Bakochristos aims for gold at Rio 2016

“I am sure that it will be the greatest experience that I have ever lived. It is going to be a unique.”

Greece’s Dmitrios Bakochristos seeks to top the podium at Rio 2016 in 100 days time, where he will be making his Paralympic debut.

The 33-year-old knows it is going to be hard to achieve his main goal, but remains confident.

“I want to win the gold medal,” he said.

“I dreamed of qualifying for the Paralympics before. Now I am hoping to reach the podium. Any medal will be welcomed, either if it is a gold, a silver or a bronze. But I will target the first place.

“The most important thing to me is to be healthy and without any injuries. From then on, anything can happen during the competition.”

Last year, Bakochristos broke the men’s up to 54kg European record with a 181kg lift at the Asian Open Championships. However, he believes he can do better.

“My goal is to overcome myself and lift more than 181kg, but also need to be careful not to get injured in the process,” he said.

“I did well at the World Cup in Malaysia this year and even lifted 182kg, although it was not a valid attempt because I made a small technical mistake. But it has proven me that I can lift that weight.”

In order to achieve his goal, Bakochristos is training “five days per week both in the morning and the afternoon, approximately four hours each.”

Whilst he is not on practice, he can be found running his family business.

“Since 1980, my family has had a traditional cheese dairy company, producing high quality feta cheese,” he explained.

During his limited time off work and powerlifting, Bakochristos prefers to “relax or to go to the beaches nearby because I need to be energetic again for the following day.”

With Africa and Asia producing some of the world’s best powerlifters, including Egypt´s world champion Sherif Othman and China´s London 2012 gold medallist Feng Qi, Bakochristos will have to perform at his very best to reach the Paralympic podium next September.

“They are all really good competitors,” he said.

“The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be a remarkable event.

“I am sure that it will be the greatest experience that I have ever lived. It is going to be a unique. It will be my first Paralympic Games and I am very excited to be there. I really cannot wait!”

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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs)

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.