Nikolaos "Nikos" Kaklamanakis (Greek: Νικόλαος Κακλαμανάκης, born 19 August 1968, in Athens) is the Greek Gold-medal winner who lit the Olympic torch in the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was named one of the 1996 Greek Male Athletes of the Year.
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| Full name | Nikolaos Kaklamanakis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 August 1968 (age 56) Athens, Greece | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kaklamanakis participated in five consecutive Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, reaching the medal race in all five of them.[1] He won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, while he was ninth in Barcelona (1992), sixth in Sydney (2000) and eighth in Beijing (2008).
Biography
editOne of the most popular athletes in Greece, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis is a three-time Mistral class windsurfing world champion and a gold medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Sailing. He won silver in the event at the 2003 World Championships in Cádiz, Spain, behind Przemek Miarczynski of Poland. In the 2000 Summer Olympics he took the 6th place, while in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Kaklamanakis took the silver medal behind Gal Fridman of Israel. Four years later, in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games he finished 8th in the RS:X Men Sailing Race.
Kaklamanakis faced legal action from the Hellenic Sailing Federation in 2019 for alleged defamation. The lawsuit stemmed from statements Kaklamanis made during a speech in the Hellenic Parliament, criticizing certain practices within the federation. In 2022, the court acquitted Kaklamanis, ruling that there was no intent to defame.[2]
Selected achievements
edit| Medal | Event | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | European Championship (Mistral) | 1994 |
| Silver | IMCO World Championship | 1995 |
| Gold | Australasian Championship (Mistral) | 1995 |
| Gold | IMCO World Championship | 1996 |
| Gold | Atlanta Olympics | 1996 |
| Gold | Athens EUROLYMP | 1998 |
| Gold | Mistral World Championship | 2000 |
| Bronze | International ASA Windsurfing Championship | 2001 |
| Gold | Mistral World Championship | 2001 |
| Silver | ISAF World Championship | 2003 |
| Silver | Athens Olympics | 2004 |
References
edit- ^ "Ο Νίκος Κακλαμανάκης καταγγέλλει: «Τέσσερις από τις έξι συμμετοχές μου στους Ολυμπιακούς διώκονται". 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Δικαίωση Νίκου Κακλαμανάκη με δικαστική απόφαση". kathimerini. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
External links
edit- Nikolas Kaklamanakis at World Sailing
- Nikolaos Kaklamanakis at Olympics.com
- Nikolaos Kaklamanakis at Olympic.org (archived)
- Nikos Kaklamanakis at Olympedia
- Nikos Kaklamanakis at the Hellenic Olympic Committee
- Lighting the Olympic cauldron
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