Olympic Person of the Month

Each month, the European Olympic Academies selects an important, inspiring individual who embodies the Olympic values. Find our past portraits below.

Olympic Person of the Month May 2023

Ilham Zakiyev

Meet the Azerbaijani Paralympic Judoka, Ilham Zakiyev, whose extraordinary journey from a disabled veteran of the Karabakh war to a decorated champion showcases the triumph of determination.

Check out his portrait

Previous Olympic Persons of the Month

Meet the Azerbaijani Paralympic Judoka, Ilham Zakiyev, whose extraordinary journey from a disabled veteran of the Karabakh war to a decorated champion showcases the triumph of determination.

Anne d’Ieteren is known for her outstanding achievements in both the Olympic and the Paralympic Movement in her native country Belgium…

With her amazing achievements, the Dutch track and field athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen broke barriers and the stigma that age and motherhood were factors that caused limitation to being successful in women’s sport…

Famous all over the world, Nurmi became an unending source of national pride for the newly independent Finland winning nine gold medals and three silver medals in running competitions during the Olympic Games of the 1920s…

Nadia Comaneci was breaking Olympic world records in the sport of gymnastics. At age 14, the Romanian athlete became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games…

Valeriy Sushkevych is one of the resilient individuals who has shown strength for the people of Ukraine, and persons with disabilities. He made miracles happen for the Paralympic athletes of Ukraine in the Beijing Paralympics 2022…

With her current participation in the Beijing Olympics at the age of 49, Claudia Pechstein sets the records for oldest female Winter Olympian of all time and most participations in Winter Olympic Games as a woman…

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Maier suffered a near fatal crash in which he partially landed on his head. Despite the dramatic nature of the crash, Maier made an incredible return to competition just three days later and won 2 gold medals at the Nagano games…

During an illustrious career, Mentel-Spee won three Paralympic gold medals and 5 World Championship gold medals in para snowboarding events. The Dutch athlete had been due to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics before undergoing a leg amputation to treat bone cancer…

Emil Zatopek is widely recognised as one of the greatest runners in Olympic history. He is best known for winning three gold medals at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 and for pioneering gruelling interval training methods…

The Soviet Ukrainian Maria Gorokhovskaya represented the first USSR gymnastics team to ever compete at the Olympics and also became the first female athlete to be awarded 7 medals at a single Olympics at Helsinki in 1952…

Sebastian Coe is one of the most decorated and acclaimed athletes in Olympic history. The British middle-distance runner won four Olympic medals, including back-to-back 1,500m gold in Moscow and LA in the 1980s, plus two Olympic silver medals…