Christos Papanikolaou is a retired Greek pole vault

Pole vault

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...

er.

He was born in Trikala

Trikala

Trikala is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece. It is the capital of the Trikala peripheral unit, and is located NW of Athens, NW, of Karditsa, E of Ioannina and Metsovo, S of Grevena, SW of Thessaloniki, and W of Larissa...

. At a young age he joined the Sports Club of Trikala. After completing his high school education he enrolled in the Sports Academy of Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. While in Athens, he joined Panathinaikos

Panathinaikos

Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos is a multi-sport club based in Athens, Greece. It has the shamrock as its official emblem and green and white as its colours...

.

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 University

San José State University

San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...

 and was part of their 1969 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship

The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It has three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their institution and...

 team coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter

Lloyd (Bud) Winter

Lloyd C. Winter, better known as "Bud" was the USATF Hall of Fame Track Coach. He was regarded as one of the greatest sprint coaches in the world. Over a 39-year coaching career at the then San Jose State College, he produced 102 All-Americans, 27 who went on to become Olympians...

.

At the 1970 Universiade

Universiade

The Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation . The name is a combination of the words "University" and "olympiad"...

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Papanikolaou finished second behind Wolfgang Nordwig

Wolfgang Nordwig

Wolfgang Nordwig is a former East German pole vaulter who won gold at the 1972 Summer Olympics with a clearance of 5.50 m . He was born in Chemnitz, Saxony.-References:...

, 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 capture the world record. Measuring 18′ 1½″, it was the first pole vault over 18 feet. The record was later beaten by Swede Kjell Isaksson

Kjell Isaksson

Kjell Gunnar Isaksson is a retired pole vaulter from Sweden, who broke the world record several times in 1972. Initially he broke the record set by Christos Papanikolaou of Greece and San Jose State University two years earlier, by jumping 5.51 metres in Austin, Texas--the second man to clear 18...

 who achieved 5.51 metres 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 ranking position was second in 1970.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Extra
1966	European Championships 1966 European Championships in Athletics The 8th European Athletics Championships were held from 30 August to 4 September 1966 in the Nép Stadium in Budapest, Hungary.-Men's results:-Women's results:-Medal table:- References :* *...	Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... , Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	2nd
1967	Mediterranean Games 1967 Mediterranean Games The fifth edition of the Mediterranean Games were held in Tunis, Tunisia from 8 September to 17 September 1967. Twelve nations competed in fourteen different kind of sports.-Medals:-See also:**...	Tunis Tunis Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants.... , Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...	1st	5.15 CR
1968	Olympic Games Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, 36 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 12 for women. There were a total number of 1031 participating athletes from 93 countries....	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	4th
1970	Universiade Athletics at the 1970 Summer Universiade Athletics events were contested at the 1970 Summer Universiade in Turin, Italy.-Men’s events:-Women’s events:-Medal table:-References:* - GBR Athletics* - GBR Athletics...	Turin Turin Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	2nd
1971	Mediterranean Games 1971 Mediterranean Games The sixth edition of the Mediterranean Games were held in Izmir, Turkey from October 6 to October 17, 1971. Fifteen nations competed in eighteen different kind of sports.-Medal table:-See also:**...	İzmir Izmir Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey... , Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...	1st	5.20 CR
1972	Olympic Games Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, 38 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 14 for women. There were a total number of 1324 participating athletes from 104 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-References:*...	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....	11th

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