Andreas Doulappas, Cyprus’ only para triathlete: "Judge me by the result, not by the challenge."
An Interview with Andreas Doulappas By Ollimono Magazine | 10th August 2025
When you first see Andreas Doulappas, the disability is visible — a missing right hand, hard not to notice. But the moment you speak to him, or even just glance at the facts of his life, the story shifts. There’s no trace of limitation.
He studied in the UK, earned his accounting qualification, worked for PwC, and now builds a corporate career in Cyprus. He trains twice a day. Travels for races. Sets goals that demand precision and sacrifice. He lives like a man with a plan to keep progressing, to stay steady, to build a family one day. On paper, nothing too extraordinary. But under the surface, there’s a framework of high-performance most people wouldn’t recognize.
“Judge me by the result, not by the challenge.” Andreas doesn’t talk much about the injury that changed his body. Nothing in his daily life screams about it. He doesn’t use it to define himself. He doesn’t center it in his story. What stands out is the balance between ambition and routine, effort and simplicity, progress and recovery.
In this article, we try to lift the veil on Andreas’ ordinary-extraordinary story and ask what high-performance really looks like through his eyes.
“It’s not about the accident. It’s about what comes next.”
Most people who hear Andreas’ story start from the same place: the grenade accident. At 18, he chose to serve in the Navy Special Forces — a tougher, more advanced path than the standard compulsory service in Cyprus. The explosion happened during training, tearing through his right side, costing him his dominant hand and damaging internal organs.
But the accident isn’t the story. It’s the backdrop. The story is what Andreas did next.
“Every week after the injury was a different challenge,” he says. “At first it was about survival. Then walking. Then running. Then doing a relay race with some old teammates. Then… chasing more.”
Chasing more meant entering triathlon, a sport that demands three disciplines: swimming, cycling, and running. For someone with one hand, every element changes: transitions, balance, swim technique, gear shifts, stability on a bike at speed.
What most people don’t realize, he says, is that a visible disability isn’t the full story. Losing his hand affected everything, from walking posture and body alignment to digestion. His core muscles had to adapt to keep him upright. Even his digestive system was altered after surgery. Scar tissue in his intestines now affects how he eats, how long he can go without food, and how much his body can handle. Nothing functions like it once did.
Still, Andreas doesn’t dwell on limitations. Instead, he talks about upgrading his Cervélo. About optimizing power transfer. About chasing marginal gains.
Andreas is the only para triathlon athlete in Cyprus, which means that he trains and competes with able-bodied athletes all the time. “I don’t have para-competitions locally, so every race I do here is in the open division. It pushes me to perform better. When you race against people who don’t have limitations, you’re forced to keep up. There’s no excuse. You either perform or you don’t.”
A testament to that is his 4th place finish (30 seconds off the podium) at the 2024 Cyprus Triathlon National Championships in the Elite Men’s division.
“Sprint is my discipline. One hour in the red zone.”
Andreas doesn’t race to endure. He races to perform. His chosen format is the sprint triathlon: 750 meters of swimming, 20 kilometers of cycling, and 5 kilometers of running. It’s a short, intense format where every second matters.
“Ironman is popular right now. And if I wanted to do one, I could. But I’m not interested in just completing something to say I did it. I prefer sprint — it’s more intense, more technical, and it forces you to be sharp from start to finish.”
“People think longer races are harder. But sprint is about operating near your limit the whole time. It’s like running a red line lap. There’s no coasting.”
And his passion for sprint triathlon discipline shows. He is the only para triathlon athlete to represent Cyprus in the World Triathlon Para Triathlon ranking – currently claiming the 20th place in the world, and the podium 3rd place in 2023 on the World Triathlon Para Cup Abu Dhabi.
“I’m goal-oriented. But I take life less seriously now.”
There is one goal that stands out: qualifying for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. He narrowly missed the 2024 qualification, finishing just outside the top tier.
“I pushed really hard for Paris. And when I didn’t make it, I burned out. I needed a reset. So this year, I’m rebuilding. Next year, we go again!”
Andreas’ struggle with the Paralympic qualification isn’t that simple… “For us, qualification isn’t a single race, it’s points accumulated over a season. They take your top three races in one year. That means you have to show up to multiple races and perform consistently”. The more races you can show up to the higher your chances are to improve your top ranking. Meanwhile, Andreas Doulappas isn’t a full time athlete. He has a successful career, which financially supports his athletic journey, and Andreas is open about his struggle with recovery.
Rest is the real struggle. But it’s not something that will stop Andreas in the 2028 qualification.
“Systems beat motivation. Every time.”
“Most people overestimate motivation. You don’t need to feel inspired to train. You need a system that runs even when you’re tired.”
Andreas trains twice a day, six days a week. He works full-time in a demanding role. He manages his time and energy with careful planning. Some support comes from the Cyprus Triathlon Federation and the #TowardsLA initiative by Pavlos Kontides, which helps athletes get close to the Paralympic qualification.
When we’ve asked Andreas, what’s one task in his routine, that he’d be happy to outsource, if he had a chance, he didn’t hesitate:
“A private chef. Meal prepping takes time. If someone could just make tasty, high-protein food for me, I’d be very happy.”
“Recovery is the hardest part.”
“Training I can fit into the schedule. But recovery… that’s the hard part. You finish work, train again, and your body never really catches up.”
He aims for eight hours of sleep, limits caffeine, and tries to reduce stress. But between work demands and daily effort, recovery often takes the biggest hit.
“People forget that recovery is part of performance. Without it, you’re just building fatigue.”
High-performance living is about “training smart, not hard all the time. And recovering even harder than you train. Most people think it’s about pushing every day, but it’s really about consistency, knowing when to go easy, and being able to keep going without burning out.”
“The goal is to stay in the game long enough to improve. That’s it. Most people burn out before they get good.”
He monitors metrics. Plans around meetings. Avoids overtraining. He knows when to hold back, and when to go all in.
There are no dramatic rituals. Andreas’ routine is quite simple. He wakes up around 6:00 a.m., heats up the muffins he meal-prepped the night before, and watches a YouTube video on military aircraft engineering while the coffee brews. Then, he trains. For an hour. Sometimes two. After that, it’s off to work — a day filled with strategic tax consulting and business development planning. Then, another training session.
High-performance isn’t about constant hustle. It’s about building a system that can sustain growth over time.
“Don’t make my hand the headline.”
“My disability is part of me, but it’s not my identity. I don’t want to be judged by the challenges I faced. I want to be judged by the results I deliver.”
Andreas Doulappas doesn’t chase attention. But if you’re looking for someone to support, to follow, to believe in — he’s worth the energy.
He has the story. He has the drive. He has the structure and the mindset to go far. Not just because of what happened to him, but because of what he continues to build.
Whether or not he qualifies for LA 2028, one thing is certain. He’ll keep showing up.
And that, in itself, is a kind of excellence.