Great Olympians

Biographies - KI

Kie - Kil - Kim - Kin - Kip - Kir - Kis - Kit - Kiy - Kiz

Kerstin Kielgaß

Germany
Swimming (1 silver, 2 bronze)
1992 1996 2000 HP
200 m Free-style bronze - fourth 4576
400 m Free-style fifth fourth 15th 2610
800 m Free-style 9th fourth - 1760
4 x 100 m Free-style Relay qual. - qual. 128
4 x 200 m Free-style Relay silver bronze 1640
10714

Marika Kilius

Germany
Figure Skating (2 silver)
1956 1960 1964 HP
Pairs fourth silver silver 13200
13200

In 1956 with Franz Ningel, in 1960 and 1964 with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler.

Jean-Claude Killy

B. 1943-08-30, St Cloud, Alsace, France
Alpine Skiing (3 gold)
1964 1968 HP
Giant Slalom fifth gold 7400
Downhill 42nd gold 6400
Slalom disq gold 6400
20200

Killy emulated the feat of Toni Sailer from 1956, but with far less conviction, winning the Slalom and Giant Slalom by less than a tenth of a second. The slalom victory, furthermore, came after some controversy. Austrian Karl Schranz was given a second chance after claiming he was hindered by an official, and finished with a better time. hours later, a jury ruled that his claim to a second race had been invalid, as he had missed a gate before being hindered.
Killy introduced the style of using the skis wider apart in the downhill, which gave more stability.
After Grenoble, Killy turned professional and has appeared in films.
He was World Champion at Downhill and Comnbined in 1966, and World Cup winner in every discipline in 1967, and in Giant Slalom and Overall in 1968.
He derives his name from Irish mercenaries (Kelly) in the Napoleonic Wars.

Kim Dong-Moon

Korea, Republic
Badminton (2 gold, 1 bronze)
1996 2000 2004 HP
Mixed Doubles gold QF QF 11793.75
Men's Doubles bronze gold 11200
22993.75

In Sydney and Athina the partner of Ha Tae Kwon in the Men's Doubles, and of Ra Kyung-Min in the Mixed Doubles (he had won the 1996 final against her, playing with Gil Young-Ah)

(125)

Kim Ki-Hoon

Korea, Republic
Shorttrack (3 gold)
1992 1994 HP
1000 m gold gold 10800
5000 m, teams gold 1200
12000

World Overall Champion in 1992.

Nelli Kim

B. 1957-07-29, Kazakhstan, Soviet-Union
Gymnastics (5 gold, 1 silver)

(136 HP)

Kim Il Ong

North Korea
Wrestling, free-style
1992 1996 HP
-48 kg gold gold 19200
19200

Between 1992 and 1996, Kim was not seen on the international scene because North Korea chose to remain isolated. He returned to the Asian trials in 1996 and went on to win the Olympic title a second time.

Kim Soo-Nyung

B. 1971-04-05, Seoul, Korea
Archery (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
1988 1992 2000 HP
Individual gold silver bronze 20250
Team gold gold gold 9600
29850

World Individual Champion in 1989 and '91.
The "best archer of all time" was team champion in Seoul and Barcelona. She retired in 1993, in order to marry and have two children, but she came back into the Korean team for Sydney, and won a third Olympic title in the team event.

Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa

Cuba
Boxing (2 gold)
2000 2004 HP
- 60 kg gold gold 19200
19200

Roger Kingdom

B. 1962-08-26, USA
Track and Field (2 gold)
1984 1988 HP
110 m Hurdles gold gold 19200
19200

In 1989 he lowered the world record to 12.92 sec, a record that stood for 4 years.

Clarence Brickwood Kingsbury

B. 1882-11-03, Great Britain; D. 1949-03-04
Cycling (2 gold)
1908 HP
20 km gold 4800
Team Pursuit gold 3600
Sprint (660 yds) SF:2 430.5
Sprint (1000 m) fin. 1200
5000 m fifth 750
10781

Brimin Kiprop Kipruto

B. 1985-07-31, Kenya
Athletics (1 gold, 1 silver)
2004 2008 HP
3000 m steeple silver gold 15600
15600

Janis Kipurs

Latvia, then Soviet Union
Bobsledding (1 gold, 1 bronze)
1984 1988 HP
Two-man fourth gold 10000
Four-man sixth bronze 2400
12400

Karsh Kiraly

B. 1960-11-03, Jackson, Mich., USA, moved to California in 1965.
Volleyball, Beach Volleyball (3 gold)
1984 1988 1996 HP
Volleyball gold gold 12800
Beach Volleyball gold 16000
28800

His father had been a member of the Hungarian national Volleyball team, and aged 11, Karsh had entered his first Beach Volleyball tournament with his father. He joined the national indoor team in 1981 and helped the USA to the Olympic titles in 1984 and 1988, where he was voted the tournament's most valuable player. He was also named the best player in the world in 1986 and '88. He then left the US national team to go and play with Ravenna in Italy, with whom he won the world club title in 1991. He returned to the now financially lucrative Beach Volleyball scene and crowned his career with gold in the inaugural appearance of the event in the Olympics.

Alphonse Kirchhofer

Olympic Competitor nr 347

Tanyu Kiriakov

Bulgaria
Shooting (2 gold, 1 bronze)
1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 HP
Air Pistol gold 7th bronze 8th fourth 14020
Free Pistol fourth 8th 20th gold 7th sixth 10346.7
24366.7

Oliver Kirk

B. 1884-04-20, USA; D. ?
Boxing (2 gold)
1904 HP
Bantamweight (-52.2 kg) gold 7200
Featherweight (-56.7 kg) gold 7200
14400

In 1904, boxers were allowed to start in higher weight-classes too. Several did so, but only Oliver Kirk managed to win two gold medals.

Petar Kirov

Bulgaria
Wrestling - Greco-Roman (2 gold)
1968 1972 HP
-52 kg gold gold 19200
19200

Tanyu Kiryakov

B. 1963-03-02, Rousse, Bulgaria
Shooting (2 gold, 1 bronze)
1988 1992 1996 2000 HP
Free Pistol fourth 8th 20th gold 10321.25
Air Pistol gold 7th bronze 8th 12020
22341.25

Irena Kirszenstein

competed from 1968 to 1976 as

Irena Szewinska

B. 1946-05-24, Leningrad - Polish nationality
Track and Field (3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 HP
100 m - bronze 14th - - 2576
200 m silver gold bronze - - 16200
400 m - - - gold 16th 6406.4
4 x 100 m gold 14th - - - 1604
Long Jump silver 16th - - - 6096
32882.4

She has achieved a wide range of records. From Tokyo, only eighteen, over München, 3 months after the birth of her son, to Montreal, where at 30 years she defeated the best East Germans. At Mexico, she dropped the baton in the 4x100 metres.

Harri Kirvesniemi

Finland
Nordic Skiing (6 bronze)
1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 HP
4 x 10 km bronze bronze 8th bronze bronze bronze 33
15 km 8th bronze 8th 32
10 km, classical style sixth - 13th
50 km - fourth 22nd 16
50 km, classical style 12 th
30 km 18th 7th 9th 8
30 km, classical style 10th sixth
combined pursuit (10 km + 15 km) 11th - dnf -
89

Winner of an amazing 5 bronze medals with the Finnish relay team. Together with Heikki Ilmari Savolainen, Alexei Nemov , Merlene Ottey and Franziska van Almsick he's the record holder of bronze medals (SIX)

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi

see Marja-Liisa Hämälainen

Kiss Gergely

Hungary
Waterpolo (3 gold)
2000 2004 2008 HP
Waterpolo gold gold gold 19200
19200

Winner of the Waterpolo at Sydney, Athina and Beijing

Kosuke Kitajima

B. 1982-09-22, Tokyo, Japan
Swimming (4 gold, 2 bronze)
2000 2004 2008 HP
100 m Breast stroke fourth gold gold 21600
200 m Breast stroke 17th gold gold 12804
4x100 m Medley Relay - bronze bronze 1280
35684

Harald Austin "Harry" Kitson

B. 1874-06-17, South Africa; D. 1951-11-30
Tennis
1908 1912 HP
Men's Singles R2 silver 5000.6
Men's Doubles QF gold 5122.9
10123.5

(107 HP)

Masaji Kiyokawa

Japan
Swimming (1 gold, 1 bronze)
1932 1936 HP
100 m Backstroke gold bronze 13440
13440

Ivan Kizimov

B. 1928-04-28, Zherebkov, Rostov, Russia
Equestrianism (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
1964 1968 1972 1976 HP
Dressage, individual 10th gold fourth 16th 10133
Dressage, team bronze silver gold fourth 4550
14683

Written 2001-01-25 - last modified 2002-10-30

This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here for a full Introduction.