Georgios Dragovits – The beginning and end

Looking back at Olympiacos’ first century, there have been divs that have gone down in history, and others that made history. If the Club’s football teams have had their icons, if its basketball division has followed in the footsteps of a glorious past, then Olympiacos volleyball was built on the hands, blocks, shouts and points of Georgios Dragovits.

The Legend’s “general” who marshaled Olympiacos volleyball on its greatest nights in the spotlight. If you saw him there on the court, you knew something important was happening. He never said much. He spoke instead with his clenched fists and his body as it plunged into a serve or soared high above the net.

Olympiacos wasn’t built in a day. But its volleyball division, the majestic, European- and world-class team that made a clean sweep of the trophies in the ’90s and filled the Peace and Friendship Stadium with the sound of ecstatic fans… Well, that all started in 1987. From the working-class district of Drapetsona to the pinnacle of world volleyball, back when a talented athlete donned the red and white and became part of a myth-making machine.

Those who saw him play and knew him on and off the court speak of his boundless energy, his intensity, the iron will that burns in his eyes to this day.

Born in October 1968, he grew up and learned to play volleyball in the northern city of Kozani. Greece may not yet have known his name, but Dragovits was destined to be part of Olympiacos volleyball’s most glorious era. His first team was Ethnikos Kozani, with whom he played in the first national league in the 1986-1987 season. There, he showed the world he could do things other players couldn’t. So, they brought him to Piraeus in short order.

Wearing the red-and-white jersey for the first time in 1987, aged just 19, he entered an organization that already had solid foundations but needed a spark to ignite. Dragovits was more than just a spark. He was a creative, aggressive, irrepressible force of nature. An opposite hitter with the instincts of a hunter and the impact of a hammer—precise, powerful and explosive. He is one of the elite flag-bearers of Olympiacos, and a volleyball icon. He was a leader of the Reds, and became the link between two eras.

For no fewer than 15 seasons (1987-2001 and 2004-2005), he was the ultimate symbol of loyalty and endurance. He was the beating heart of a team that wasn’t afraid of anyone, that looked the Italians straight in the eye and oozed confidence in their every encounter at the European level. All in all, he won 11 Championships with Olympiacos, eight Greek Cups, 1 Super Cup and—most impressively of all— two European titles, which changed the history of the Club and Greek volleyball as a whole.

With Giannis Laios at the helm and legends like Michalis Triantafyllidis, Sakis Moustakidis, Dimitris Kazazis, Andreas Theodoridis and Giorgos Lykoudis at his side, Dragovits became the core of a team that changed Greek volleyball from the ground up. They didn’t just win. They dominated. From 1987 to 1994, they swept up 8 championships in a row—a record that will likely never be beaten. And then came the great battles in Europe.

In 1992, in the final of the Champions Cup in Faliro against a hugely expensive Messagero Ravenna, Olympiacos held its head higher than ever before… and held its own. Despite the defeat, the team continued its immortal march onwards and upwards. It was the year in which “Olympiacos” was a name on everyone’s lips. Then, they finished third in the world at the Club World Cup in Treviso, beating Messagero 3-0! And the national sports press association (PSAT) named them the top Greek team across all sports for 1992.

Dragovits was there. He was the linchpin, there at the beginning and end of every attack.

This was followed by another six consecutive appearances in the Final Four of European competitions, from the Champions Cup to the Cup Winners’ Cup. Olympiacos spent an entire decade at the very top, and Georgos was ever-present. Consistent, dedicated, and ethical, his name became synonymous with sporting competition and with Olympiacos the Legend. And then the night to end all nights arrived. 10 March 1996. At the Peace and Friendship Stadium 18,000 fans in the stands.

Olympiacos defeats Bayer Wuppertal 3-2 and wins the European Cup Winners’ Cup—the first European title in the Club’s history, in any sport. The team played their hearts out. Hernandez, Sanchez, Giourdas, Tsakiropoulos, Moustakidis… and Dragovits—the solid bedrock on which their triumph was built.

That night, he didn’t just lift a cup. He lifted up an entire nation. It was the day Olympiacos etched its name forever on the world volleyball map. It was the day Dragovits was rewarded for all his blocks and dives, all the times he gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain.

And Olympiacos didn’t stop there. In 1996, they participated in the European Super Cup in Munich, the first and only Greek team to have had that honor. And in 2005, in the same Peace and Friendship Stadium, with Marcos Milinkovic now in charge, the Legend won its second European title with Dragovits back in the team, calm and omnipresent as always. A comeback the team as much as it honored him. A final act in the ongoing spectacular that was his sporting career.

When times had changed and there was no longer a spot for him on the roster, he never donned a rival’s jersey. He wasn’t tempted by the offers. He opted to end his career with a local club, Nikaia, instead.

Dragovits was born to play in Piraeus. There was nothing superfluous about his play. His every move was targeted, explosive. He was the perfect match for a Club nurtured on the motto “first and best.” And the DNA which made him an athlete who played to win, not to take part, encapsulated the spirit of a Club that has always been about being stronger than the opposition.

His years at Olympiacos has left a permanent imprint on both the Club and the memories of its fans. It’s there on the photos of all those title wins. It’s there on the faces of the youngsters who play in the red-and-white strip today. In all the Taraflex-floored stadiums from Faliro to Rentis and the world, as the fans sigh and scream themselves hoarse. In every elegant jump, block and spike. They still tell kids “You’ll be as good as Dragovits one day” when they start out on their volleyball careers.

In Olympiacos’ hundred-year history, every legendary div is a cornerstone, a flame that burned away the difficulties, that warmed the souls and lit the way for those that followed. In this pantheon of true champions, where Olympiacos becomes trophies, songs and moments of glory, there is a name that is never merely mentioned—a name that will forever be sung from the stands. And that name is Georgios Dragovits.

He never played for show. He played to win. Dragovits was the player you could rely on when the going got tough. Who made his last touch count. Who swung the crucial moment Olympiacos’ way. And yet, no matter how many trophies he won, how many triumphs he was responsible for, he never became arrogant. And he stayed faithful. To the idea of the Club, as well as to the Club itself. When times had changed and there was no longer a space for him on the roster, he never donned a rival’s strip—never played against his beloved Olympiacos. He wasn’t tempted by the offers. He opted for the local AE Nikaia, instead. Preferring to keep his dignity and ideals intact.

In this, Olympiacos centenary year, Dragovits is more than just a part of the celebrations. He’s part of the foundations on which that centenary was built.

Those who saw him play and knew him on and off the court speak of his boundless energy, his intensity, the iron will that burns in his eyes to this day. A captain without an armband, whose presence alone could inspire his team mates to up their game. Many consider him the top Greek player of all time—the “GOAT”. And not just because he won the most trophies; because he had the aura, the strength and the will of a champion. The perfect fit for Olympiacos, he was, is and will always be strength personified. The image of endurance. The embodiment of the word “Legend”.