the multitude of moments and the single items, the tangible things that make the dream of the Olympics stay in our memory.
It is for these reasons that passionate people who like to recollect the history of the Olympics, are prone to collecting anything that has to do with all the editions of the Olympiads, not just the present, but in the forms of official memorabilia and the personal effects of the athletes, as well as the general literature that encompasses the events.
The Stylianos family belongs to that particular genre of ‘hidalgos’ who turned their vivid interest in the Olympic Games into a lifelong family pursuit of passion and inspiration. Dedicated to their cause for many years, they have managed to build up an impressive collection of more than 6,700 items, some of them unique in their kind, since the first Olympics Games in Athens in 1896. The first catalog of the events, Olympic medals of these Games, photos and literature. And not just that: their collection dates back even earlier, to the preparations of the Olympic movement and to the personal history of its leading figures. Also, the often ignored Mid-Olympiade, has its own place in this collection.
The most salient exhibits of this collection are the torches of the Olympic flame since the beginning of the ceremony in 1936 and what goes with it: the uniforms of the bearers, the photos of the ceremony and the relevant literature. Even the dresses of the priestesses, or the ceremonial urn of the 2004 Olympics which marked the return of the Games to their homeland, are part of Stylianos collection. Another significant part of the collection are the imposing singular items of the Berlin Olympics: one of the first torches in the history and the authentic carriers uniform, the impressive posters of the Nazist propaganda for the Games, the very same measuring tape that marked the historic record of Jesse Owens in the long jump — one of this legend’s four victories that forced Adolf Hitler to abandon the stadium in order to avoid giving him the gold medal and honor a colored athlete.
Also the Greeks and their achievements in the Olympic athletic field occupy a significant part of the collection. “I spent a lifetime and, I admit it, much of my family’s money to make my dream true and fulfil my passion,” the collector stated to AMNA, proud of the volume and the significance of his achievement.
(Source: ANA-MPA)

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