Alexandros Nikolaidis

Alexandros Nikolaidis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Νικολαϊδης, 17 October 1979 – 14 October 2022) was a Greek taekwondo athlete. He was named the 2008 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. Initially the home favorite, he won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics held in Athens after losing to Moon Dae-Sung of South Korea in the gold medal match.[1]

For the Greek basketball player, see Alexandros Nikolaidis (basketball).
Alexandros Nikolaidis
Medal record
Men's Taekwondo
Representing  Greece
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2004 Athens+80 kg
Silver medal – second place2008 Beijing+80 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Barcelona Welterweight
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Zagreb Welterweight
Gold medal – first place 1997 Patra Welterweight
Gold medal – first place 2008 Rome Heavyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Saint Petersburg Heavyweight
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place2013 MersinHeavyweight

On 24 March 2008, Alexandros Nikolaidis had the honour to be the first torch-bearer of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay.[2]

Later in the same year on 11 April, he won the European Championship in Rome.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nikolaidis won another Olympic silver medal in the +80 kg category, after losing to Cha Dong-Min of South Korea in the final.

In July 2011, he managed to secure a place at the 2012 Olympic Games by placing third in the 2011 World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan by defeating Liu Xiaobo of China in the 3rd place play-off. He carried the flag for Greece during the Parade of Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

On 11 August 2012, Nikolaidis began and ended his Olympics participation in a "preliminary round" bout against Bahri Tanrikulu. Nikolaidis lost 7–3 overall.

Nikolaidis retired in 2014. He died on 14 October 2022, at the age of 42. Nikolaidis had been suffering from an "extremely rare" form of cancer for two years prior to his death.[3]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alexandros Nikolaidis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
  2. Olympic Flame begins relay in Greece Archived 27 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine at the Official Website of the Torch Relay
  3. "The Olympic medallist Alexandros Nikolaidis died of cancer". Greek City Times. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.


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