Alexandros Nikolaidis

A four-time Olympic taekwondoka, Alexandros Nikolaidis won silver medals at Athina 2004 and Beijing 2008. At the 2012 London Olympics Nikolaidis was honored to carry the Greek flag at the Opening Ceremony. In 2008 he was named the Greek male athlete of the year and was chosen as the first Torchbearer for the Olympic Flame Relay for Beijing 2008, being handed the torch by the high priestess after it was ignited at Ancient Olympia.

In a long career Nikolaidis was a three-time European Champion, winning in 1996, 1997, and 2008, and adding a bronze medal in 2010. He was the 1996 World Champion as a welterweight and won a silver medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in the heavyweight class. He retired from competition in 2014.

Nikolaidis later entered politics, joining the Syriza Party. He was a deputy spokesman of the party and ran for the European Parliament in 2019. After suffering for two years, Nikolaidis died at age 42 from a rare, aggressive cancer, a NUT carcinoma. When the end was near, he asked that his two Olympic silver medals be auctioned off to help a children’s charity.