The Olympic Dictionary K KAHANAMOKU PAOA KAHINU MAKOE HULIKOHOA “DUKE” (swimming, USA, b. Honolulu, Hawaii, 24/8/1890, d. Honolulu 22/1/1968). Three appearances (1912, 1920, 1924), 3 gold (100 freestyle 1912 and 1920, 4x200 freestyle 1920) and 2 silver medals (4x200 freestyle 1912, 100 freestyle 1924). 1912 1-1-0, 1920 2-0-0, 1924 0-1-0. Named Duke like his father, in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh who had visited Hawaii in 1869, in 1911 he swam the 100 yards (91 metres) freestyle in 55.4 in the waters of Honolulu harbour, beating the world record by 4.6: a record that was recognized only many years later by the U.S. Federation. In Stockholm he risked disqualification when, with the other Americans Huszagh and McGillivray, he did not show up at the Olympic semi-final due to a misunderstanding, but they were allowed to compete for qualification in the final, as long as they equalled the time of the Australian swimmer Longworth, who had finished third in the other semi-final. He won in 1:02.4, equalling the world record, and in the final a time a second slower was sufficient to win him his first gold medal. In 1920 he set another world record (1:00.4) winning the final of the 100 freestyle on his 30th birthday; 5 days later, he won the repeat race made necessary by the protest of another swimmer, and he also won with a world record time (10:04.4) in the 4x200 freestyle. In 1924 he was unable to win his third gold for the 100, because he was beaten by Johnny Weissmüller (q.v.), the future Tarzan, who won ahead of two Kahanamokus, because his brother Samuel, 14 years younger, came third. He was also present at the 1928 Olympics and, at the age of 42, at the 1932 Games, as a reserve for swimming and water polo respectively, but he did not take part in competition. He set 4 world records for the 100 yards, the last in 1917, 53 seconds. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of surfing: his almost 3 km ride in 1917 off Honolulu has become part of legend, and in 1925 he saved 8 people on his surfboard after a luxury yacht capsized off the Corona del Mar beach in California, an accident in which 17 people died. He was an actor in 28 films, and sheriff in Honolulu for almost 30 years. KAKHIASHVILIS AKAKIOS “KAKHI” (weightlifting, Unified Team/Greece, b. Tskhinvali, Georgia, 13/7/1969). Four appearances (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) and 3 gold medals (light heavyweight 90 kg 1992, first heavyweight 99 kg 1996, light heavyweight 94 kg 2000). 1992 1-0-0, 1996 1-0-0, 2000 1-0-0. Born Akakios Kakhiashvili, he won the gold medal in 1992 for the Unified Team, with a total of 412.5 kg, achieved at his last attempt at the clean and jerk: he set the world record at 235 kg, drawing level with the Uzbekh Syrtsov and beating him due to his lower body weight (just 20 grams difference). After emigrating to Greece, his mother’s country of origin, he transliterated his name and won another 2 Olympic gold medals: in 1996, with a world record in clean and jerk (235 kg) and a total of 10 kg more than Kazakh Khrapaty, in a competition in which the top 9 contestants represented 7 different countries, but were all from the ex USSR; in 2000, he won again as a result of his lower body weight, having lifted the same total weight (405 kg) as Pole Kolecki. In 2004, failing to complete a clean and jerk, he finished outside the medals, and so was unsuccessful in his bid to become the first weightlifter to win 4 consecutive Olympic golds. In the World Championships, he won 3 gold (1995 first heavyweight, 1998-99 light heavyweight) and 2 silver medals; in the European Championships, 4 gold medals (1992-93-95 light heavyweight, 1996 first heavyweight), 2 silvers and one bronze. He set 7 world records. 97 The Olympic Dictionary KAMMERER ZOLTÁN (canoeing, Hungary, b. Vac 10/3/1978). Two appearances (2000, 2004) and 3 gold medals (K2 500 m 2000, K4 1000 m 2000 and 2004). 2000 2-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. The day after his gold medal in the K4 at the Sydney Games, he won the gold in the K2 500 with Botond Storcz (q.v.), in a race that was delayed 3 times and was actually held 5 hours late, pulling ahead of the Australians Trim-Collins in the last 50 metres. Even though there was a headwind of over 60 km/h, the time recorded (1:47.055) was 16 seconds better than that achieved in the heats. In 2004 he won his third gold medal, in the K4, with the same crew as in Sydney: with him were Storcz, Gábor Horváth and Ákos Vereczkei. In the World Championships, he won 3 gold (K4 500 m 1997, K4 1000 m 1999, K2 1000 m 2006), 2 silver and 5 bronze medals. KARELIN ALEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVICH (wrestling, USSR/Russia, b. Novosibirsk 19/9/1967). Four appearances (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000), 3 gold medals (greco-roman super- heavyweight >100 kg 1988, 1992 and 1996) and one silver medal (greco-roman super-heavyweight >97 kg 2000). 1988 1-0-0, 1992 1-0-0, 1996 1-0-0, 2000 0-1-0. This giant, 192 cm height, 130 kg weight (he weighed 7 kg at birth) won his first Olympic gold medal in 1988, beating the Bulgarian Gerovski in the final, the only one of his 5 opponents to last 6 minutes: 0-3 down, he won the 5 deciding points with a reverse body lift 30 seconds before the end. In 1992, Finnish Ahokas was the only opponent who stayed the full 5 minutes (bouts had been shorted), while to beat the other four wrestlers, Karelin took a total of 5:32, of which 1:33 in the final against the Swedish Johansson (q.v.). In 1996, three months after an operation on his shoulder, for the 21st time in 21 matches he beat the U.S. wrestler of Iranian origin, in the final, beating his 5 opponents at Atlanta with a total of 25-0. In 2000, he arrived at Sydney with a 13-year unbeaten record (his last defeat was against Rostorosky in the national championships) and 59 wins in 59 Olympic and World Championship matches (winning 9 consecutive world title gold medals: 1989-90-91-93-94-95-97-98-99). He won the first four matches, but in the final the judges inflicted a penalty point – the referee had not noticed – and lost against the American Gardner, failing to take his gold medal score to 4 before his retirement. KÁRPÁTI RUDOLF (fencing, Hungary, b. Budapest 17/7/1920, d. Budapest 1/2/1999). Four appearances (1948, 1952, 1956, 1960) and 6 gold medals (individual sabre 1956 and 1960, team sabre 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960). 1948 1-0-0, 1952 1-0-0, 1956 2-0-0, 1960 2-0-0. He won his first individual gold at the age of 36, with 18 victories and a single defeat, against Polish fencer Pawlowski, behind him in the final round; and the second when he was 40, unaffected by an official protest by the French who accused him of causing the elimination of Lefevre in the quarter-finals by purposely losing against the Romanian Rohonyi. In the World Championships he won 7 gold (individual sabre 1954-59, team sabre 1953-54-55-57-58), 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. He was a professional musician, and considered that he was a good fencer because both his passions were based on rhythm and timing. He was also president of the Hungarian fencing Federation. KÁRPÁTY GYÖRGY (water polo, Hungary, b. Budapest 23/6/1935). Four appearances (1952, 1956, 1960, 1964), 3 gold medals (1952, 1956, 1964) and one bronze (1960). 1952 1-0-0, 1956 1-0- 0, 1960 0-0-1, 1964 1-0-0. Considered as one of the fastest water polo players in the world, he swam the 100 freestyle in under 59 seconds, and won his first gold medal at the age of just 17, and won a total of 3, always ahead of Yugoslavia, even though he succeeded in actually beating them (2-1) only in 1956, because on the other 2 occasions, after 2-2 and 4-4 draws respectively (in the latter match he scored 2 goals, before Rusoran’s equalizer 25 seconds from the end), the Hungarian team took the gold on goal difference. He was famous for his feint shot, which fooled many goalkeepers. He also won 3 European gold medals (1954-58-62) and 5 Hungarian championships with Ferencváros (1956-62-63-65-68). 98 The Olympic Dictionary KARPPINEN PERTTI JOHANNES (rowing, Finland, b. Askainen 17/2/1953). Five appearances (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) and 3 gold medals (scull 1976, 1980, 1984). 1976 1-0-0, 1980 1-0- 0, 1984 1-0-0. He was a fireman, 2 metres in height, and he had a superb sprint finish, by means of which he beat the German Kolbe, for several times world champion, in the 1976 and 1984 Olympics, by 2.64 and 1.95 respectively; in 1980, when Kolbe boycotted the Moscow Games, he finished 2.05 ahead of the Soviet Yakusha. In 1988 he attempted to beat the record held by another Soviet rower, Vyacheslav Ivanov (q.v.), the first athlete to win 3 consecutive gold medals for the scull; but he did not reach the final, winning just the consolation final and coming 7th.