Christos Papanikolaou ( el, Χρήστος Παπανικολάου, born 25 November 1941) is a retired Greek

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er. On 25 October 1970, he set the world record at , significant to Americans as the first man to pole vault 18 feet. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and finished in 18th, 4th and 11th place, respectively. He won a silver medal at the 1966 European Championships. He was a two-time champion at the Mediterranean Games. He was named the Greek Athlete of the Year, for the years 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1970.

Biography

At a young age Papanikolaou joined the Sports Club of Trikala. After completing his high school he enrolled to the Sports Academy of

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 ...

. While in Athens, he joined

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. His greatest ever championship achievements only came when he won the silver medal at the 1966 European Championships and finished fourth at the 1968 Summer Olympics.Khristos Papanikolaou
Sports-reference.com. Papanikolaou trained in the United States at

San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

and was part of their 1969

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make up ...

team coached by

Lloyd (Bud) Winter Lloyd C. Winter, better known as Bud (June 8, 1909 – December 6, 1985) was an American track and field coach who is regarded as one of the greatest sprint coaches in the world. Over a 29-year coaching career (1941–1970) at the then San Jose S ...

. At the 1970

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Papanikolaou finished second behind Wolfgang Nordwig, who won the event with a new

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 ...

of 5.46 metres. On 24 October the same year Papanikolaou jumped 5.49 metres in Athens to set a new

. The vault was featured on the November 1970 cover of ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

.'' The record was later beaten by Swede Kjell Isaksson on 8 April 1972. Papanikolaou was ranked by ''Track and Field News'' among the top ten pole vaulters a total of seven times between 1966 and 1972, more than any other Greek athlete. His highest position was second in 1970.All Greeks in "Track and Field News" Magazine World Rankings 1947 – 2003
athletix.org

Achievements

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papanikolaou, Christos 1941 births Living people Greek male pole vaulters Olympic athletes of Greece Track and field athletes from San Jose, California Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Panathinaikos A.O. World record setters in athletics (track and field) European Athletics Championships medalists World record holders in masters athletics Panathinaikos Athletics Sportspeople from Trikala San Jose State University alumni Greek world record setters in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Mediterranean Games Universiade silver medalists for Greece Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade 20th-century Greek people 21st-century Greek people