imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) to :Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

2025-10-31T10:35:25Z

Moving Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) to Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

imported>Bluesangrel at 02:14, 17 May 2025

2025-05-17T02:14:16Z

New page

{{Short description|Greek athlete}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name = Kostas Kenteris
|image =
|image_size = 
|caption =
|fullname = Konstantinos Kenteris
|nationality = {{flag|Greece}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|07|11|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Mytilene]], Greece
|death_date =
|death_place =
|height = {{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|weight = {{convert|73|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|nickname = Ο Γιος του Ανέμου (The Son of the Wind)
|sport = [[100 metres]], [[200 metres]], [[400 metres]], [[4 × 100 metres relay]], [[4 × 400 metres relay]]
|event =
|collegeteam = Arion Mytilene
|club = [[Olympiacos CFP|Olympiakos CFP]]
|pb = '''100 m''': 10.15 '''200 m''': 19.85 [[List of European Athletics Championships records|CR]], [[List of European Athletics Championships records|EL]], [[List of Greek records in athletics|NR]], [[200 metres#Season.27s best|SB]] '''400 m''': 45.60
|medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Athletics (sport)|Athletics]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{GRE}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney]] | [[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics|200 m]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[2001 World Championships in Athletics|2001 Edmonton]] | [[2001 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 200 metres|200 m]] }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 European Championships in Athletics|2002 Munich]] | [[2002 European Athletics Championships – Men's 200 metres|200 m]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[European Cup (athletics)|European Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2001 European Cup (athletics)|2001 Bremen]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | [[2003 European Cup (athletics)|2003 Florence]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2000 European Cup (athletics)|2000 Gateshead]] | 4 × 100 m relay }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2001 European Cup (athletics)|2001 Bremen]] | 100 m }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2003 European Cup (athletics)|2003 Florence]] | 4 × 400 m relay }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1999 European Cup (athletics)|1999 Paris]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2000 European Cup (athletics)|2000 Gateshead]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria]] }}
{{MedalGold | 2001 [[Athens]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2003 [[Athens]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2004 [[Athens]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Mediterranean Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1993 Mediterranean Games|1993 Narbonne]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalCompetition | Greek Athletics Championships}}
{{MedalTeam | Representing Arion Mytilene}}
{{MedalGold | 1991 [[Athens]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1992 [[Athens]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1993 [[Athens]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalTeam | Representing [[Olympiacos CFP]] }}
{{MedalGold | 1997 [[Athens]] | 4 × 100 m relay }}
{{MedalGold | 1998 [[Athens]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1998 [[Athens]] | 4 × 400 m relay }}
{{MedalGold | 1999 [[Athens]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1999 [[Athens]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2000 [[Athens]] | 4 × 100 m relay }}
{{MedalGold | 2001 [[Athens]] | 100 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2002 [[Trikala]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2002 [[Trikala]] | 4 × 400 m relay }}
{{MedalGold | 2004 [[Athens]] | 100 m }}
{{MedalGold | 2004 [[Athens]] | 4 × 100 m relay }}
{{MedalCompetition | Greek Indoor Athletics Championships}}
{{MedalTeam | Representing Arion Mytilene}}
{{MedalGold | 1993 [[Piraeus]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1993 [[Piraeus]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1994 [[Piraeus]] | 200 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1994 [[Piraeus]] | 400 m }}
{{MedalGold | 1996 [[Piraeus]] | 400 m }}
}}

'''Konstantinos "Kostas" Kenteris''', also spelled as '''Konstadinos "Costas" Kederis''' ({{langx|el|Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Κεντέρης}} {{IPA|el|konsta'dinos ce'deris|pron}}; born July 11, 1973) is a [[Greek people|Greek]] former [[athletics (sport)|athlete]]. He won gold medals in the [[200 metres]] at the [[2000 Summer Olympics]],<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ke/kostas-kenteris-1.html|title=Kostas Kenteris|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174359/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ke/kostas-kenteris-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref> the [[2001 World Championships in Athletics]] and the [[2002 European Championships in Athletics]], making him the only European sprinter (along with [[Linford Christie]]) to win the gold medal in all three major competitions and the only European World Champion in the 200 metres races. Additionally, he has won two gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the [[European Cup (athletics)|European Cup]], as well as three gold medals in the 200 metres at the [[Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria]]. He is also a 14-time golden medalist at the Greek Athletics Championships and a five-time golden medalist at the Greek Indoor Athletics Championships. He withdrew from the [[2004 Summer Olympics]], held in his home country, after a [[Doping (sport)|doping]] violation (failed to attend drug test).<ref>{{cite news|website=Sydney Morning Herald|url= https://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/too-good-to-be-true-for-athlete-no-one-saw-coming-20200810-p55kf6.html|title= Too good to be true for athlete no one saw coming|date= 27 September 2020}}</ref>

Kenteris was named the [[Greek Male Athlete of the Year]] three times, for the years 2000, 2001, and 2002. He was also named the [[Best Balkan Athlete of the Year]] two times, for the years 2000 and 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bta.bg/bg/news/sport/bg/816349-vsichki-pobediteli-v-anketata-na-bta-sportist-na-balkanite-|title= Всички победители в анкетата на БТА "Спортист на Балканите"|date=January 17, 2025 |publisher=www.bta.bg|author=Dimitar Veliov |access-date=May 16, 2025}}</ref>

==Career==
Born in [[Mytilene]], 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. His first national titles were the three consecutive 400 m gold medals at the Greek Athletics Championships (1991 (46.90), 1992 (46.85), 1993 (46.27)) in [[Athens]] with 200 m (21.57) and 400 m (47.76) gold medals at the 1993 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships in [[Piraeus]], representing his home town team, Arion Mytilene. He also competed at the [[1992 World Junior Championships in Athletics|1992 World Junior Championships]] in [[Seoul]] where he finished 6th in 200 m (21.10). His first major international title was the gold medal in 400 m (45.70) at the [[1993 Mediterranean Games]] in [[Narbonne]]. At the 1994 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships in [[Piraeus]], he defended his 200 m (20.93) and 400 m (46.73) gold medals. He repeated his success in the 400 m (47.11) by winning gold at the 1996 Greek Indoor Athletics Championships. In 1997, Kenteris moved to [[Athens]] and [[Olympiacos CFP]], with whom he won the 4 × 100 m relay gold (40.86) at the 1997 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Athens]]. Kenteris repeated his success the following year when he won the 400 m (45.87) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:11.95) gold medals at the 1998 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Athens]].

It was not until 1998 that Kenteris took part in his first major international tournaments, when he took 9th place (semi finals) in both 400 m (45.74) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:06.48) at the [[1998 European Athletics Championships|1998 European Championships]] in [[Budapest]]. He also took the 7th place at the [[1998 IAAF World Cup]] in [[Johannesburg]], in the 4 × 400 m relay race (3:03.95), representing the European team. In 1999, he continued by winning the 200 m (20.60) and 400 m (45.82) gold medals at the 1999 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Athens]]. His first European success was when he won the 400 m bronze medal at the [[1999 European Cup (athletics)|1999 European Cup]] in [[Paris]] with a time of 45.66. While Kenteris was eliminated in the 400 m heats of the indoor world championships, he returned that summer as a 200 m runner at the [[1999 World Championships in Athletics|Outdoor World Championships]] in [[Seville]]. Kenteris won his heat # 5, defeating then 100 m world record holder [[Maurice Greene (athlete)|Maurice Greene]], but did not start the quarter-finals due to injury. The following year, Kenteris won the 4 × 100 m relay gold (40.46) at the 2000 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Athens]], and also the 4 × 100 m relay silver (38.67) and 200 m bronze (20.48) at the [[2000 European Cup (athletics)|2000 European Cup]] in [[Gateshead]].

Although Kenteris had established himself as a medal-winning national and European sprinter, few had heard of his name when he surprised by qualifying for the 200 m final at the [[2000 Summer Olympics]] in [[Sydney]]. Although defending Olympic champion [[Michael Johnson (athlete)|Michael Johnson]] and reigning world champion [[Maurice Greene (athlete)|Maurice Greene]] did not compete, still nobody had included Kenteris in the list of medal favourites despite his being the fastest European at 200 m that summer with 20.25 seconds from June, but Kenteris raced to the gold medal with a time of 20.09, denying [[Great Britain|Britain's]] [[Darren Campbell]] and [[Ato Boldon]] of [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. In doing so, Kenteris became the first white male to win a 200 m sprinting medal at the [[Summer Olympic Games|Olympics]] since [[Pietro Mennea]] achieved the feat, winning the 200 m gold at the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] in [[Moscow]]. He also competed in the 4 × 100 m relay qualifying, but failed to reach the finals and took ninth place in 38.80 seconds.

In 2001, Kenteris won his first gold medal in 100 m (10.21) at the 2001 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Athens]]. Success continued, as Kenteris won his first 200 m gold medal (20.31) and the silver medal in 100 m (10.15 PB) at the [[2001 European Cup (athletics)|2001 European Cup]] in [[Bremen]], and 200 m gold at the 2001 [[Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria]] with a performance of 20.10. He also won the 200 m title (20.04) at the [[2001 World Championships in Athletics|2001 World Championships]] in [[Edmonton]] after a season where he mostly stayed out of international competition. The following year, he won the 200 m (20.18) and 4 × 400 m relay (3:14.48) gold medals at the 2002 Greek Athletics Championships in [[Trikala]]. Kenteris completed his trilogy by also winning the European title at the [[2002 European Athletics Championships]] in [[Munich]] with a time of 19.85, his personal best. This performance still stands as the [[List of Greek records in athletics|national record]] in 200 m. The next year, Kenteris took part in the [[2003 European Cup (athletics)|2003 European Cup]] in [[Florence]] where he won the 200 m gold (20.37) and 4 × 400 m relay silver (3:02.69). Upon returning in [[Athens]], he won the 200 m gold (20.30) at the 2003 [[Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria]].

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, as he had won the 100 m (10.18) and 4 × 100 m relay (41.16) gold medals at the 2004 Greek Championship in [[Athens]] and the 200 m gold (20.27) at the 2004 [[Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria]], just one month before the [[2004 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympics]]. However, on the day prior to the Games, Kenteris and his training partner [[Ekaterini Thanou]] failed to attend a drug test.<ref name="uol">{{cite news |title=Doping e acidente de astros do atletismo escandalizam a Grécia |url=https://www.uol.com.br/esporte/olimpiadas/ultimas/2004/08/13/ult2247u285.jhtm |publisher=Grupo UOL |date=13 August 2004}}</ref> 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 (sport)|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".

Kenteris retired from athletics and disappeared from the public eye following his withdrawal. After his retirement, Kenteris was offered an honorary officer position in the [[Hellenic Air Force]] by the Greek state, but he quit in 2011. In May 2011 he was (along with Thanou) given a suspended jail sentence of 31 months, after being charged with staging the crash, but an appeals court overturned this ruling.<ref name="twist">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/sports/olympics/peculiar-greek-doping-case-takes-another-twist.html?_r=0|title=Peculiar Doping Case Takes Another Twist|last=Macur|first=Juliet|date=6 September 2011|work=New York Times|access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref> The World Athletics has banned him from entering the stadiums, as evidence was found that his coach was also involved in the [[BALCO scandal]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doping-balco-greeks-idUSL3072157020071030 | title=Greek sprinters and coach deny BALCO links | newspaper=Reuters | date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>

== Personal bests ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Date
! Event
! Venue
! Performance
|-
| 23 June 2001
| 100 metres
| [[Bremen, Germany]]
| 10.15
|-
| 9 August 2002
| 200 metres
| [[Munich, Germany]]
| 19.85 [[List of European Athletics Championships records|CR]], [[List of European Athletics Championships records|EL]], [[Greek records in athletics|NR]]
|-
| 27 July 1998
| 400 metres
| [[Thessaloniki, Greece]]
| 45.60
|-
| 9 February 2000
| 200 metres (indoor)
| [[Peiraias]], [[Greece]]
| 20.80
|-
| 13 February 1999
| 400 metres (indoor)
| [[Peiraias]], [[Greece]]
| 46.36 [[Greek records in athletics|NR]]
|-
|}

As of August 2024, his 200 m time is also the track record for Munich.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.kenteris.gr/}}
* [http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?id=1014 IOC decision regarding the cases of Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekatarina Thanou] Press release, August 18, 2004
* {{World Athletics|name=Konstantinos Kenteris}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|name=Kostas Kenteris}}
* {{Olympedia|name=Kostas Kenteris}}
* {{HOC profile|kenteris-kostas|Kostas Kenteris}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-sports}}
{{Succession box
| before = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Joshua J. Johnson]]
| title = [[200 metres#Men's Seasons Best|Men's 200 m Best Year Performance]] alongside {{flagicon|USA}} [[Shawn Crawford]]
| years = 2002
| after = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Bernard Williams (athlete)|Bernard Williams]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Footer Mediterranean Champions 400m Men}}
{{Footer_Olympic_Champions_200_m_Men}}
{{Footer World Champions 200 m Men}}
{{Footer European Champions 200 m Men}}
{{PSAT Greek Male Athlete of the Year}}
{{BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenteris, Konstantinos}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Mytilene]]
[[Category:Doping cases in athletics]]
[[Category:Greek male sprinters]]
[[Category:Greek sportspeople in doping cases]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Greece]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Greece]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Olympiacos athletics athletes]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Greek European Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1993 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the North Aegean]]
[[Category:Greek Athletics Championships winners]]

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	[[Category:Greek ~~male~~ sprinters]]		[[Category:Greek men sprinters]]
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	[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics ~~(track and field)~~]]		[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics]]
	[[Category:Greek European Athletics Championships winners]]		[[Category:Greek European Athletics Championships winners]]
	[[Category:Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece]]		[[Category:Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece]]

Konstantinos Kenteris - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) to :Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

imported>Bluesangrel at 02:14, 17 May 2025