Vizantinos Athlitikos Omilos ("Byzantine Athletic Club") or VAO is a multi-sport club in the city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. It was founded in 1926. The current seat of the club is the suburb of Thessaloniki

Sykies Sykies ( el, Συκιές) or Sykeai (Συκεαί) is a suburb of the Thessaloniki Urban Area and was a former municipality in the regional unit of Thessaloniki, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Neap ...

. Nowadays it maintains departments of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

, and others. Its colours are

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and its emblem is a double-headed eagle.

History

VAO was founded in 1926. The club took part in the first Greek Basketball Championship in 1928. VAO achieved to play in the final but it defeated by Iraklis. The last presence of VAO in the highest level of Greek basketball was the season 1996-97. The club finished in the last place having only three wins. Nevertheless, the club had in its roster the famous NBA player

Jeff Malone Jeffrey Nigel Malone (born June 28, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Mississippi State, and is mostly known for his time with the Washington Bullets (1983–1990) of the National Basket ...

, and it achieved to win

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...

which had won the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

that season. VAO had also successful handball team. The team won two Greek cups, in 1983 and 1984. In 2009 the club suspended its operation and merged with Iraklis.

Honours

;Basketball team * Greek Basketball Championship **''Finalist (1)'': 1928 ;Handball team * Greek Handball Cup **Winner (2): 1983, 1984

References

External links

official sitewrestling department
Association football clubs established in 1926 1926 establishments in Greece Multi-sport clubs in Thessaloniki {{Greece-sport-stub