USA Weightlifting leader who is former Olympic champ stuck in Europe due to coronavirus travel ban

Olympic weightlifting champion Pyrros Dimas flew to Europe on Tuesday for meetings of the sport’s international federation. By Wednesday, the Greek sports hero learned he wouldn’t be able to return home to Chicago for at least a month.

Dimas, now the technical director for USA Weightlifting, has an O-1 visa and is ineligible to return under the travel restrictions for more than two dozen European countries announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday night.

Dimas’ visa -- granted to individuals possessing “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics” -- was not among the exceptions announced as part of the restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.

With four Olympic medals – three gold and one bronze – Dimas is tied for Greece’s most decorated Olympian and is regarded as the best weightlifter of all-time.  Before moving to the United States, he was a member of the Greek parliament.

Trump’s order suspends for 30 days the entry of most foreign nationals who have been to 26 European countries for two weeks before their arrival.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a question from USA TODAY about how the travel restrictions affect O-1 visa holders, but the directive from the White House does not list those as exempted from the restrictions.

“It’s not the only visa type where there is a lack of information, but all the guidance that we have says that Pyrros can’t return until the travel ban lifts,” said USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews.

Dimas had planned to return to the United States on March 24, following an International Weightlifting Federation executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, next week. Greece and Switzerland are among the countries with travel restrictions.

Speaking from his home in Athens on Thursday evening, he said he would not be able to return until mid-April.

“If it’s possible, it would be great to be back. To stay with my family. To keep going to do our work,” Dimas said.

Dimas hoped to return to his children in Chicago, including his 10-year-old son who is with family, and to help prepare the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics in July. He will be fine while in Greece, where he still has a home and family, he said, but would rather be stateside.

“We have the chance in the Olympics to have three or four medals, and if we don’t push it and don’t work with them, I think something happens without me,” Dimas said.

The novel coronavirus has led to more than 132,000 cases and more than 4,900 deaths in 123 countries. In the United States, it had infected more than 1,600 people. .

Andrews said Dimas would continue working with athletes remotely while in Europe. Still, they would both prefer he be able to return sooner than later.

“We’re at the moment assuming that unless we can find some other guidance, Pyrros is going to be stuck in Greece,” Andrews said.