- Konstantinos Kenteris
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Konstandinos Kenteris Personal information Nationality Greece Born July 11, 1973
Mytilene, GreeceSport Sport Running Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100m: 10.15
400m: 45.60
200m: 19.85Medal recordCompetitor for Greece Men’s Athletics Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney 200 m World Championships Gold 2001 Edmonton 200 m European Championships Gold 2002 Munich 200 m Mediterranean Games Gold 1993 Narbonne 400 m Konstandinos Kenderis, also spelled as Konstadinos Kederis (in Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κεντέρης; born July 11, 1973) is a former Greek athlete. He won gold medals in the 200 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics - he withdrew from the 2004 Summer Olympics held in his home country after a doping violation (failed to attend drug-test).
Contents
Career
Born in Mytilene, Kenteris, a student of physical education, started practising athletics at age 10, and started running seriously about ten years later, when he moved to Thessaloniki. Kenteris specialised in the 200 m and 400 m races.
It was not until 1999 that Kenteris took part in his first major international tournaments; while he was eliminated in the 400m heats of the indoor world championships he returned that summer as a 200m runner at the outdoor World Championships. Kenteris won his heat # 5, defeating then 100m world record holder Maurice Greene, but did not start the quarter-finals due to injury. As a result, few people had heard of Kenteris when he surprised by qualifying for the 200 m final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Although defending Olympic champion Michael Johnson and reigning World Champion Greene didn't compete, nobody had included Kenteris in his list of medal favourites, despite his being the fastest European at 200m that summer with a 20.25 seconds from June. But Kenteris raced to the gold medal, denying Britain's Darren Campbell and Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago. In doing so, Kenteris became the first White male to win a 200 meter sprinting medal at the Olympics since Pietro Mennea achieved the feat by winning gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
He also won the 200 m title at the 2001 World Championships, after a season where he mostly stayed out of international competition. The following year, Kenteris completed his trilogy by also winning the European title in Munich in 19.85, his personal best.
For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Kenteris was one of the hopes of the home crowd for winning a gold medal in athletics, and favourite to light the Olympic flame. However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou failed to attend a drug test. While they claimed to have been injured in a motorcycle accident - in a frantic attempt to return to the Olympic village for the test upon hearing the news in the media - an official Greek investigation would later find that the alleged accident had been staged. In the ensuing doping scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18 after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC, for what they described to be "in the interests of the country."
Personal bests
Date Event Venue Time June 23, 2001 100 m Bremen, Germany 10.15 August 9, 2002 200 m Munich, Germany 19.85 July 27, 1998 400 m Thessaloniki, Greece 45.60 Achievements
Year Tournament Venue Result Event 1992 IAAF World Junior Championships Seoul, Korea 6th 200 m 2000 2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 1st 200 m 2001 IAAF World Championships Edmonton, Alberta 1st 200 m 2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 1st 200 m 2003 SPAR European Cup Florence, Italy 1st 200 m 2004 Greece National Championships Greece 1st 100 m See also
- List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
- IAAF profile for Konstantinos Kenteris
- Sports Reference
- Official Website
- IOC decision regarding the cases of Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekatarina Thanou Press release, August 18, 2004
Sporting positions Preceded by
Joshua J. JohnsonMen's 200 m Best Year Performance
alongside Shawn Crawford
2002Succeeded by
Bernard WilliamsOlympic Champions in Men's 200 m - 1900: Walter Tewksbury (USA)
- 1904: Archie Hahn (USA)
- 1908: Robert Kerr (CAN)
- 1912: Ralph Craig (USA)
- 1920: Allen Woodring (USA)
- 1924: Jackson Scholz (USA)
- 1928: Percy Williams (CAN)
- 1932: Eddie Tolan (USA)
- 1936: Jesse Owens (USA)
- 1948: Mel Patton (USA)
- 1952: Andy Stanfield (USA)
- 1956: Bobby Morrow (USA)
- 1960: Livio Berruti (ITA)
- 1964: Henry Carr (USA)
- 1968: Tommie Smith (USA)
- 1972: Valeriy Borzov (URS)
- 1976: Don Quarrie (JAM)
- 1980: Pietro Mennea (ITA)
- 1984: Carl Lewis (USA)
- 1988: Joe DeLoach (USA)
- 1992: Michael Marsh (USA)
- 1996: Michael Johnson (USA)
- 2000: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE)
- 2004: Shawn Crawford (USA)
- 2008: Usain Bolt (JAM)
World Champions in Men's 200 m 1983: Calvin Smith (USA) • 1987: Calvin Smith (USA) • 1991: Michael Johnson (USA) • 1993: Frankie Fredericks (NAM) • 1995: Michael Johnson (USA) • 1997: Ato Boldon (TRI) • 1999: Maurice Greene (USA) • 2001: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) • 2003: John Capel (USA) • 2005: Justin Gatlin (USA) • 2007: Tyson Gay (USA) • 2009: Usain Bolt (JAM) • 2011: Usain Bolt (JAM)
European Champions in Men's 200 m 1934: Chris Berger (NED) • 1938: Tinus Osendarp (NED) • 1946: Nikolay Karakulov (URS) • 1950: Brian Shenton (GBR) • 1954: Heinz Fütterer (FRG) • 1958: Manfred Germar (FRG) • 1962: Owe Jonsson (SWE) • 1966: Roger Bambuck (FRA) • 1969: Philippe Clerc (SUI) • 1971: Valeriy Borzov (URS) • 1974: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1978: Pietro Mennea (ITA) • 1982: Olaf Prenzler (GDR) • 1986: Vladimir Krylov (URS) • 1990: John Regis (GBR) • 1994: Geir Moen (NOR) • 1998: Douglas Walker (GBR) • 2002: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) • 2006: Francis Obikwelu (POR) • 2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
Mediterranean Champions in Men's 400 m 1949: Antonio Siddi (ITA) • 1951: Jacques Degats (FRA) • 1955: Jacques Degats (FRA) • 1959: Viktor Šnajder (YUG) • 1963: Michel Hiblot (FRA) • 1967: Sergio Bello (ITA) • 1971: Kyriakos Onisiforou (GRE) • 1975: Josip Alebic (YUG) • 1979: Francis Demarthon (FRA) • 1983: Aldo Canti (FRA) • 1987: Antonio Sánchez (ESP) • 1991: Olivier Noirot (FRA) • 1993: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) • 1997: Jean-Louis Rapnouil (FRA) • 2001: Malik Louahla (ALG) • 2005: Sofiane Labidi (TUN) • 2009: Mohamed Khouaja (LBA)
Categories:- 1973 births
- Living people
- People from Mytilene
- Doping cases in athletics
- Greek athletes
- Greek sportspeople in doping cases
- Sprinters
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Greece
- Olympic athletes of Greece
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
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