Konstantinos Tsiklitiras

Silver medal, July 23, 1908, Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, high jump standing. London 1908

23 athletes registered for the competition, but in the end only 18 showed up, most of them Americans. The favorite was the veteran and experienced American Ray Ewry and his compatriots John Biller and Leroy Holmes, who with great ease repeatedly exceeded 1.55. The best performance in the world at that time was Ewry with 1.65. Kostas Tsiklitiras had an individual record of 1.50, but showed great fighting spirit. He was not afraid at any point of the competition, despite his inexperience he set a new record, 1.55, and won the silver medal. In the Panhellenic Championship before the Olympic Games, the champion of the Panhellenios AC had won the title with 1.45. The final ranking: Ewry(USA) 1.575 Tsiklitiras (Greece) 1.55 Biller (USA) 1.55 Holmes (USA) 1.525 P.Adams (USA) 1.47 Andre (France) 1.47 Motte (France) 1.47

Silver medal, July 20, 1908, Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, long jump standing. London 1908

Long jump was the favorite discipline of Kostas Tsiklitiras. At the Panhellenic Championships, held before the Olympic Games, the champion from Pylos took first place with a performance of 3.25 in the preliminaries and 3.32 in the final. So he traveled to London with the hope of winning one of the three medals. In fact, such was the optimism in Greece that a prediction board was also published in Athens predicting a victory for our champion. 24 athletes from 11 countries participated in the competition. The favorite was American Ray Ewry, who confirmed his reputation by taking first place with a jump of 3.335. Tsiklitiras took the silver medal after a great fight and was basically the only one who threatened the gold winner. The final: Ewry(USA) 3.335 Tsiklitiras (Greece) 3.235 Sheridan (USA) 3.23 Biller (USA) 3.215 Ekberg (Sweden) 3.195 P.Adams (USA) 3.11 Holmes (USA) 3.11

Gold medal, July 8, 1912, Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, long jump standing. Stockholm 1912

A great day for the Greek sport. The competition was attended by 19 athletes from eight countries, divided into four teams. Each team completed the first three trials of the competition in separate boxes. According to the regulations of the time, only the top three athletes after the first three jumps had the right to win the three medals. Kostas Tsiklitiras was in excellent shape and shortly before in Athens had set a record of 3.47, just behind the world record of 3.475 set by the famous American Ray Ewry, who had left the sport in 1910. The Greek champion was part of the third team and his first three attempts were 3.14, 3.26 and 3.37, so he entered the final with the American brothers Platt Adams and Ben Adams. The first had a best of 3.32 and the second of 3.28, so Tsiklitiras was already on his way to the gold medal, leading the competition (3.37). Platt is a touch ahead of Tsiklitiras(3.36) in his fourth attempt, while Ben is worse with 3.18. The Greek athlete is a bit nervous, he does not improve, he stays at 3.30. Fifth attempt, the jumps of Platt Adams, Ben and Kostas are respectively 3.34, 3.24, 3.24. In the last attempt nothing changes and Kostas Tsiklitiras is gold medalist. He said, “When I entered the Olympic Stadium, I felt very strange. Before I went to Stockholm, I thought I would be the tallest of all my opponents, but the three Americans were taller than me, as were most of my teammates. The old world and the new world sent the tallest figures… Just before my third attempt, my eyes fell on the Greek flag fluttering in a light breeze, and it seemed to me that it was cheering me on lovingly.” The final: Tsiklitiras (Greece) 3.37 p. Adams (USA) 3.36 M. Adams (USA) 3.28 Malmsten (Sweden) 3.20 Goehring (USA) 3.14 Meller (Sweden) 3.14 Baronyi (Hungary) 3.13 Byrd (USA) 3.12.

Bronze medal July 13, 1912 Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, high jump standing. Stockholm 1912

It has been only five days since Kostas Tsiklitiras won gold in the untimed long jump, and the American brothers Platt Adams and Ben Adams are expecting the Greek champion for the rematch. At least they know that this competition is not his best, but also that they are the only ones in the world among the participants who have an individual record over 1.60. Tsiklitiras has a best of 1.55, which he also achieved in 1910, 1911 and 1912. He repeats it and wins the bronze medal by five centimeters over fellow American Richard Byrd. Platt and Ben Adams take the first two places with 1.63 and 1.60. The final: P. Adams (USA) 1.63 M. Adams (USA) 1.60 Tsiklitiras (Greece) 1.55 Byrd (USA) 1.50 Goehring (USA) 1.50 Moller (Sweden) 1.50