Jannis Zamanduridis
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Jannis Zamanduridis (born 18 March 1966, in
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
,
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) is a retired amateur German Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's welterweight category. Considered as one of Germany's most promising wrestlers in his decade, Zamanduridis has claimed two medals (one silver and one bronze) in the 68-kg division at the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
(1990 and 1995), but took an early hiatus shortly to focus on his coaching staff for the German wrestling team. In 2003, Zamanduridis suddenly came out of his impending retirement to compete for Germany at the
2004 Summer 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 ...
. Throughout his sporting career, Zamanduridis trained full time as a member of the wrestling club for KSV Köllerbach, under his personal coach Frank Hartmann.


Background

Born in
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
to his Greek-born parents, Zamanduridis and the rest of his family escaped from the
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
regime shortly before the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
. He moved to Püttlingen in
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
, and started his career as a member of the wrestling team for KSV Köllerbach. His first major sporting debut came at the 1990 World Wrestling Championships in Ostia, Italy, where Zamanduridis earned a silver medal in the 68-kg division, losing out to the former Soviet Union's Islam Dugushiev. Since then, Zamanduridis held a stunning record of top three finishes from the German Grand Prix, and produced a bronze medal in the same category at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. He also sought to qualify for the
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
and
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
Summer Olympics, but declined his bid. Just after his bronze medal triumph from the World Championships, Zamanduridis decided to take a short hiatus from the sport to focus his own career as a full-time national coach for the German wrestling team.


Out of retirement

In December 2002, Zamanduridis announced that he would come out of retirement to compete again in wrestling. At the
2003 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, New York (state), New York, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France. Medal table Team ranki ...
in
Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...
, France, he lost the quarterfinal match 1–3 in overtime to Ukraine's Armen Vardanyan. Despite leaving the tournament without a medal, Zamanduridis granted a ticket to his first Olympics and was officially selected to the German Olympic team, as he landed into the seventh spot of the world's final rankings. At the
2004 Summer 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 ...
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 ...
, Zamanduridis qualified for the German squad, as a 38-year-old veteran, in the men's 66 kg class. He lost his opening match 2–3 to Kazakhstan's Mkhitar Manukyan, but pulled himself into a powerful 5–2 lead to thrash U.S. wrestler Oscar Wood in his second bout. When Zamanduridis faced off against Greece's Konstantinos Arkoudeas in front of a massive home crowd inside Ano Liossa Olympic Hall, he tried to throw the Greek in the opening minute, but could not hold him tighter inside the mat in overtime, and lost the match with another 2–3 sudden death decision. Zamanduridis finished third in the preliminary competition and ninth overall; he did not advance to the quarterfinals. Two wrestlers were disqualified by a forfeit in a special consolation round so Zamanduridis' overall rank was upgraded to seventh.


Coaching career

Zamanduridis began his career for the German wrestling team as an assistant coach in 1996, but took a year off from the job, when he made his official comeback to compete again in wrestling. Shortly after his first Olympic Games, Zamanduridis returned to the scene as part of the coaching staff for the wrestling team, and then became a national coach. In January 2013, Zamanduridis was appointed as the national sports director for the German Wrestling Federation.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamanduridis, Jannis 1966 births Living people German male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Germany Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics German people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Sportspeople from Chemnitz World Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century German sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen