Leonidas Kokas ( el, Λεωνίδας Κόκας; born 3 June 1973), also spelled Kokkas ( el, Κόκκας), is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

weightlifter. His highest distinction was winning the silver medal in the 1996

Atlanta Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He competed in the 94 kg category.

Life and sport results

Kokkas was born in Kakavie,

Dropull Dropull ( sq-definite, Dropulli; el, Δρόπολη or Δερόπολη ''Dropoli'' or ''Deropoli'') is a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek–Albani ...

, southern Albania, to an ethnic Greek family. In 1991, along with

Pyrros Dimas Pyrros Dimas ( el, Πύρρος Δήμας; ; born 13 October 1971) is a Greek politician and former weightlifter. He is currently the technical director for USA Weightlifting, having taken that position in June 2017. Dimas has also been involve ...

, Giorgos Tzelilis, Leonidas Sabanis and

Viktor Mitrou Viktor Mitrou (Βίκτωρ Μήτρου; born June 24, 1973) is a retired male Greek weightlifter. He initially represented Albania, but became internationally distinguished with the Greece national team. Mitrou won a Silver Medal for Greece in ...

, Kokas left Albania for

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. There, he joined Spartakos club of

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

. In 1996, he won Olympic silver, in Atlanta, in the 91 kg category. He lifted 215 kg in the jerk and 175 in the snatch for a second-place 390 kg total. He celebrated his win with close friend

, with whom he shared a room for the past several months. He also won silver in the 1997 Mediterranean Games, in the 91-kg category, by lifting 160 kg in the snatch. A serious injury forced him out of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Leonidas Kokas is now an Artillery Lieutenant in the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

References

External links

* * * * * 1973 births Living people Greek male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Greece Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Greece Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in weightlifting Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 20th-century Greek people 21st-century Greek people People from Dropull Sportspeople from Gjirokastër County {{Greece-weightlifting-bio-stub