Ioannis Melissanidis

Ioannis Melissanidis
Personal information
Nationality:	Greece
discipline	Apparatus gymnastics
Birthday:	March 27, 1977
Place of birth:	Dachau
Medals
Olympic games gold 1996 Atlanta ground  World championships silver 1994 Brisbane ground  European championships gold 1998 Saint Petersburg Leap silver 1998 Saint Petersburg ground Junior European Championships bronze 1991 Athens ground gold 1993 Geneva ground bronze 1993 Geneva Leap gold 1994 Prague ground

Ioannis Melissanidis (Greek Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης, born March 27, 1977 in Dachau near Munich ) is a Greek gymnast and actor , also an officer in the Greek Air Force. His greatest sporting success was the 1996 Olympic victory in floor exercise as the youngest artistic gymnast to ever win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. For Greece it was also the first medal in this discipline in 100 years. In 1993 and 1994 Melissanidis became Junior European Champion on the ground , 1998 European Champion in jumping . In 1994 he won the vice world championship on the floor and was the first Greek gymnast ever to win a medal at a world championship. Two jumps in the Code de Pointage of the international gymnastics federation FIG ( Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique ) officially bear his name.

Childhood and early years

Melissanidis was born to Greek parents in Dachau near Munich. He has two older siblings. When he was two years old, the family returned to Thessaloniki ( Greece back). There he discovered his passion for gymnastics and joined the local sports club Spartakos at the age of eight . However, he only received his parents' approval after a two-day hunger strike. At the same time he started taking ballet lessons .

His trainer Athanassios Kapnidis, who was to shape Melissanidis' career in the following years, quickly recognized his exceptional talent and prepared him for competitions right from the start. After a year and a half, Melissanidis won all seven gold medals at his first Greek junior championship in artistic gymnastics in Athens in 1987 . He was able to repeat this success at the Greek Championships in the following years in all ages.

International career

Melissanidis also quickly made sports history internationally. It became clear early on that he would put a very special stamp on artistic gymnastics by merging technical perfection and artistic expression into one unit. By Bruno Grandi , president of FIG and member of the IOC ( International Olympic Committee ), once said that Melissanidis have his sport breathed art. He was never satisfied with the technically demanding execution of his exercises, which were often characterized by a high degree of difficulty, but always attached great importance to their artistic implementation. Melissanidis' closeness to classical ballet was soon highlighted, and even a parallel to the dancer of the century Rudolf Nureyev was drawn.

After Melissanidis became a member of the Greek national team at the age of twelve, he already impressed with his performance at his first international competition in Moscow in 1989 ( Moscow News ) and was the youngest participant to be awarded a prize. A year later he took part in the Balkan Championship in Rijeka , where he won silver medals in jumping and on the ground and reached the finals on parallel bars . With his team he came in 3rd place. At the following Balkan Championship in Istanbul in 1991 , he again achieved the same placement with the team, while he again received the silver medals in the jump and on the ground.

Melissanidis was also successful at the European Junior Championships in Athens in 1991. So he reached the final in the jump, but on the ground he won the bronze medal. It was the first time that a Greek athlete succeeded in winning a medal in this discipline at a European championship. Just two years later, Melissanidis was able to increase its success again and became the first Greek junior European champion on the ground in Geneva in 1993 . He also won the bronze medal in jumping.

Also in 1993 he took part in a men's world championship for the first time, although he himself still belonged to the junior age group . The competition was held in Birmingham , and although it did not win a medal, it was here at the latest that a wider public became aware that Melissanidis brought a special, unmistakable style to artistic gymnastics.

At the Balkan Championship of the same year in Ploieşti he won on the ground and reached the final on the floor and on the horizontal bar at the Mediterranean Championship in Montpellier, and he received the bronze medal in the jump.

1994 Melissanidis joined the World Cup in Australia Brisbane and the silver medal was now secure on the ground again, he convinced with his very own, personal design, and legendary for the artistic gymnastics Nadia Comăneci expressly emphasized the exceptional nature of his athletic and artistic performance. For the Greek competitive sport, Melissanidis achieved another sensation with his success in Brisbane, because never before had a Greek artistic gymnast been able to win a medal at a world championship.

The silver medal in Brisbane wasn't the only success Melissanidis had in 1994. He also won the gold medal on the ground and the silver medal in the jump at an international tournament in Saint Petersburg . His participation in the European Junior Championship in Prague caused a particular sensation . Despite a serious knee injury, he fought for the gold medal on the floor, so that he could leave it to the parents of his friend, Turkish gymnast Murat Canbaş . Canbaş himself was considered one of the favorites for the medal, but died in a car accident shortly before the competition. Melissanidi's gesture earned him great respect in Turkey . He was awarded the Abdi İpekçi Prize for Peace and Friendship , and the then Mayor of Istanbul and later Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented him with his city's gold medal . The Turkish Olympic Committee awarded him a fair play award, and the Association of Turkish Sports Journalists also honored him.

In 1995 Melissanidis competed in the Gymnastics World Cup in Stuttgart and won the silver medal on the floor. At the world championship of the same year in Sabae , Japan , he managed to qualify for the Olympic Games of the following year and thus come a decisive step closer to a childhood dream.

In fact, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta brought him to the triumphant climax of his career. With a score of 9.85 points, Melissanidis was able to assert itself against its competitors and won the gold medal on the ground. He was not only the youngest male gymnast to ever win a gold medal, but also the first Greek gymnastics medalist in 100 years. He received his medal from the hand of the former Greek king and honorary member of the IOC Constantine II . In his native Greece, Melissanidis became a national hero with his victory. The response in the international press was unusually high, and Nadia Comǎneci expressed her respect by asking Melissanidis for an autograph. At the request of then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch , he gave the Olympic Museum in Lausanne a T-shirt that he had worn at the Atlanta Games. It found its place there next to the personal belongings of other selected Olympic champions, such as B. Carl Lewis , Michael Johnson or Katarina Witt .

In 1996 Melissanidis finally took up medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , but continued to pursue his athletic career. In 1998 he took part in the European Championships in Saint Petersburg and became the first Greek ever to win the gold medal in such a competition. Melissanidis' jump was included in the FIG Code de Pointage due to its peculiarity and today officially bears his name as Melissanidis I. With the additional win of the silver medal on the ground, he also managed to bring two medals to Greece for the first time at the same European championship.

Also in 1998 Melissanidis took part in an international tournament in Helsinki ( Gym Show ) and received gold medals there both on the ground and in the jump. Earlier in the year he had at the 22nd Tournament of Champions , the Grand Prix of Cottbus , is at the bottom of the second space.

For the next three years, Melissanidis worked with Christos Kassiolas as a trainer. This also prepared him for the World Cup , which took place in 1999 in Tianjin , China . There Melissanidis reached the finals on the ground as well as in the jump and in the all- around. The latter was again a premiere, because for the first time a Greek athlete made it into the final of a world championship in an all-around competition. At the Euromasters , which also took place in Patras in 1999 , Melissanidis achieved the best placement on the ground and in the jump, with the team he received the bronze medal.

In 2000 the Olympic Games were held in Sydney . Although he had to struggle with a serious back and foot injury, Melissanidis was the first Greek to reach the final in the jump at these games. That year he was the only artistic gymnast to be the youngest of 44 candidates nominated for the IOC's 15-person athletes' commission.

The following year he took part in the 2001 World Cup in Ghent . There he shone again with his own jump, which was also included in the Code de Pointage by the international gymnastics federation FIG as Melissanidis II . At the 2003 World Cup in Thessaloniki, Melissanidis won the bronze medal in the vault, again under the supervision of his former trainer Athanassios Kapnidis, even though he started with two broken ribs.

In the same year 2003 Melissanidis decided to suspend participation in international competitions in order to devote more time to his acting projects. However, he remained a member of the Greek national team and also continued his training uninterruptedly. In 2004, when the Olympic Games of Athens took place Melissanidis was the penultimate runner in the stadium Olympic torch was wearing. On the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , he gave lectures at various universities in the country at the invitation of the Chinese Olympic Committee. In 2011 Melissanidis entered the international competition scene again and was able to take 5th place in the jump at the Mikhail Voronin Cup in Moscow. In 2012 he finished third in the same discipline at the Men's Israel Open Championship in Tel Aviv .

Acting career

In addition to his passion for sport, Melissanidis had developed a keen interest in literature and the visual and performing arts early on . This finally led him on the way to acting .

As early as 1997, when Thessaloniki was European Capital of Culture , Melissanidis took part in the program of events there by taking part in a reading of texts by the Greek poet Konstantinos Kavafis staged by Pantelis Voulgaris .

In the same year 1997 he also made it clear that his long-standing occupation with ballet should not only influence his style in artistic gymnastics, but also achieve independent expression. At the European Cultural Festival in Delphi , he and a dance group brought the myth of the ancient hero Ikaros to the stage in memory of Angelos Sikelianos . Melissanidis danced the role of Ikaros himself in his own choreography . In 1998 he delighted the audience at a competition in Helsinki when - after winning two gold medals - he danced Alexis Sorbas in his own choreography to the music of Mikis Theodorakis . Melissanidis had already performed this dance the year before on the occasion of an award ceremony by the Cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis in Nicosia , and he repeated it at a gala event on the occasion of the 1998 Paris-Bercy World Cup . In 1997 and 1999, Melissanidis took the opportunity to take lessons at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater .

When he decided to start studying drama school in 2004, the Greek actress Irini Pappa Melissanidis was preparing for the necessary auditions. With a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation and the school itself, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in Los Angeles in 2005 and 2006, and in 2006 and 2007 with an AADA scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA ) in London . He was involved in productions of both institutions, for example he played Romeo in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet at RADA . He played the same role at the Manhattan Arts Center (MAC) in New York in 2009/10 . Melissanidis had already worked in the short film " Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula ", directed by Francesco Vezzoli and produced by Quentin Tarantino , for which the producer and director also managed to win actors such as Helen Mirren , Milla Jovovich and Benicio del Toro . In the film at the 51st Biennale of Venice has been presented, is an adaptation to the 1979 after a book by Gore Vidal turned film Caligula .

During the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Melissanidis performed a solo piece in the House of Hellenes . Inspired by Samuel Beckett , he interpreted the fate of the mythical King Sisyphus there under the auspices of the Greek Olympic Committee .

Political commitment

In addition to his sporting and artistic activities, Melissanidis always showed a great interest in political issues. This was first expressed publicly when he gave a live interview to CNN in 1996 after winning the Olympic gold medal . Without having been asked about it, he nevertheless took an emphatic stand for Greece's position in its name dispute with the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia . For the CNN journalist, Melissanidis' firm statement came as a surprise, as her opposite stance on this issue was well known. The following year, Melissanidis led the Greek National Day parade on 5th Avenue in New York on March 25, 1997 as Master of Ceremony together with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani . In 1998, the 50th anniversary of the 1948 Hague European Congress was celebrated in The Hague . At the invitation of Mário Soares , Melissanidis officially represented Greece at the corresponding celebrations.

Melissanidis also stood up for his native Greece in the field of cultural policy. For example, he actively joined the call of the Melina Mercouri Foundation, founded by Jules Dassin , for the Parthenon sculptures, which are now in the British Museum in London, to be returned to Athens. The Greek actress and politician Melina Mercouri once made such a return a central theme of her politics.

Melissanidis was also always ready to work for social and humanitarian goals. In 1996, as a representative of Greece, he took part in a marathon for the Ronald McDonald House in New York and visited children who had cancer and were cared for there. During the war in Yugoslavia, Melissanidis traveled to Kosovo as part of a human chain to protect an important bridge from the threat of bombing. Since 1995 he has supported the environmental protection organization Greenpeace , of which he is a member.

A particular concern for Melissanidis has always been the idea of ​​the Olympic Peace . As early as 1996 he had the opportunity to speak on this subject at the United Nations ( UN ) headquarters in New York. In 2003 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan invited him, together with Nadia Comăneci and Michael Jordan, to the International Olympic Truce Foundation ( Foundation for Olympic Peace ) as spokesperson . In this context, Melissanidis met politicians like Bill Clinton and Ban Ki-moon . The Spanish Queen Sophia received him in Madrid .

Other activities

Melissanidis has acted as a moderator several times. When the 13th World Gymnasiad of the International School Sports Federation (ISF) was held in Athens and Thessaloniki in 2006 , he hosted the official opening event broadcast by the TV station ET 1 . On the occasion of the Olympic Games in London in 2012, the TV broadcaster Eurosport was able to win him over as a co-host for the artistic gymnastics competitions.

Melissanidis also stood in front of the camera as a photo model, for example for the Greek fashion designer Nikos ( Nikos Apostolopoulos ). He has been designing his competition jerseys since 2000. In 2004 Melissanidis had Giorgio Armani photograph her for a book project . The publication, which Armani published in support of the Special Olympics in 2004 and 2008, also brings together photos by other outstanding athletes such as those of David Beckham , Ronaldo , Luís Figo and Boris Becker .

honors and awards

Melissanidis has received numerous honors and prizes, of which only a selection is mentioned here. In the Greek capital Athens a square and a street bear his name, in the northern Greek capital Petritsi a street and the local sports hall. The hall in which the members of the Greek national gymnastics team train in Thessaloniki is also named after him.

He received medals of honor from the Greek President as well as from the Prime Minister and Parliament, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the Metropolitan of America awarded him corresponding prizes . He was honored with the gold medals of the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as that of the Mexican Cancun . The City Council of New York awarded Melissanidis the city's golden apple , and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani presented him with an honorary award. He received the Abdi İpekçi Prize for Peace and Friendship and the Golden Medal of the City of Istanbul. The Turkish government also honored him with an award. The Greek sports journalists voted him 1996 Sportsman of the Year.

In the Cypriot capital Nicosia, a sports club bears his name ( "Melissanides Club" ), and an international gymnastics competition is named after him there ( "Melissanides Cup" ). A postage stamp and a phone card with his picture have appeared in Greece.

The Greek magazine Status listed Melissanidis among the 100 most important Greeks of the 20th century.

Web links

• Old profile of Ioannis Melissanidis ( memento from June 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
• Ioannis Melissanidis in the database of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
• Melissanidis' official entry on the homepage of the Association of Greek Olympic Winners ( Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Ολυμπιονικών / Association of Hellenic Olympic Winners ) (English)
• "Είμαι σαν τον Ίκαρο." (German: "I am like Ikaros." ) Interview with the newspaper Το Βήμα ( To Vima ) (Greek)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Mavis Manus: Ioannis Melissanidis: Hard work makes dreams come true. In: Odyssey , September / October 2005, p. 28.
2. ↑ Εικόνες (supplement to the daily newspaper Το Έθνος ), August 17, 2002, p. 38 (interview).
3. ^ ^{A b} Peter Schäfermeier: An Olympic champion, born in Dachau. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 8, 1997, p. 3 (Dachau edition).
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Άρης Βασιλειάδης: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Τώρα θέλει το μετάλλιο της υποκριτικής. In: Ταχυδρόμος 336 , August 5, 2006, p. 32.
5. ↑ For example, from sports journalist Barney Spender . Journalist's website. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
6. ↑ Results of the Junior European Championship 1991 . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
7. ↑ Results of the European Junior Championship 1993 . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Dwight Normile: Carrying the Torch. In: International GYMNAST , June / July 1996, p. 56.
9. ↑ Results of the 1994 World Cup . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
10. ↑ Αντώνης Α. Αντωνόπουλος: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Ο Πρόδρομος της Γυμναστικής. In: Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Ολυμπιονικών (ed.), Ολυμπιονίκης 2 , August 1999, pp. 13-14.
11. ↑ Results of the European Junior Championships 1994 . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Karen Gray: Greek Athlete Makes Centennial History / Un gymnaste grec entre dans l'histoire des Jeux. In: Daily Olympian , Aug 2, 1996, p. 2; Valerio Piccioni: Ioannis, per l'amico e per la Grecia. In: La Gazzetta dello Sport , July 31, 1996, p. 15.
13. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. In: Status 142 , January 2000, p. 322.
14. ↑ Celal Demirbilek: İoannis'e Türk çeyizi. In: Spor , September 5, 1994, p. 1; Celal Demirbilek: Karamanlis ile Erdoğan'ın dostluğu çok iyi sonuçlar doğuracak . In: Hürriyet , July 17, 2004, p. 3. Retrieved January 21, 2013; Ioannis Melissanidis . Entry from December 18, 2012 on the homepage of Atilla Örsel, former President of the Turkish Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
15. ↑ Luciano Montanari: L'arte, la mia vita. In: Il Giannista , July 1997, p. 28; Αντώνης Α. Αντωνόπουλος: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Ο Πρόδρομος της Γυμναστικής. In: Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Ολυμπιονικών (ed.), Ολυμπιονίκης 2 , August 1999, p. 13; Εικώνες (supplement to the daily newspaper Το Έθνος ), August 17, 2002, p. 43 (interview).
16. ↑ Results in floor exercise at the 1996 Olympic Games . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
17. ^ Christopher Clarey: A Full Circle to Gymnastic Glory. In: International Herald Tribune , July 30, 1996, p. 1; Christopher Clarey: ATLANTA DAY 10 - GYMNASTICS; Golden Night for Melissanidis and Greece . In: The New York Times , July 29, 1996. Retrieved January 21, 2013; Mike Penner: Gymnastics Returns to Olympic Roots With Melissanidis . In: Los Angeles Times , July 29, 1996. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
18. ^ Michael Dobie: Flooring the Field. In: Newsday , July 29, 1996; Diane Purcin, July 29, 1996 . Collections of articles from The Inquirer and Daily News . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
19. ↑ ^{a b c} Profile of Ioannis Melissanidis ( Memento from June 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
20. ↑ Μανώλης Μαυρομμάτης: Η Φανέλα του στο Μουσείο. In: Ομάδα , November 8, 1996, p. 10.
21. ↑ ^{a b} 23rd European Championships ( Memento from November 4, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
22. ↑ Άρης Βασιλειάδης: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Τώρα θέλει το μετάλλιο της υποκριτικής. In: Ταχυδρόμος 336 , August 5, 2006, p. 34; Melissanidis I ( Memento from November 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Gymnastics Zone website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
23. ↑ Results of the European Championship 1998 . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Μελισσανίδης: Δύο μετάλλια στο Ελσίνκι. In: Τα Νέα , November 13, 1998.
25. ↑ 22nd Tournament of Masters - World Cup Cottbus . GYMmedia website . Accessed January 21, 2013; Results of the Cottbus Grand Prix 1998 . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
26. ↑ Results of the 1999 World Cup . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
27. ↑ Results of the 1999 World Cup . GYMN forum website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
28. ↑ Ioannis Melissanidis - portrait . Website of the Association of Greek Olympic Champions. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
29. ↑ Results of the 2000 Olympic Games . GYMN forum website . Accessed January 21, 2013; Melissanidis injured ( Memento from January 10, 2001 in the Internet Archive ). Article dated September 3, 2000 in the archives of International GYMNAST Magazine. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
30. ↑ Τιμή για τον Μελισσανίδη. In: Τα Νέα , March 17, 2000; Αθάνατος… ο Μελισσανίδης. In: Καθημερινή , March 22, 2000.
31. ^ Melissanidis II ( Memento from October 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Gymnastics Zone website . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
32. ↑ Luciano Montanari: L'arte, la mia vita. In: Il Ginnasta , July 1997, p. 29.
33. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Mavis Manus: Ioannis Melissanidis: Hard work makes dreams come true. In: Odyssey , September / October 2005, p. 29.
34. ↑ Άρης Βασιλειάδης: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Τώρα θέλει το μετάλλιο της υποκριτικής. In: Ταχυδρόμος 336 , August 5, 2006, p. 31.
35. ↑ ^{a b} Άρης Βασιλειάδης: Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης. Τώρα θέλει το μετάλλιο της υποκριτικής. In: Ταχυδρόμος 336 , August 5, 2006, p. 35.
36. ^ Sisyphus by Ioannis Melissanidis . Website of the Greek House . Accessed January 21, 2013; Sisyphus by Melissanidis . Facebook page with photos of the performance. Accessed January 21, 2013; Γιώργος Δ. Κ. Σαρηγιάννης: Το τέταρτο κουδούνι ( Memento from August 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Τα Νέα , August 23, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2013; Tony Bonnici: London 2012: Olympic house parties attract thousands . In: The Independent , July 30, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
37. ^ Melissanidis on New Mission ( Memento of March 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ). Article dated October 15, 2003 in the archives of International GYMNAST Magazine . Retrieved January 21, 2013.
38. ↑ Ο Μελισσανίδης στον φιλανθρώπικο "Μαραθώνιο." In: Πρωινή , 12./13. October 1996, p. 1.
39. ↑ Celal Demirbilek: Karamanlis ile Erdoğan'ın dostluğu çok iyi sonuçlar doğuracak . In: Hürriyet , July 17, 2004, p. 3. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
40. ↑ Gymnastics flying high in London . Article on journalist Barney Spender's website. Accessed January 21, 2013; Commentating the Olympics . Barney Spender's entry on the Bulletin Board of the Old Pangbournian Society website (August 28, 2012). Retrieved January 21, 2013.
41. ^ Giorgio Armani (ed.), Faces of Sport. Skira, Milan 2004, ISBN 88-8491-871-5 .