Alexandros Nikolaidis
Alexandros Nikolaidis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Νικολαϊδης, 17 October 1979 – 14 October 2022) was a Greek taekwondo athlete. He was named the 2008 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. Initially the home favorite, he won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics held in Athens after losing to Moon Dae-Sung of South Korea in the gold medal match.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Taekwondo | ||
| Representing Greece | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| 2004 Athens | +80 kg | |
| 2008 Beijing | +80 kg | |
| World Championships | ||
| 1996 Barcelona | Welterweight | |
| European Championships | ||
| 1996 Zagreb | Welterweight | |
| 1997 Patra | Welterweight | |
| 2008 Rome | Heavyweight | |
| 2010 Saint Petersburg | Heavyweight | |
| Mediterranean Games | ||
| 2013 Mersin | Heavyweight | |
On 24 March 2008, Alexandros Nikolaidis had the honour to be the first torch-bearer of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay.
Later in the same year on 11 April, he won the European Championship in Rome.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 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 by placing third in the 2011 World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan by defeating Liu Xiaobo 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.