With the organization of the European Championships that will be held in Loutraki between 12-20/4/03, the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation completes the circle of great events hosted in our country since, up to now, we have organized World Championships of all categories but this is the first time we organize a Seniors Men’s and Women’s European Championships.
   The European Weightlifting Championships have a great importance, for the European Federation and for World Weightlifting in general, while for the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation, Greek Sports and the Loutraki-Perahora Municipality it constitutes a big organizational goal.
   For our country the organizational aspect of the European Championships is directly connected with the high level of Greek Weightlifting today and also with the efforts we make for the organization of the 2004 Olympic Games.
   The Organizing Committee with the help of the Greek State and the unreserved support of the Loutraki-Perahora Municipality will try to organize an event that will be unique for its organizational level as well as the conditions offered to the participants.
   Our main goal is the success of the athletes and all the delegations’ members, whilst at the same time they will get  to know the beautiful city of Loutraki, with its great tradition and immense beauty.

YANNIS SGOUROS
Prefect of Athens
President of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation
President of the Organising Committee
IWF General Secretary

   It gives me great pleasure to welcome the athletes and organizers of Weightlifting.
   The Olympic Sport of strength and vigor but also of the mind, as the golden rule of athletics orders for the exercise of body and mind in the spirit of noble emulation and friendly rivalry, promoting at the same time Culture, offers exciting moments to all athletes and fans of the sport.
   We are very proud of our national team for they have lifted Greece to the highest point in Greece and abroad.
   The 82nd European Weightlifting Championship for men and the 16th European Weightlifting Championship for women, taking place in the city of Loutraki, is an event that best confirms the contribution of the city to Sports.
   Furthermore, the great participation from 45 European countries with approximately 300 men and women athletes also contributes to the success of this athletic meeting.
   Now more than ever, as we are heading for the Olympic Games of 2004, it is vital to support the sport of Weightlifting, and all the other sports of course, as we are all working hard aiming high; to achieve nothing else but great performances in every aspect and as many medals as possible. Not to mention that such athletic events will be a general test of our capabilities.
   In view of Athens 2004 Olympic Games I wish the very best to the 82nd and 16th European Weightlifting Championships, in the beautiful resort of Loutraki.

GIORGOS LIANIS
Deputy Minister of Culture

   The organization of the 2003 Weightlifting European Championship is very important as an event due to which our Greek Weightlifting Olympic Winners will have the opportunity to prove once again the high competitive level and standards of the Greek Weightlifting Federation.
   The golden medals of our Weight Lifting Olympic Winners reflect the effort, power, ethnical strength and the spirit of the ideal Olympic Athlete. Those are the values that characterize our athletes and that convey the meaning of fair play, cooperation, respect and fraternity among peoples and amongst competing athletes from different nationalities.
   I am convinced that at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the Greek Weightlifting Federation along with the whole Greek nation will diffuse the Olympic universal values, of peace and solidarity.
   The General Secretariat of Sports supports all the efforts of the Weightlifting Federation and wishes to all its athletes the best of luck and many successes in the 2003 European Championships.

NIKOS EXARCHOS
General Secretary of Sports

   The Organizing Committee has appointed Loutraki, the most important spa and famous resort of Greece, to host the 82nd Men's & 16th Women's Senior European Weightlifting Championships 2003 which shall be held next April 2003. 38 countries will participate in this great event, with 300 athletes while the delegations will consist of a total number of 500 persons. The citizens look forward to the events with manifest enthusiasm, since weightlifting is the most rewarding, with high records and Olympic prizes, sport in Greece the past few years. Such triumphs attract peoples' attention so it is a great satisfaction for us that Loutraki shall be the center of the European Championships 2003.
   The Municipality of Loutraki-Perachora will host the events together with the Organizing Committee, for the best possible results.
   Appointing Loutraki to be the host town of the championships, was a successful choice. The town is situated near the Canal of Isthmus which connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Gulf of Saronicos, is internationally known for both its mineral water springs and drinking water, its ideal climate and the excellent mountain-sea combination.
   Loutraki offers significant athletic installations and an enterprising hotel and business organization.
   It must be underlined that all level specialized services can be rendered in Loutraki.
   Finally, it must be pointed out that Loutraki not only has its own notable archaeological sites (the Temple of Hera, Isthmia), but it is also the center of south ancient Greece (Corinth, Mikines, Epidavros, etc).

PAVLOS PAVLOU
Mayor of Loutraki

   The organisation of the championships in weightlifting dates from 1896 what means exactly the year when the firts Olympic Games of contemporary epoch took place in Athens.
   Those 107 years that have passed are rich history showing the uninterrupted development of this sport on our Continent.
   The legendary weights lifted by the ancient athletes became today the reality, for the will of human beings to be strong hasn't been changed by the ages and the fight for  the title of the strongest man is everlasting.
   This time, Loutraki is the place where a battle for medals will be fought and the next chapter of history of weightlifting added. I'm convinced that these championships will take place in the country where the Olympic Games of the ancient epoch were born and the Olympic Games of the contemporary epoch began, and what's more the Olympic Games Athens 2004 will take place. This all creates a particular atmosphere which motivates the athletes and the teams.
   But not only history and the past that decided about the location of the Championships in Loutraki. It is also the evidence of appreciation of the EWF for the high position of Greek athletes in the world as well as the activity of the officials of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation on the international arena.
   I'm sure that the 82nd Senior men's and 16th Senior Women's European Weightlifting Championships will be a consecutive success of the Hellenic Federation and of the authorities of Loutraki City and that convivial atmosphere of the Championships will help the participants in achieving record results.

WALDEMAR BASZANOWSKI
EWF President

   Another 4 year circle has come to a close, and after La Coruna '99 we will soon be contending for the European Senior Championships in Loutraki, and facing another Electoral Congress. We are on the eve of the great world sporting event "Athens 2004" when the Olympic Games will return home.
   I have had the opportunity to visit both Athens and Loutraki recently and I have seen Yannis Sgouros organising team in full swing and intent on exceeding itself. The World Championships in 1999, organised by the Greek Federation is remembered by all as the greatest world event of our sport. Our European Championships, given the bases, will definitely be the best continental championships regarding organisation, participation of nations and athletes and nations present at the congress.
   72 candidatures were presented to the EWF secretariat on 14 February 2003 to cover 34 positions on the various committees and this shows that our sport is very much alive and there is great interest among the 45 affiliated nations.
   The beautiful city of Loutraki is located by the sea and boasts a host of hotels, restaurants, casinos and sports facilities. The natural spring water famous, both in Greece and abroad, complete this ideal place.
   I would like to wish all participants inthe 82nd European Senior Men's Championships and 16th Women's Championships, a pleasant stay and excellent sporting results. I would also like to thank the organisers of  the Greek Federation and the local authorities for their hospitality.

MARINO ERCOLANI CASADEI
EWF General Secretary

   In the first Olympics in Athens, in 1896, weightlifting was included in the 9 games of the programme, and two Greek weightlifters, Sotiris Versis from Athens and Alexandros Niklopoulos from Messinia were declared winners. At the same time, the National Bank of Greece was celebrating its 55th anniversary and was already a champion, having lent its active support to the Greek economy for 55 years.
   Accordingly, the Bank appreciates, embraces and sponsors any game, event or activity relating to creativity, art and culture, where excellence is pursued through fair play and the revival of the Olympic spirit is sought in all spheres of our life, as well as in international relations.
   Like all Greeks, we at National Bank of Greece feel genuinely proud of our athletes who gain the highest distinctions in international events. On the occasion of the European Weightlifting Championships for men and women in Loutraki, we look forward to seeing the noble effort of our athletes being rewarded once again, thereby confirming, in the best possible way, the propriety of our longstanding commitment and active support for such events over the years.
   Confident that Greek sports, and weightlifting in particular, will be able to excel in all events to come, especially in the 2004 Olympics, on behalf of all of us at National Bank of Greece please accept my most sincere wishes for success.

THEODOROS KARATZAS
Governor of National Bank of Greece