Editing Pyrros Dimas (section)

==Early years ==

Dimas was born in 1971 in [[Himarë]], southern Albania,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goodbody |first1=John |title=100 greatest Olympic moments: Dimas has the Midas touch |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/australasia-travel/australia/100-greatest-olympic-moments-dimas-has-the-midas-touch-zr7fllz69p6 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=13 September 2022 |language=en |quote=the Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas had a similar burden in Athens. ... partly because he had been born in Albania in northern Epirus,}}</ref> to ethnic [[Greeks in Albania|Greek]] parents.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Repanas |first1=Antonios |title=Pyrros Dimas and the "American Dream" in Greece |url=http://www.humanstories.gr/en/o-pyrros-dimas-ke-to-american-dream-me-ti-skepsi-stin-ellada/ |access-date=19 August 2016 |quote=This three-time Olympic gold medal winner and one-time bronze winner came to Greece from Albania in 1991. “Personally I have never felt like a refugee. I came to my country. I did not go to another country to feel like a refugee or an immigrant. I came here with legal papers and with my entire family. I also had help from Yianni Syorou. However, there were other people from the Northern Epirus who came here illegally from the mountains and who risked their lives.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Heinrichs |first1=Ann |title=Greece |date=2002 |publisher=Children's Press |location=Danbury, Conn. |isbn=9780516222714 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greece00hein/page/113 113] |url=https://archive.org/details/greece00hein |url-access=registration |quote=Born in northern Epirus in 1 971, Dimas competes in the 159-pound}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Keridis |first1=Dimitris |title=Historical dictionary of modern Greece |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=9780810863125 |page=55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ERJI1jLruQC&q=%22Born+in+Himara+in+southern+Albania+to+ethnic+Greek+parents%2C+Pyrros+Dimas+is+a+Greek+sports+hero.%22&pg=PA55 |quote=Born in Himara in southern Albania to ethnic Greek parents, Pyrros Dimas is a Greek sports hero.}}</ref> Dimas started the sport at 11 and competed at a junior's level at 14. At 18, in 1989, he became triple Champion of Albania for the 82.5&nbsp;kg category and in 1990 he repeated himself.<ref name="Armillotta">{{cite journal |last=Armillotta |first=Giovanni |date=April 2008 |trans-title=Who was the Albanian Pyrros Dimas in Albania |title=Cili ishte shqiptari Pirro Dhima ne Shqiperi? |journal=Albanian Football Magazine |volume=X |issue=178 |pages=12–13 |url=http://www.giovanniarmillotta.it/albania/sport/dhima.htm |access-date=11 June 2010 |language=sq}}</ref>

While in Albania, he was coached by Zef Kovaci. In 1990 he was also accorded the title "Master of Sports" by the Albanian government and the title "European Master" by the [[European Weightlifting Federation]].<ref name="Armillotta"/>