Twice in the past, in 2017 and 2019, Emmanuel Karalis had submitted memorandums to SEGAS through a lawyer, denouncing the coach and veteran wrestler, Dimitris Kyteas for racist behavior in the OAKA training room.
According to the affidavits, the coach, speaking to other athletes, had called Karalis, among other things, an “uneducated idiot”, whom he allegedly always referred to as “the black one”. At the same time, as reported by the reports of that period, he had gone ahead with bad characterizations of the family of the epiconist, while there was even talk of… voodoo, in order to hurt his competitors. Also, addressing an athlete who was talking to his champion on a pole, he had told her that: “You expose yourself by taking a picture with the black man.”
Read about it: Four affidavits corroborate Karalis’ allegation of racist attacks
In June 2020, SEGAS imposed a penalty of banning entry to the playing fields and participation in the Federation’s events for one year, with a suspension to the coach. A penalty characterized as a “caress”.
Read about it: Stivos: Kyteas was punished with… caresses
Karalis faced the racist attacks with courage, while he managed to emerge strong from what happened in 2022, a rather difficult year for him. “After an injury in the indoor track season there was a series of events that lowered my morale. For the first time this year I had a panic attack which, as a result, plunged me into anxiety and depression for quite some time.” had written in X.
“I’m stopping the season here. I need to rest and focus on my mental health for a while. I need to step back and take a break to get my smile back.” completed. Two years later, the image of the moved and happy “Manolos” after winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, lit up Greece.
Read about it: Emmanuel Karalis: The boy who defeated the monsters
“Now that I’ve calmed down a bit I think about what I’ve been through as an athlete, as a person all the difficulties I’ve been through, the depression, the racism, all the difficulties, the injuries. And I can say that everything I’ve been through has made me the person I am now. A strong man, a man who now has self-confidence and a… third Olympian”, he said on Monday night to the ERT camera.
Read also: Karalis is emotional after the medal: “I’ve been through racism, depression, injuries, these made me strong” (Video)
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