Periklis Iakovakis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Periklís Iakovákis (Greek: Περικλής Ιακωβάκης, born 24 March 1979 in Patras) is a Greek athlete mainly competing in 400 metres hurdles. 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 in Annecy, France with 49.82 seconds, and five years later he won the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris-Saint-Denis, France. In the final at the Stade de France, he finished in 48.24 seconds after Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) and Joey Woody (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 in Gothenborg, Sweden finishing at 48.46 seconds in the final.

After his win at the European Championships, Iakovakis won the full-lap hundles event in 47.92 seconds at the Zurich Weltklasse Golden League meet at the last evening that this top meeting would be held at the Letzigrund. The reigning European Champion was then first at the Herculis IAAF World Athletics Tour meeting in Monaco.

Maria Sotirakopoulou is his coach for many years.