Christos Papanikolaou

Christos Papanikolaou (Greek: Χρήστος Παπανικολάου, born 25 November 1941) is a retired Greek pole vaulter. On October 25, 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.

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