Konstantinos Kenteris
Encyclopedia
Konstandinos Kenderis, also spelled as Konstadinos Kederis (in Greek
: Κωνσταντίνος Κεντέρης; born July 11, 1973) is a former Greek
athlete. He won gold medals in the 200 metres
at the 2000 Summer Olympics
, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics
and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics
- he withdrew from the 2004 Summer Olympics
held in his home country after a doping
violation (failed to attend drug-test).
, Kenteris, a student of physical education, started practising athletics at age 10, and started running seriously about ten years later, when he moved to Thessaloniki
. Kenteris specialised in the 200 m and 400 m races.
It was not until 1999 that Kenteris took part in his first major international tournaments; while he was eliminated in the 400m heats of the indoor world championships he returned that summer as a 200m runner at the outdoor World Championships
. Kenteris won his heat # 5, defeating then 100m world record holder Maurice Greene
, but did not start the quarter-finals due to injury. As a result, few people had heard of Kenteris when he surprised by qualifying for the 200 m final at the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney
. Although defending Olympic champion Michael Johnson
and reigning World Champion Greene didn't compete, nobody had included Kenteris in his list of medal favourites, despite his being the fastest European at 200m that summer with a 20.25 seconds from June. But Kenteris raced to the gold medal, denying Britain's
Darren Campbell
and Ato Boldon
of Trinidad and Tobago
. In doing so, Kenteris became the first White
male to win a 200 meter sprinting medal at the Olympics
since Pietro Mennea
achieved the feat by winning gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics
in Moscow
.
He also won the 200 m title at the 2001 World Championships, after a season where he mostly stayed out of international competition. The following year, Kenteris completed his trilogy by also winning the European title in Munich
in 19.85, his personal best.
For the 2004 Summer Olympics
, Kenteris was one of the hopes of the home crowd for winning a gold medal in athletics, and favourite to light the Olympic flame. However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou failed to attend a drug test. While they claimed to have been injured in a motorcycle accident - in a frantic attempt to return to the Olympic village for the test upon hearing the news in the media - an official Greek investigation would later find that the alleged accident had been staged. In the ensuing doping
scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18 after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC, for what they described to be "in the interests of the country."
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Κωνσταντίνος Κεντέρης; born July 11, 1973) is a former Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
athlete. He won gold medals in the 200 metres
200 metres
A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...
and the 2002 European Championships in Athletics
2002 European Championships in Athletics
The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...
- he withdrew from the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
held in his home country after a doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
violation (failed to attend drug-test).
Career
Born in MytileneMytilene
Mytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
, Kenteris, a student of physical education, started practising athletics at age 10, and started running seriously about ten years later, when he moved to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. Kenteris specialised in the 200 m and 400 m races.
It was not until 1999 that Kenteris took part in his first major international tournaments; while he was eliminated in the 400m heats of the indoor world championships he returned that summer as a 200m runner at the outdoor World Championships
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
. Kenteris won his heat # 5, defeating then 100m world record holder Maurice Greene
Maurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is a retired American track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion...
, but did not start the quarter-finals due to injury. As a result, few people had heard of Kenteris when he surprised by qualifying for the 200 m final at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Although defending Olympic champion Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
and reigning World Champion Greene didn't compete, nobody had included Kenteris in his list of medal favourites, despite his being the fastest European at 200m that summer with a 20.25 seconds from June. But Kenteris raced to the gold medal, denying Britain's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
and Ato Boldon
Ato Boldon
Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis, have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current national record holder in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events...
of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. In doing so, Kenteris became the first White
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
male to win a 200 meter sprinting medal at the Olympics
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
since Pietro Mennea
Pietro Mennea
Pietro Paolo Mennea is an Italian former sprinter and politician, who was the 1980 Moscow Olympic 200 meter Champion, and also held the 200 m world record for 17 years.-Biography:...
achieved the feat by winning gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
He also won the 200 m title at the 2001 World Championships, after a season where he mostly stayed out of international competition. The following year, Kenteris completed his trilogy by also winning the European title in 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...
in 19.85, his personal best.
For the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, Kenteris was one of the hopes of the home crowd for winning a gold medal in athletics, and favourite to light the Olympic flame. However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou failed to attend a drug test. While they claimed to have been injured in a motorcycle accident - in a frantic attempt to return to the Olympic village for the test upon hearing the news in the media - an official Greek investigation would later find that the alleged accident had been staged. In the ensuing doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18 after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC, for what they described to be "in the interests of the country."
Personal bests
| Date | Event | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 23, 2001 | 100 m | Bremen, Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
10.15 |
| August 9, 2002 | 200 m | 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... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
19.85 |
| July 27, 1998 | 400 m | Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace... , Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
45.60 |
Achievements
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | IAAF World Junior Championships | Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... , Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... |
6th | 200 m |
| 2000 | 2000 Olympic Games | Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
1st | 200 m |
| 2001 | IAAF World Championships | Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Alberta Alberta Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces... |
1st | 200 m |
| 2002 | European Championships | 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... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
1st | 200 m |
| 2003 | SPAR European Cup | Florence Florence Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.... , 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... |
1st | 200 m |
| 2004 | Greece National Championships | Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
1st | 100 m |
External links
- Sports Reference
- Official Website
- IOC decision regarding the cases of Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekatarina Thanou Press release, August 18, 2004