Kyriakos Ioannou

Kyriakos Ioannou (Greek: Κυριάκος Ιωάννου, born 26 July 1984) is a Cypriot high jumper. He has twice won medals at the World Championships in Athletics (2007 and 2009) and was the bronze medallist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2008. He is the only medalist for Cyprus at the World Athletics Championships since its creation in 1983. He's also the Cypriot record holder, both outdoors (2.35 m) and indoors (2.32 m). Ioannou is a two-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games (2006 and 2014) and took back-to-back gold medals at the Mediterranean Games in 2005 and 2009.

Kyriakos Ioannou
Personal information
Born (1984-07-26) 26 July 1984
Limassol, Cyprus
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
CountryCyprus
Event(s)High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)2.35 m
2.32 m (indoors)
Medal record
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2009 BerlinHigh jump
Bronze medal – third place2007 OsakaHigh jump
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place2008 ValenciaHigh jump
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place2009 TurinHigh jump
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2014 GlasgowHigh jump
Bronze medal – third place2006 MelbourneHigh jump
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place2005 AlmeraHigh jump
Gold medal – first place2009 PescaraHigh jump
Universiade
Silver medal – second place2007 BangkokHigh jump

Career

His personal best jump and Cypriot national record is 2.35 metres, achieved at the 2007 World Championships held in Osaka where he won the bronze medal. He became the first World Championships medalist from Cyprus.[1] Two years later, at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, he won the silver medal (2,32 m), only beaten by Yaroslav Rybakov. He also took the bronze medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships and finished fourth two years later at the same competition in Doha.

His best jump, outdoors in 2010, came at Lausanne on July 8, when he took third place with a jump of 2.30. Ioannou began his outdoor season at the first 2011 IAAF Diamond League meet in Doha and set a joint meeting record of 2.33 m alongside American Jesse Williams, though Williams was declared the winner on countback.[2]

Injured, he didn't come in the qualifying rounds at the World Championships in Daegu where he was one of the favourites for a medal.

In 2012, still injured, he arrived to qualifying to the Olympic final in London where he finished 12th with 2.20 m. The following year, he didn't compete. Back in 2014 at the Commonwealth Games, Ioannou wins the silver medal with a SB of 2.28 m. Derek Drouin of Canada takes gold (2.31 m).

In March 2015, Ioannou makes the final of the European Indoor Athletics Championships but didn't arrived to make any jump due to an injury. In June, he makes the olympic standards by clearing 2.29 m.

In February 2016, for his first competition of the year, the Cypriot equals his own indoor national record made in 2008 (and equaled by Dimitrios Chondrokoukis in 2015) by clearing 2.32 m in Hustopeče on his third try.

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  Cyprus
2001 World Youth Championships Debrecen, Hungary 29th (q) 1.90 m
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 18th (q) 2.12 m
2003 European Junior Championships Tampere, Finland 6th 2.15 m
Military World Games Catania, Italy 3rd 2.15 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 19th (q) 2.25 m
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 18th (q) 2.18 m
Games of the Small States of Europe Andorra la Vella, Andorra 1st 2.18 m
Mediterranean Games Almería, Spain 1st 2.24 m
European U23 Championships Erfurt, Germany 4th 2.27 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 10th 2.25 m
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 3rd 2.23 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 3rd 2.35 m (NR)
Universiade Bangkok, Thailand 2nd 2.26 m
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd 2.30 m
Olympic Games Beijing, China 18th (q) 2.25 m
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 2nd 2.29 m
Games of the Small States of Europe Nicosia, Cyprus 1st 2.25 m
Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy 1st 2.30 m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd 2.32 m
World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7th 2.22 m
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 4th 2.28 m
2012 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 21st (q) 2.15 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 13th 2.20 m
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 2nd 2.28 m
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 7th (q) 2.28 m1
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 10th (q) 2.25 m1
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7th 2.29 m
2019 Games of the Small States of Europe Bar, Montenegro 2nd 2.09 m

1No mark in the final

References

  1. "Cyprus gets its first ever medal winner at worlds". Kathimerini. Agence France-Presse. 30 Aug 2007. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  2. iaaf.org, News, 6 May 2011, "Ten world leads in Doha’s flag-waving opener – Samsung Diamond League"; accessed 7 May 2011.
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