Periklís Iakovákis ' onMouseout='HidePop("17658")' href="/topics/Patras">Patras

Patras

Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

) is a Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 athlete mainly competing in 400 metres hurdles

400 metres hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...

. He is the Greek record holder and nine times national champion in the event.

In 1998 Iakovakis won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships

1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics

The 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 1998 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Annecy, France from July 28 to August 2, 1998.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...

 in Annecy, France with 49.82 seconds, and five years later he won the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics

2003 World Championships in Athletics

The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...

 in Paris-Saint-Denis, France. In the final at the Stade de France

Stade de France

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...

, he finished in 48.24 seconds after Félix Sánchez

Felix Sanchez

Félix Sánchez —nicknamed Super Felix, the Invincible and the Dictator— is a track and field athlete from New York City, United States who competes for The Dominican Republic...

 (Dominican Republic) and Joey Woody

Joey Woody

Joey Woody is an American track and field athlete in the 400 meter hurdles event.Woody attended the University of Northern Iowa, where he was the 1997 NCAA champion in the 400 m hurdles. Woody placed third in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and qualified for the 1997 World...

 (USA).

Iakovakis achieved his personal best of 47.82 seconds on 6 May 2006 in Osaka during the IAAF World Athletics Tour and won his first major competition 3 months later. He became European Champion

2006 European Championships in Athletics

The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"...

 in Gothenborg, Sweden finishing at 48.46 seconds in the final.

After his win at the European Championships, Iakovakis won the full-lap hurdles event in 47.92 seconds at the Zurich Weltklasse Golden League

IAAF Golden League

The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations...

 meet at the last evening that this top meeting would be held at the Letzigrund

Letzigrund

In January 2005, UEFA approved plans to rebuild the stadium for use as a EURO 2008 venue. It hosted 3 matches in the 2008 European Football Championship....

. The reigning European Champion was then first at the Herculis IAAF World Athletics Tour meeting in Monaco.

He won the bronze medal at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final

2009 IAAF World Athletics Final

The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics meetings which began on September 20, 2008 at the...

, which was the last edition of the competition and was held in Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

.

In 2010 he set a season target of defending his European title. He suffered a minor injury to his soleus muscle

Soleus muscle

- References :* Gray, Henry. Pick, T. Pickering, & Howden, Robert . Gray's Anatomy . New York: Barnes & Noble Books.- External links :...

 in March, but recovered and began his preparation in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Cyprus. He identified Dai Greene (the eventual winner) as his main European rival in the event. Finally he did not succeed in his goal, as he finished in the fifth place. This was caused by his performance in the semi-final, in which he qualified with the last time (50.33 s) among the finalists. Therefore he had to compete in the final's first lane, which made his chances for a medal even slighter.

Maria Sotirakopoulou has been his coach for many years.

Achievements

1998	World Junior Championships 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 1998 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Annecy, France from July 28 to August 2, 1998.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...	Annecy Annecy Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:... , France	1st	400 m hurdles	49.82
1999	World Indoor Championships 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the Green Dome Maebashi stadium in Maebashi, Japan from March 5 to March 7, 1999. It was the first time the Championships were staged outside Europe or North America. Primo Nebiolo, president of the IAAF, characterized the...	Maebashi, Japan	6th (semis)	400 m
	European U23 Championships 1999 European Athletics U23 Championships The 1999 European Athletics U23 Championships is the 1999 version of the European Athletics U23 Championships. It was held in the Swedish city of Göteborg.-Men's Results:-Women's Results:-Medals table:-Notes and references:*...	Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden	3rd	400 m hurdles
	World Championships 1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....	Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... , Spain	3rd (heats)	400 m hurdles	49.53
			6th (heats)	4 x 400 m relay	3:04.07 NR
2000	Olympic Games Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 46 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 22 for women. There were a total number of 2134 participating athletes from 193 countries.-Men's events:...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia	3rd (heats)	400 m hurdles
			5th (heats)	4 x 400 metre relay
2001	Mediterranean Games 2001 Mediterranean Games The 14th edition of the Mediterranean Games were held in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, from 2 to 15 September 2001. Twenty three nations competed in 23 different sporting events. France won the most gold medals in the competition while Italy had the greatest medal haul overall with 136 in...	Tunis Tunis Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants.... , Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...	1st	400 m hurdles
	World Championships 2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...	Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Canada	5th (semis)	400 m hurdles
2002	European Championships 2002 European Championships in Athletics The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	5th	400 m hurdles	49.07
2003	European Cup	Florence Florence Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.... , Italy	2nd	400 m hurdles
	World Championships 2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	3rd	400 m hurdles	48.24
			6th	4 x 400 metres relay 2003 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 4 x 400 metres relay These are the official results of the Men's 4x400 metres event at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, France. Their final was held on Sunday 31 August 2003 at 19:35h.-Final:-Heat 1:-Heat 2:-Heat 3:-References:*...
	IAAF World Athletics Final 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final The 1st IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 13 September and 14 September 2003.The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco stadium was not large enough to hold the event.One of the...	Monte Carlo Monte Carlo Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.... , Monaco	6th	400 m hurdles
2004	Olympic Games Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... , Greece	11th	400 m hurdles	48.47
			12th	4x400 metre relay
2005	World Championships 2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... , Finland	13th	400 m hurdles 2005 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 6, 7 and 9.-Medalists:-Results:All times shown are in seconds.Q denotes qualification by place....
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	1st	400 m hurdles 2006 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres hurdles The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2006 European Athletics Championships were held at the Ullevi on August 9 and August 10.Iakovákis and Plawgo were well ahead of the field, while Williams surged towards the finish line and pipped Frenchman Naman Keïta by a...	48.46
	World Athletics Final 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final The 4th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 9 and September 10, 2006.-Results:-External links:*...	Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	1st	400 m hurdles	47.92
2007	European Cup	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , Germany	1st	400 m hurdles
	World Championships 2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...	Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	6th	400 m hurdles 2007 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Nagai Stadium on 25, 26 and 28 August.-Medalists:-Records:Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.-Schedule:-Results:-Heats:...	49.25
2008	European Cup	Annecy Annecy Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:... , France	1st	400 m hurdles
	Olympic Games Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...	Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	8th	400 m hurdles	49.96
2009	European Team Championships 2009 European Team Championships The first SPAR European Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008...	Leiria Leiria Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000... , Portugal	2nd	400 m hurdles
	World Championships 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....	Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	5th	400 m hurdles 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15, 16 and 18 August.The United States hurdling team was by far the strongest entered by any country, comprising defending champion Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic champion Angelo Taylor,...	48.42
	World Athletics Final 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics meetings which began on September 20, 2008 at the...	Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace... , Greece	3rd	400 m hurdles
2010	European Championships	Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	5th	400 m hurdles 2010 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres hurdles The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2010 European Athletics Championships was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 28, 29 and 31 July.-Medalists:-Records:-Schedule:-Heat 1:-Heat 2:-Heat 3:-Heat 4:-Summary:-Semifinal 1:...	49.38

Result progression

• 2009: 48.42 seconds
• 2006: 47.82 seconds
• 2005: 48.24 seconds
• 2004: 48.47 seconds
• 2003: 48.17 seconds
• 2002: 48.66 seconds
• 2001: 48.87 seconds
• 2000: 49.35 seconds
• 1999: 49.53 seconds
• 1998: 49.82 seconds

External links