Alissa Kallinikou (Greek: Αλίσσα Καλλινίκου; born May 24, 1985) is a Cypriot sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres.[1] She set a personal best time of 52.05 seconds, by winning the women's 400 metres at the 2008 Greek National Championships in Athens, Greece, earning her a spot on the Cypriot team for the Olympics.[2]

Alissa Kallinikou
Personal information
Nationality Cyprus
Born (1985-05-24) 24 May 1985 (age 39)
Hartlepool, Great Britain
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventSprint
ClubGSK Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best400 m: 52.05 s (2008)

Kallinikou represented Cyprus at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed for the women's 400 metres. She ran in the seventh and final heat against seven other athletes, including Jamaica's Shericka Williams and Russia's Tatiana Firova. She finished the race in fifth place by four tenths of a second (0.40) ahead of Poland's Monika Bejnar, with a time of 52.40 seconds. Kallinikou, however, failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed twenty-sixth overall, and was ranked below three mandatory slots for the next round.[3]

Doping ban

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Kallinkou tested positive for testosterone in July 2008, and was subsequently handed a two-year ban from sports.[4][5] The analyse of the positive sample wasn't completed until after she had competed in the Olympic Games. Her results from the Olympics were annulled due to the anti-doping rule violation.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alissa Kallinikou". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ Nikitardis, Michalis (15 June 2008). "World Leading 14.92m for Devetzi in Athens - Greek National Champs". IAAF. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Women's 400m Round 1 – Heat 7". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ^ IAAF: Athletes currently ineligible to compete in Athletics following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation, iaaf.org, 14 January 2010
  5. ^ "Athletes Currently Banned Following a Doping Rule Violation 2009". IAAF. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  6. ^ Butler, Mark (2015). "Doping violations at IAAF World Championships". IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 Statistics Handbook. Monaco: IAAF. pp. 75–78.
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