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Christos Papanikolaou

Personal information
Born	(1941-11-25) 25 November 1941 (age 83) Trikala, Greece
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
Country	Greece
Sport	Athletics
Event	Pole vault
Club	GS Trikalon, Panathinaikos
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1st
Personal best	5.49 m (1970)
Medal record Representing  Greece European Championships 1966 Budapest Pole vault

Christos Papanikolaou (Greek: Χρήστος Παπανικολάου, born 25 November 1941) is a retired Greek pole vaulter. On 25 October 1970, he set the world record at 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in), 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

Achievements

References

1. ^ Khristos Papanikolaou. Sports-reference.com.
2. Smith shrugs off muscle pull to win Olympics 200-meter. Rome News – Tribune. 17 October 1968.
3. Verschoth, Anita (1 February 1971) Wait-listed For The Pantheon. Sports Illustrated
4. SPORTS BETTING – Online Sports Betting, Casino, Poker & Horse Racing Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Bettingexpress.com. Retrieved on 13 July 2015.
5. "Past Covers 1970". Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
6. Men's World Record Pole Vault Progression. track-and-field-jumpers.com
7. All Greeks in "Track and Field News" Magazine World Rankings 1947 – 2003. athletix.org

External links

• Profile (in Greek)

Records
Preceded by Wolfgang Nordwig	Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder 24 October 1970 – 8 April 1972	Succeeded by Kjell Isaksson
Sporting positions
Preceded byUnknown	Men's Pole Vault Best Year Performance 1970	Succeeded by Kjell Isaksson

• 1941 births
• Living people
• Greek male pole vaulters
• Olympic athletes for 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
• 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
• FISU World University Games silver medalists for Greece
• Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade
• 21st-century Greek people
• San Jose State Spartans men's track and field athletes
• 20th-century Greek sportsmen