Alexandros Nikolaidis

Alexandros Nikolaidis

Personal information

Nationality:

Greece

Society:

Megas Alexandros

Birthday:

17th October 1979

Place of birth:

Thessaloniki

Size:

201 cm

Medals

Olympic games
silver	Athens 2004	over 80 kg
silver	Beijing 2008	over 80 kg
European championships
gold	Rome 2008	over 84 kg
bronze	St. Petersburg 2010	over 87 kg

Alexandros Nikolaidis ( Greek Αλέξανδρος Νικολαϊδης , born October 17, 1979 in Thessaloniki ) is a Greek Taekwondoin , who starts in the heavyweight division.

Nikolaidis celebrated his first successes in the junior division, he became junior European champion in Zagreb in 1996 and a little later junior world champion in Barcelona . In the following years he also made a breakthrough in the adult sector. Nikolaidis was able to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , where he reached the quarter-finals and finished ninth. He made his first World Cup participation at the 2003 World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , where he reached the round of 16. Nikolaidis achieved his greatest sporting success up to then at his second Olympic Games in Athens . He was only defeated in the final by Moon Dae-sung and won the silver medal.

In 2007 Nikolaidis reached the quarter-finals at the World Cup in Beijing , where he was eliminated by Daba Modibo Keïta , but scored his best World Cup result. In the same place he played his third Olympic Games the following year . He moved into the final again and after a final defeat against Cha Dong-min, finally repeated winning the Olympic silver medal. Also in 2008 Nikolaidis won his first international gold medal at the European Championships in Rome by winning the heavyweight title. At the following European Championships in Saint Petersburg , he won another medal with bronze. In 2011 Nikolaidis qualified at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Baku for his fourth Olympic Games in London . He would be the first and only Taekwondo din who has been able to take part in all competitions since Taekwondo was included in the Olympic program.

At the torch relay for the 2008 Olympic Games, Nikolaidis was given the honor of first torchbearer after the flame was lit in Olympia .

Web links

Alexandros Nikolaidis in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
Alexandros Nikolaidis on the pages of TaekwondoData .com

Individual evidence

↑ Olympic Flame begins relay in Greece. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 27, 2008 ; accessed on May 31, 2012 (English).

personal data
SURNAME	Nikolaidis, Alexandros
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Νικολαϊδης, Αλέξανδρος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek Taekwondoin
DATE OF BIRTH	17th October 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Thessaloniki

[1] Olympic Flame begins relay in Greece. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 27, 2008 ; accessed on May 31, 2012 (English).