Alexandros Nikolaidis

Alexandros Nikolaidis (Greek Αλέξανδρος Νικολαϊδης, born October 17, 1979 in Thessaloniki ) is a Greek Taekwondo, which starts at heavyweight.

Nikolaidis celebrated his first success at youth level, he was in 1996 in Zagreb Junior European Champion and a little later in Barcelona Junior World Champion. In the following years in the adult area, he achieved his breakthrough. Nikolaidis could qualify in Sydney in 2000 for the Olympic Games, where he reached the quarter-finals and finished at the end of ninth. His first World Cup finals he played at the 2003 World Championships in Garmisch -Partenkirchen, where he could reach the knockout stages. His athletic until then the greatest success achieved Nikolaidis in his second Olympic Games in Athens. He was beaten only in the finale of Moon Dae -sung and won the silver medal.

In 2007, Nikolaidis reached at the World Championships in Beijing the quarterfinals where he retired against Daba Modibo Keïta, but achieved his best World Cup result. At the same place he played in the following year his third Olympic Games. He moved again to the final and repeated after a final defeat by Cha Dong- min, finally winning the Olympic silver medal. Also in 2008, Nikolaidis won at the European Championships in Rome, winning the title in the heavyweight division his first international gold medal. In the following European Championship in St. Petersburg, he again won a medal with bronze. 2011, Nikolaidis qualified at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Baku for his fourth Olympic Games in London. He would thus be the first and only Taekwondoin, since the inclusion of Taekwondo in the Olympic program was able to attend all competitions.

When torch relay for the 2008 Olympics Nikolaidis the honor of the first torchbearer was given after the ignition of the flame in Olympia.