Michalis Koussis (Greek: Μιχάλης Κούσης; 10 October 1953 – 24 May 2005) was 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 ...

Olympian Marathon and long-distance runner. Koussis was born in 1953 in

Agrinio Agrinio ( Greek: Αγρίνιο, , Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 106,053 inhabitants. It is the economical center of Aetolia-Acarnania, although its c ...

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

, western Greece. He was an athlete of the Agrinio Gymnast Company (GEA) and a member of the Greece national team from 1971 to 1987. He participated in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

in 1976 and in 1984 and achieved many Panhellenic and Balkan records in marathon running. He finished fourth in the 1980 Boston Marathon. His greatest moment was the gold medal which he won in 1979, during the Mediterranean Games, in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

, in present-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, where he finished just slightly away from the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

. In the same year, he was named the

Greek Male Athlete of the Year The PSAT Sports Awards (Greek: Αθλητικά Βραβεία ΠΣΑΤ) are the annual sports awards that are issued by the Panhellenic Sports Press Association (PSAT). The awards are given to the year's top performing individual athletes, in the ...

. He ran for the 1982 European Championships Marathon.

Olympics

He was included in the Greece delegations in the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1980, and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Summer Olympic Games. He died in 2005, from heart problems, while training on a beach in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

References

External links

Τα ΝΕΑ: Final goodbye for Michalis KoussisRunningnews.gr - Michalis Koussis died
1953 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Agrinio Greek male long-distance runners Greek male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Greece Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Mediterranean Games {{Greece-athletics-bio-stub