Vasilis Papageorgopoulos

Vasilis Papageorgopoulos (Greek: Βασίλης Παπαγεωργόπουλος, born June 27, 1947 in Thessaloniki) is a retired Greek sprinter, former mayor of Thessaloniki. He won two medals at the European Indoor Championships as well as the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1971 European Championships in Athletics.

Papageorgopoulos' personal best time was 10.22 seconds, achieved in August 1972 in Izmir. This ranks him twelfth among Greek 100 metre sprinters, behind Angelos Pavlakakis, Aristotelis Gavelas, Christoforos Choidis, Alexandros Yenovelis, Haralambos Papadias, Konstantinos Kenteris, Alexis Alexopoulos, Panayotis Sarris, Georgios Theodoridis, Yeoryios Panayiotopoulos and Alexandros Terzian.^[1] Papageorgopoulos also studied medicine. That is why most Thessalonians call him "The flying doctor".

Papageorgopoulos first got involved in politics in 1978 when he was elected City councilor of Thessaloniki. He practiced dentistry until 1981, when he was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament, representing Thessaloniki, for the Conservative New Democracy party . Papageorgopoulos has been, from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2010, the mayor of Thessaloniki.

In April 2011, he was among 25 people contacted by an investigating magistrate with a probe into alleged embezzlement of 51.4 million euros at the municipality. He was also accused by his successor Yiannis Boutaris of providing inaccurate financial figures.^[2]

Achievements

References

• Website of Vasilis Papageorgopoulos
• Profile at the Thessaloniki Association "The White Tower"

1. ^ All time best Balkan athletes - The Athletics Site
2. ^ Kathimerini: Ex-Thessaloniki mayor to face embezzlement probe. April 28, 2011
3. ^ 1971 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite
4. ^ 1974 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite