Christos Papanikolaou (, born 25 November 1941) is a Greek retired pole vaulter. 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. While in Athens, he joined Panathinaikos.
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 and was part of their 1969 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship team coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter.Smith shrugs off muscle pull to win Olympics 200-meter. Rome News – Tribune. 17 October 1968. At the 1970 Universiade in Turin, Papanikolaou finished second behind Wolfgang Nordwig, who won the event with a new world record of 5.46 metres. On 24 October the same year Papanikolaou jumped 5.49 metres in Athens to set a new world record.Verschoth, Anita (1 February 1971) Wait-listed For The Pantheon. Sports IllustratedSPORTS BETTING – Online Sports Betting, Casino, Poker & Horse Racing . Bettingexpress.com. Retrieved on 13 July 2015. The vault was featured on the November 1970 cover of Track and Field News. The record was later beaten by Swede Kjell Isaksson on 8 April 1972.Men's World Record Pole Vault Progression. track-and-field-jumpers.com
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.. athletix.org
Achievements 1966Balkan GamesSarajevo, Yugoslavia 1st5.00European Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd5.051967Mediterranean Games Tunis, Tunisia 1st5.15 CR1968Balkan GamesPiraeus, Greece 1st5.20 Olympic Games Mexico City, Mexico 4th5.35 NR, AR1969Balkan GamesSofia, Bulgaria 1st5.25 European Championships Athens, Greece4th5.001970Balkan GamesBucharest, Romania 1st5.40 CRUniversiade Turin, Italy 2nd5.421971Balkan GamesZagreb, Yugoslavia 1st5.35Mediterranean Games İzmir, Turkey 1st5.20 CR1972Balkan Gamesİzmir, Turkey 1st5.40Olympic Games Munich, West Germany 11th5.001977Balkan GamesAnkara, Turkey 1st5.30
References
External links