Alexandros Nikolaidis (, 17 October 1979 – 14 October 2022) was a Greek

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

athlete. He was named the 2008 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. Initially the home favorite, he won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

held in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

after losing to Moon Dae-Sung of South Korea in the gold medal match. On 24 March 2008, Alexandros Nikolaidis had the honour to be the first torch-bearer of the

2008 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, a ...

. Later in the same year on 11 April, he won the European Championship in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. At the

2008 Beijing 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 ...

, Nikolaidis won another Olympic silver medal in the +80 kg category, after losing to Cha Dong-Min of South Korea in the final. In July 2011, he managed to secure a place at the

2012 Olympic Games 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 ...

by placing third in the 2011 World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan by defeating

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...

of China in the 3rd place play-off. He carried the flag for Greece during the Parade of Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. On 11 August 2012, Nikolaidis began and ended his Olympics participation in a "preliminary round" bout against Bahri Tanrikulu. Nikolaidis lost 7–3 overall. Nikolaidis retired in 2014. He died on 14 October 2022, at the age of 42. Nikolaidis had been suffering from an "extremely rare" form of cancer for two years prior to his death.

Personal

His family hails from Mavrovouni

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

. Nikolaidis was married to Ruxi Dumitrescu and they had one son.Ρούξι Ντουμιτρέσκου Το δράμα του μικρού Φίλιππου, έχασε τους γονείς του Αλέξανδρο Νικολαΐδη ναι Ρούξι Ντουμιτρέσκου μέσα σε 1,5 χρόνο sportal.gr
/ref> In 2016 he was married to the journalist Dora Tsampazi, and they had two children.

References

External links

* * * * 1979 births 2022 deaths Sportspeople from Thessaloniki Greek male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Greece Olympic silver medalists for Greece Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European champions for Greece Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Greece Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in taekwondo European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Greek people {{Greece-taekwondo-bio-stub