Pavlos Kontides (, born 11 February 1990) is a Cypriot sailor. He became the first Cypriot athlete ever to win an Olympic medal for his country, by winning the silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the Men's Laser class behind

Tom Slingsby Tom Slingsby (born 5 September 1984) is an Australian competitive sailor. Slingsby's first successes came sailing Laser dinghy, Laser dinghies, where he won three consecutive world championships and the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Slingsby was t ...

, then twelve years later in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

getting another medal of the same color behind Australia's Matthew Wearn. He won the International Sports Prize World Athlete of the Year award in 2012. On Tuesday 19 of September 2017, Kontides took the 1st place in 2017 ILCA World Championship in Split, Croatia, becoming a World Champion. He won the championship again in 2018, as well as silver in 2013, 2022 and 2025.

Career

Kontides also competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in the Men's Laser class, obtaining the 13th place. In the same year, he won gold at the World Junior Championships and in 2009 he won two silver medals in World Cups and a bronze in the Paneuropean Men's Championship. He competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Men's Laser class where he placed 7th. He was the flag bearer for Cyprus during the Parade of Nations. He also competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Men's Laser class where he was placed 4th. Kontides is currently ranked 3rd in the ILCA 7 men's rankings. Kontides was born in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

. He is a member of the Limassol Nautical Club and is currently trained by Jozo Jakelić. He is studying ship science at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, and has taken a two-year break. The Republic of Cyprus honored Kontides through the issue of a Commemorative Stamp.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kontides, Pavlos 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Limassol Olympic sailors for Cyprus Cypriot male sailors (sport) Olympic silver medalists for Cyprus Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Cyprus Mediterranean Games medalists in sailing Laser class world champions Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Laser ISAF World Sailor of the Year (male)