Apostolos Taskoudis

Apostolos Taskoudis (Greek: Απόστολος Τασκούδης; born April 22, 1985) is an amateur Greek freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's welterweight category.[1] Taskoudis finished sixth in the 66-kg class when Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and has also captured three gold medals in the 74-kg division in beach wrestling at the World Championships (2012 to 2014).[2][3] In 2015 he won the gold medal (70-kg class) at the Mediterranean Beach Games in Pescara. Throughout his sporting career, Taskoudis has been training for San Georgios Wrestling Club in his native Serres, under his personal coach Avtandil Bzalava.

Apostolos Taskoudis
Personal information
Full nameApostolos Taskoudis
Nationality Greece
Born (1985-04-22) 22 April 1985
Serres, Central Macedonia,
Greece
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubSan Georgios Wrestling Club
CoachAvtandil Bzalava

Early years

Taskoudis qualified for the Greek squad, as a 19-year-old teen, in the men's welterweight class (66 kg), when his nation hosted the world to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He filled up an entry by the International Federation of Association Wrestling and the Hellenic Olympic Committee, as Greece received an automatic berth for being the host nation.[2][4][5] Amassed the home crowd inside Ano Liossia Olympic Hall, Taskoudis opened the prelim pool with a marvelous victory over India's Ramesh Kumar by a 10–8 verdict, before losing his succeeding match 6–12 to Armenia's Zhirayr Hovhannisyan.[6] Despite a single defeat, Taskoudis secured his spot for the medal rounds due to the most number of technical points he obtained from the pool. He was overpowered by eventual Olympic champion Elbrus Tedeyev of Ukraine in the quarterfinal match 2–6, and then followed it with a 4–6 setback in a playoff against Japan's Kazuhiko Ikematsu for a fifth-place finish, dropping him to sixth.[7][8]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Apostolos Taskoudis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. Με 18 παλαιστές στο ολυμπιακό ταπί της Αθήνας [18 wrestlers in the Olympic mat for Athens] (in Greek). To Vima. 24 March 2002. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  3. Georgakopoulos, Georgios (8 July 2014). "Beach Wrestling Worlds end with Greece on top". Kathimerini. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  4. Abbott, Gary (18 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. Απόστολος Τασκούδης: «Θέλω να υπερασπιστώ τον τίτλο μου» [Apostolos Taskoudis: "I want to defend my title"] (in Greek). Nova Sports. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  6. "Ramesh Kumar wins but fails to advance". Rediff.com. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 96kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  8. Στα ημιτελικά ο Καρντάνοφ [Kardanov finished fourth] (in Greek). Rizospastis. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
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