Kyriakos Ioannou
Quick Facts
Biography
Kyriakos Ioannou (Greek: Κυριάκος Ιωάννου; born 26 July 1984) is a Cypriot high jumper. He's a three-time world championships medalist (Osaka 2007, Valencia 2008 & Berlin 2009), the only medalist for Cyprus since the creation of the Championships in 1983. He's also the Cypriot record holder, both outdoors (2.35 m) and indoor (2.32 m). Ioannou took the gold medal at 2005 and 2009 Mediterranean Games.
Biography
His personal best jump and Cypriot national record is 2.35 metres, achieved at the 2007 World Championships held in Osaka where he won the bronze medal. He became the first World Championships medalist from Cyprus. Two years later, at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, he won the silver medal (2,32 m), only beaten by Yaroslav Rybakov. He also took the bronze medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships and finished 4th two years later at the same competition in Doha.
His best jump, outdoors in 2010, came at Lausanne on July 8, when he took third place with a jump of 2.30. Doha, 6 May: Ioannou began his outdoor season at the first Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar, on Friday 6 May. He and American Jesse Williams set a new Meet Record of 2.33 (7' 8") when each cleared on their third attempts. After both failed at 2.35, Williams was the winner on the basis of his first jump clearance at 2.31.
Injured, he didn't come in the qualifying rounds at the World Championships in Daegu where he was one the favourite for a medal.
In 2012, still injured, he arrived to qualifying to the Olympic final in London where he finished 12th with 2.20 m. The following year, he didn't compete. Back in 2014 at the Commonwealth Games, Ioannou wins the silver medal with a SB of 2.28 m. Derek Drouin of Canada takes gold (2.31 m).
In March 2015, Ioannou makes the final of the European Indoor Athletics Championships but didn't arrived to make any jump due to an injury. In June, he makes the olympic standards by clearing 2.29 m.
In February 2016, for his first competition of the year, the Cypriot equals his own indoor national record made in 2008 (and equaled by Dimitrios Chondrokoukis in 2015) by clearing 2.32 m in Hustopeče on his third try.
Competition record
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Cyprus | ||||
2001 | World Youth Championships | Debrecen, Hungary | 29th (q) | 1.90 m |
2002 | World Junior Championships | Kingston, Jamaica | 18th (q) | 2.12 m |
2003 | European Junior Championships | Tampere, Finland | 6th | 2.15 m |
2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 19th (q) | 2.25 m |
2005 | European Indoor Championships | Madrid, Spain | 18th (q) | 2.18 m |
Games of the Small States of Europe | Andorra la Vella, Andorra | 1st | 2.18 m | |
Mediterranean Games | Almería, Spain | 1st | 2.24 m | |
European U23 Championships | Erfurt, Germany | 4th | 2.27 m | |
World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 10th | 2.25 m | |
2006 | Commonwealth Games | Melbourne, Australia | 3rd | 2.23 m |
2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 3rd | 2.35 m (NR) |
Universiade | Bangkok, Thailand | 2nd | 2.26 m | |
2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 3rd | 2.30 m |
Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 18th (q) | 2.25 m | |
2009 | European Indoor Championships | Turin, Italy | 2nd | 2.29 m |
Games of the Small States of Europe | Nicosia, Cyprus | 1st | 2.25 m | |
Mediterranean Games | Pescara, Italy | 1st | 2.30 m | |
World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 2nd | 2.32 m | |
2010 | World Indoor Championships | Doha, Qatar | 4th | 2.28 m |
2012 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 21st (q) | 2.15 m |
Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 13th | 2.20 m | |
2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 2nd | 2.28 m |
2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | 7th (q) | 2.28 m1 |
2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 10th (q) | 2.25 m1 |
Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 7th | 2.29 m |
1No mark in the final