Dinos Lefkaritis

Dinos Lefkaritis (; born March 30, 1995) is a Cypriot alpine skier who represented the Republic of Cyprus in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

He was asked to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, however, an injury prohibited him from competing; he was replaced by Constantinos Papamichael. Lefkaritis won the silver medal representing Cyprus in the 2017 Games of the Small States of Europe.

Biography Dinos Lefkaritis was born on March 30, 1995, in Larnaca, Cyprus. He began skiing at the age of 5 on the Troodos Mountains, a large mountain range on Mount Olympus, the highest point in Cyprus. He was named Junior Ski Athlete of the Year by the Cyprus Skiing Federation in 2011, 2013, and 2014.

He attended the American Academy of Larnaca from 2007 to 2014. He worked as a public relations officer for Cyprus's United Nations Youth and Student Association during his last year of secondary school.

He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where he double majored in engineering and economics. He graduated in 2019 While at university, he participates on their ski team and is counted among the college's 12 Olympians. He is the college's only male Alpine skier to compete in the Olympics.

Career

Early career: 2008–2017 He began competing for his home country in international competitions in 2008. In February 2015, he competed in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail, Colorado. He was asked to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, however, an injury prohibited him from competing; he was replaced by Constantinos Papamichael. He was given the Olympic Solidarity Athlete Scholarship to assist him in preparing for the games. Lefkaritis was assigned the head coach of the national team–Milan Matic–to prepare him for his first event. He reported to the Olympic Record that his alpine skiing inspiration was Austrian skier, Hermann Maier.

On February 9, 2018, he carried his country's flag during the Olympic opening ceremony. According to the official Olympic schedule, Lefkaritis was to ski in the men's giant slalom on February 18 and men's slalom on February 21, 2018. On Sunday, February 18, 10:15 AM, he skied in the Intermediate 1 section of men's giant slalom. He recorded a 19.06 min time in the section with a difference of +2.36; the time disqualified him from placing into the Intermediate 2 section of the competition. He needed an extra 2.85 seconds to qualify for the next round.

Due to inclement weather, the first and second runs of men's slalom were pushed to February 22 and relocated to the Yongpyong Alpine Centre. At approximately 10:00 AM, Dinos skied in the first run of the men's slalom. During the start of his run, a ski went out on Lefkaritis causing him to swerve into another line and fall near the top of the course. After negotiating eight gates, he ascended the course to restart his run. However, halfway up the course he stopped, yelled, and "[struck] his helmet with a hand in frustration". His run was one of 54 to be recorded as a "Did Not Finish (DNF)" as he did not restart and complete the course.

Lefkaritis carried the flag of Cyprus during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics on February 25, 2018.