Nikolaos Andriakopoulos ( el, Νικόλαος Ανδριακόπουλος; 1878 in

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

– after 1896) 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 ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. He was a member of Panachaikos Gymnastikos Syllogos, that merged in 1923 with Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron to become

Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi Panachaiki G.E. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή Γυμναστική Ένωση, ''Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi'', "Pan- Achaean Gymnastic Union") is a Greek multi-sport club based in the city of Patras, Greece. The history of Panachaiki began in 1891 ...

Olympics performances

Andriakopoulos competed at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, in the

rope climbing A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly c ...

event. He and countryman Thomas Xenakis were the only two out of the five entrants to climb all the way to the top of the 14 meter rope. Andriakopoulos finished in 23.4 seconds, defeating Xenakis to claim the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. This would be the last Greek gold medal in gymnastics until

Ioannis Melissanidis Ioannis Melissanidis ( el, Ιωάννης Μελισσανίδης; born 27 March 1977) is a retired Greek artistic gymnast and the 1996 Olympic champion on the floor exercise. He was also the first Greek gymnast ever to medal at the World Champ ...

won gold in the

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

in 1996. He also entered the team

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

event. In that competition, Andriakopoulos was a member of the Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos team that placed second in the event, giving him an Olympic

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

References

External links

* * (Digitally available a

10 MByte) 1878 births Gymnasts at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Greek male artistic gymnasts Olympic gold medalists for Greece Olympic silver medalists for Greece Olympic gymnasts of Greece Year of death missing Olympic medalists in gymnastics Sportspeople from Patras Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Date of birth missing Place of death missing {{Greece-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub