The two ETU officials met with Pavlopoulos, who has been in office since 2015, at the Presidential Mansion in the Greek capital.

The gold medallion is the ETU's highest honour.

Pavlopoulos received the award for his "ethos, his social awareness, and his multifarious work", the ETU said.

During the meeting, Pragalos and Fysentzidis, the President of the International Olympic Academy, discussed the state of taekwondo in Europe and gave the Greek President information on the organisation's current activities across the continent.

It was also agreed that the World Taekwondo Beach Poomsae Championships, scheduled to take place on Greek island Rhodes from May 5 to 6, would be held under the patronage of Pavlopoulos.

The event will be preceded by the 13th edition of the ETU Poomsae Championships on May 2 and 3.

The first-ever WTF World Beach Championships were scheduled to take place in Bali in July but were cancelled a month prior due to financial problems affecting the Organising Committee.

The Beach Championships, consisting only of poomsae demonstration-style events, had been billed as an innovative way to boost the profile of the sport.

In a statement, the ETU said the President of Greece had agreed to "defend and support" the activities of the ETU at national and international level.

"The President of the Hellenic Republic, during his meeting with the ETU leadership and as a principal supporter of the sport of taekwondo, requested an extensive update by the ETU headship and reassured ETU President Sakis Pragalos and ETU secretary general Michail Fysentzidis, that henceforth his stand will be to defend and support the activities of the sport in both national and international level," the ETU said.