Kenya takes home silver medal, while Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago tie for bronze
Talking about the Olympic spirit came easy for Greece’s Marios Chatzidimou, 14, and with his letter to tennis champion Roger Federer he captured the hearts of the international jury to win the gold medal in the UPU’s 41st International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People.
The 2012 edition asked young people to write a letter to an athlete or a sports personality they admire to tell them what the Olympic Games mean to them.
In a brilliantly written letter, Marios Chatzidimou places the world’s top-seeded tennis player in ancient Olympia alongside athletes such as Diagoras of Rhodes and Polidamas and conjures up a chat with him. “Participation, entering the contest, is already a great victory, regardless of the trophy. A victory against fears, insecurity and difficulties, of yourself, against your own vanity and selfishness.” That’s how Chatzidimou has fictitious Federer describe the Olympic values to him. The writer then goes on to deplore the sometimes absence of fair play and the use of drugs in modern-day competitions. “Ruin of the athlete and libel on sports is the only outcome of such acts,” writes Chatzidimou. “But for me the first Olympic Games mean neither anabolic [steroids] nor championship, nor financial benefits, economic crisis nor hate. They do mean joy for participating, fair play, friendship, peace and, I hope, this meaning will apply to this year’s Olympic Games.”
In giving the top nod to Marios Chatzidimou, the jury complimented his simple and creative writing style. “The composition is original, very personal and stylistically creative. The modern and historic Olympic values come out very strongly,” it said.
Kenya’s Valentine Chimba, 15, takes the silver medal with a letter to her countryman, the runner David Rudisha, who holds the 800-meters world record. Ukraine’s Aliona Kuchanskaya, 15, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Chelsea Gabriella Ellise Mangarro, 11, tied for bronze with letters to Elena Yurkovskaya, a Ukrainian skier and biathlete who won several medals at the Winter Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy, and Hasley Crawford, the first Trinidadian to become an Olympic gold-medalist in 1976.
Jury comments
The international jury was composed of Elizabeth Longworth, deputy assistant director-general for social and human sciences, and director of the division of ethics and global change at UNESCO in Paris, Jean Durry, writer and historian specializing in sports and the Olympics, Norbert Müller, professor at the Institute for Sports Science in Mainz, and Juliana Nel, director of cabinet and communication at the UPU International Bureau. Mrs Longworth, Mr Durry and Mr Müller are also members of the International Olympic Committee’s commission for culture and Olympic education.
The jury also had the following comments about the other compositions:
Kenya: “A particularly well written composition displaying a lot of authenticity. The letter canvasses the value of social tolerance and the Olympic themes flow beautifully through a young person’s eyes.”
Ukraine: “A remarkably moving and well written composition. This troubling letter manages to show how the efforts of handicapped athletes come through in the Olympic values.”
Trinidad and Tobago: “At only 11 years of age, the author writes beautifully and her style is sincere. She manages to describe with much clarity the real and underlying Olympic values.”
The jury also awarded special mentions to the compositions from the following countries and in this order: Russia (Ms Anastasiya Tolcheva), Brazil (Ms Joyce Lima Moreno), Indonesia (Mr Christ Soselisa), Benin (Ms Auriane Hillarie Hountogan) et Montenegro (Mr Bojan Savovi?).
More than 1 million young people from 55 countries participated in the UPU’s 41st International Letter-Writing Competition.
The 2013 competition asks young people to write a letter to someone to tell them why water is precious. The theme coincides with the International Decade for Action "Water for Life" 2005–2015.
Read the 2012 winning letters