My name is Michalis Michaelides. I was born in 1982 in Nicosia, Cyprus.
At the age of 4, I was diagnosed with a congenital (εκ γενετής) disease in my right leg. I had to undergo a major surgery in the USA on my own, as no parent visits or supervision were allowed in this hospital. I am mentioning this very important and difficult experience in my life as it provided me with the resilience and the strength to survive and achieve anything in life. Furthermore i was also a member of the Cyprus Cycling National Team.
Ι was told that I would walk again for sure, but exercise on a competitive level was not allowed. Despite this and the fact that I was overweight for most of my life, in 1995 I achieved 1st place in the Pancyprian cycling championships, in my age category.
In 1999 I completed my first triathlon in Limassol but then unfortunately, “bad luck” hit me again, in a big way, as in the same year I had a major accident during a cycling training session. I was diagnosed with brain hematoma and after spending a month in intensive care I had to finally stop cycling, my greatest passion and love.
In June 2018 my brother from another mother, Christos Papadavid, inspired me to start triathlon and finally I found a way to start cycling again, amongst two other sports that I had never done in the past. Despite this, I completed my first triathlon with almost no training (1 week of sessions) being 95kg in 1hr 40min just by being excited about life again.
In April 2019, I met Dimos Papadavid and then my life changed completely. He became my coach and mentor and gave me the guidance and knowledge I needed to become much better. Most importantly, he believed in me 100%. Nothing was more important than this. In October 2019, I completed the Limassol sprint triathlon in 1hr 17min 53sec (22 minutes faster than my 1st sprint triathlon in 2018).
Dimos is a rare athlete and a unique coach with much experience in the sport. But above all, he is a person of impeccable character, with abundant kindness and an un-paralleled understanding of his athletes’ psychology. I am truly grateful to have him in my life as a coach and friend. #dimospapscoaching is about a family of athletes with a common goal. Be better athletes, better human beings.
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DESCRIPTION
Sport: Triathlon
Height: 1.68 cm
Weight: – kg
DOB: 18/09/1982
Hometown: Nicosia, Cyprus