Nicolas Macrozonaris ( gr, Νικόλαος Μακροζωνάρης, born August 22, 1980) is a Canadian
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
track and field athlete who has won the 100 metre national title four times and once in the 200 metre.
Career
He was inspired to run track and field after watching
Donovan Bailey win the
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...
at the
1996 Summer Olympics
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, ...
in
Atlanta. After watching that race, it motivated him to take the sport seriously. A few years later, as a junior, he tied
Ben Johnson's Canadian national record in the 50 metre sprint, running a time of 5.83. The following year, after 4 years of intensive training, he qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics' 100 meter event at the age of 19. At the Olympics, he ran a time of 10.45 to finish 42nd overall out of 95, being eliminated in the heats.
His culminating moment as a sprinter came in 2003 when he ran a time of 10.03 and beat the then world record holder, American
Tim Montgomery
Timothy Montgomery (born January 28, 1975) is an American former track sprinter who specialized in the 100-meter dash. In 2005, he was stripped of his records—including a now-void men's 100-meter world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002—a ...
in Mexico City. As of 2019, his time of 10.03 is still ranked the sixth fastest Canadian 100m time, behind Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey who both share the national record with a 9.84 clocking, along with Andre De Grasse (9.90), Aaron Brown (9.96) and Gavin Smellie (10.01).
In 2004, he qualified for the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in
Athens and finished 28th out of 80 in the 100 meter event, thus improving his position from his previous Olympic Games in Sydney where he finished 42nd.
Nicolas has represented Canada in many international competitions and has qualified for six
World Championships, three
Francophone Games
The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...
, two
Olympic Games, two
Commonwealth games, one
World Cup, and one
Pan American Championship A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
.
In 2017, he ran for the Action Laval party in the
2017 Laval municipal election, but finished third in the Sainte-Dorothée District.
Statistics
Personal bests
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Macrozonaris, Nicolas
1980 births
Living people
Canadian male sprinters
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic track and field athletes of Canada
Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada
World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada
Canadian people of Greek descent
Sportspeople from Laval, Quebec
Anglophone Quebec people
Canadian sportsperson-politicians