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.

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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/, 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).

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KARPPINEN PERTTI JOHANNES (, 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. In 1992, at his fifth and last Olympiad, he came 10th. His performance history includes 2 World Championship gold medals (1979-85), plus 3 silvers and one bronze, including a second place in the , in 1981, with his younger brother Reima.

KÁSAS TÁMÁS (water polo, Hungary, b. Budapest 20/7/1976). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004) and 2 gold medals (2000, 2004). 2000 1-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. After 12 consecutive medals (6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze) from 1928 to 1980, Hungary returned to the podium in water polo only in 2000. At Atlanta in 1996, they missed the bronze when they lost 18-20 in extra time against Italy in the final for 3rd place. Then they won 2 consecutive gold medals with Kasas, the only water polo player in history to win gold medals in all the events in which he took part. In the World Championships he won one gold (2003) and 3 silver medals, in the European Championships 2 gold (1997, scoring all 3 goals of the 3-2 final against Yugoslavia, and 1999), 2 silver and 2 bronze medals, 2 FINA Cups (1995-99), 2 World League (2003-04) titles, plus one World and one European gold at junior level. At club level, he won 4 league championships in Italy (2000 and 2001 with Posillipo, 2005 Savona, 2007 Pro Recco), 2 Champions’ Cups (1998 Posillipo and 2007 Pro Recco, scoring 3 goals in the 9-8 final against Jug Dubrovnik), a Cup Winners’ Cup (2003 Posillipo), 2 LEN Cups (1997 Ujpest, 2005 Savona), and an Italian Cup (2007 Pro Recco). His father Zoltán won an Olympic silver (1972), a World Championship gold (1973) and a European gold (1974).

KATO SAWAO (gymnastics, Japan, b. Gosen 11/10/1946). Three appearances (1968, 1972, 1976), 8 gold medals (all-round 1968 and 1972, team competition 1968, 1972 and 1976, exercise 1968, parallel bars 1972 and 1976), 3 silvers (all-round 1976, pommel horse 1972, high bar 1972) and one bronze (rings 1968). 1968 3-0-1, 1972 3-2-0, 1976 2-1-0. In gymnastics he holds the men’s record for 8 gold medals, and he is the athlete to have come closest to three victories in the individual all-round: after having won by 5 hundredths of a point over the Russian Voronin (q.v.) in 1968 (beating him and the Japanese Nakayama (q.v.), third, 0.25 behind, by means of the 9.9 score in the floor exercise) and by 75 thousandths over another Japanese gymnast Kenmotsu in 1972, he came 2nd in 1976, one point behind the Russian Andrianov (q.v.). Strangely he never won an individual gold in the World Championships, where he sustained injuries both in 1970 and in 1974. His older brother Takashi won the team gold medal with him in 1968, the Olympiad in which he also won a bronze medal in the floor exercise; in the World Championships, he won a silver and 3 bronze individual medals, and 2 team gold medals (1966-70).

KAYAK See under the entry Canoeing.

KAZAKHSTAN (Republic of Kazakhstan, Asia, capital Astana, area 2.724.900 km2, population 15.421.864). 26 medals: 7 gold, 12 silver, 7 bronze. Best Olympics: Atlanta 1996, with 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. Best sport: boxing, with 4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. Best athlete: Yermakhan Ibraimov, boxing, with one gold medal (light middleweight 71 kg 2000) and one bronze (light middleweight 71 kg 1996). From 1952 to 1988, Kazakh athletes competed with the USSR, and in 1992, in the Unified Team: the best-known included Valery Rezantsev, 2 gold medals in Greco-Roman wrestling, and Nelli Kim (q.v.), who won 3 gold medals and one silver in

99 The Olympic Dictionary gymnastics in 1976 (then winning another 2 gold medals as a Belarus athlete in 1980). The Kazakh Olympic Committee was formed in 1990, one year before independence from the USSR, and the IOC recognized it in 1993: thus Kazakhstan was able to take part in the Games from 1996.

KAZANKINA TATYANA VASILYEVNA (track & field, USSR, b. Pyotrovsk, Russia, 17/12/1951). Two appearances (1976, 1980) and 3 gold medals (800 m 1976, 1500 m 1976 and 1980). 1976 2-0-0, 1980 1-0-0. In the 1976 Olympic 800 final, the first four finished in times all below the preceding world record: she was fifth 50 metres from the finish, and won in the sprint in 1:54.94. Then she won the 1500: in this case she already held the world record, having set it one month earlier in 3:56, the first woman below 4 minutes, but at the Games she won in a time almost 10 seconds higher. By the 1980 Games she had already had a child: she did not race the 800, but repeated her success in the 1500, a distance over which in the same year she set her third world record with 3:52.47, which lasted for 13 years (while her 8:22.62 for the 3000 in 1984 lasted 9 years). In the World Championships she won a bronze for the 3000 and a silver for the steeplechase. She missed the Los Angeles Games due to the boycott, and in 1984 she was disqualified for 18 months for having refused to take an anti-doping test in Paris after having won a 5000 metre race.

KEINO KIPCHOGE HEZEKIEH “KIP” (track & field, Kenya, b. Kipsamo 17/1/1940). Three appearances (1964, 1968, 1972), 2 gold (1500 m 1968, 3000 steeplechase 1972) and 2 silver medals (1500 m 1972, 5000 m 1968). 1968 1-1-0, 1972 1-1-0. The first African athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in a track event, and the first African to set a world record (7:39.6 in the 3000 m on 27 August 1965), he took up athletics when he was 22, after having met the coach Michael Wade. Previously he had worked as a shepherd to help his family, and when he was 19 he joined the army, where he began eating regularly. He made his Olympic debut in the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he finished fifth in the 5000 and was eliminated in the 1500 semi-final. A versatile athlete who could perform well in distances from 800 to 10.000, he won his first Olympic gold medal in 1968 in Mexico City. In the 1500 final he set a very fast pace because he did not have a good sprint finish and he wanted to avoid a final sprint; he was assisted by his team mate Benjamin Jipcho, who then withdrew. The stratagem worked, and Keino remained ahead, winning in 3:34.91 ahead of the U.S. runner James Ryun and the German Bodo Tümmler. Three days before, he had won silver medal in the 5000 (0.02 behind Tunisian Mohamed Gammoudi), while he had retired with stomach problems in the 10.000. In Munich, 1972, he won the gold medal in the 3000 steeplechase (ahead of Jipcho), and silver in the 1500, 0.048 behind Finn Pekka Vasala. Kenya paid him tribute by portraying him on the 20 cent coin. He retired one year later, with 3 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games (3 miles and the mile, 1966, 1500 1970) and a bronze as well as 2 golds (1500 and 5000 in 1965) a silver at the African Championships, and two world records (the second set in 1965: 5000 13:24.2). After retirement he bought a farm in Eldoret where, with his wife Phyllis, he lives with many orphaned children. He has been president of the Kenyan Olympic Committee since 1999. He is also IOC member from 2000.

KELETI ÁGNES (gymnastics, Hungary, b. Budapest 9/6/1921). Two appearances (1952, 1956), 5 gold (floor exercise 1952 and 1956, beam 1956, parallel bars 1956, team competition with portable apparatus 1956), 3 silver (team competition 1952 and 1956, individual all-round 1956) and 2 bronze medals (parallel bars 1952, team competition with portable apparatus 1952). 1952 1-1-2, 1956 4-2- 0. Jewish, she survived the Holocaust, procuring faked documents and working as a maid in a small village until the end of the Second World War: her mother also survived, while her father and other relatives died at Auschwitz. She missed the 1948 Games due to a tendon injury 3 days before the events (Hungary came second in the team competition, and she, who was watching on crutches, in any case received a silver medal, not included in the total above). She won 4 medals in Helsinki and another 6 in Melbourne: she was almost 36, and she still holds the record of the oldest gymnast to win a gold medal. She missed gold in the all-round due to an error in the that lost her 7 tenths,

100 The Olympic Dictionary enabling Larisa Latynina (q.v.) to win the gold medal by just 3 tenths of a point. Absolute champion in Hungary for 10 years running, from 1947 to 1956, winner of 3 medals at the 1954 World Championships (a gold in the parallel bars, plus a silver and a bronze), she remained in Australia after the Games as a result of the Soviet invasion of Hungary, and then she settled in Israel where she became coach of the National team.

KELLY JOHN BRENDAN “JACK” (rowing, USA, b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 4/10/1889, d. Philadelphia 20/6/1960). Two appearances (1920, 1924) and 3 gold medals (scull 1920, double scull 1920 and 1924). 1920 2-0-0, 1924 1-0-0. Son of Irish emigrants to America, he developed very strong arms by working as a builder. After rugby and water polo, he took up rowing, joining the Vesper Club in Philadelphia. He won 126 races between 1919 and 1920. He was excluded from the most important, the Henley regatta, because the rules forbade the participation of “workmen, craftsmen or labourers”; in addition, the British did not accept Vesper Club athletes because they considered them professionals. He took his revenge at the 1920 Antwerp Games, where he won 2 gold medals in half an hour: first in the scull, ahead of the British (q.v.) and the New Zealander Darcy Hadfield, then in the double scull (double exploit never repeated at the Games), rowing with his cousin Paul Costello, ahead of the Italians Erminio Dones-Pietro Annoni and the French Alfred Pié-Gaston Giran. The American crew repeated their success in the double scull in Paris, 1924. That year he married ex model Margareth Katherine Majer, and they had four children, including John Brendan Jr, bronze medallist in the scull at the 1956 Melbourne Games, winner of the gold at the European Championship Open in single scull in 1949 and twice winner of the Henley regatta (1947-49), and Grace, future actress and wife of the Prince Ranieri of Monaco.

KENDO Literally the way of the sword, this is the Japanese version of fencing, one of the martial arts. See Budo.

KENYA (Republic of Kenya, Africa, capital Nairobi, area 582.646 km2, population 37.537.715). 61 medals: 17 gold, 24 silver, 20 bronze. Best Olympics: Seoul 1988, with 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Best sport: track & field, with 16 gold, 23 silver and 15 bronze medals. Best athlete: Kipchoge Keino (q.v.), track & field, with 2 gold (1500 m 1968, 3000 steeplechase 1972) and 2 silver (5000 m 1968, 1500 m 1972) medals. The Olympic Committee, formed in 1955, received IOC recognition in the same year: from 1956, Kenya missed just the 1976 and 1980 editions due to the boycotts.

KERSEE-JOYNER JACQUELINE “JACKIE” See Joyner.

KILLANIN MICHAEL MORRIS Lord of Dublin and Spiddal, 3rd Baron of Killanin (IOC President , Ireland, b. London 30/7/1914, d. Dublin 25/4/1999). In 1950 he was elected President of the Olympic Council of Ireland, and two years later he became a member of the IOC. Vice- President in 1968, he became President in 1972, just before the Munich Summer Games. He retained the post until 1980, when he was replaced by Samaranch (q.v.).

KIM NELLI VLADIMIROVNA (gymnastics, USSR, b. Shurab, Tajikistan, 29/7/1957). Two appearances (1976, 1980), 5 gold medals (vault 1976, floor exercise 1976 and 1980, team 1976 and 1980) and one silver (team combined exercise 1976). 1976 3-1-0, 1980 2-0-0. She began gymnastics in Chimkent, Kazakhstan, where her father was working (he was Korean in origin, while her mother was Tartar), and she almost gave up in 1970 after an unfavourable opinion pronounced by Larissa Latynina (q.v.), winner of 18 Olympic medals: “She has no future”. But she carried on, and won 3 gold medals at the 1976 Games: in Montreal she was the second gymnast to succeed in receiving a 10 (in the vault and the floor exercise) after Nadia Comăneci (q.v.), who was 6 tenths ahead of her in the individual all-round. Then she moved to Belarus, and she was in

101 The Olympic Dictionary hospital for some time in 1979 with an ulcer, but at the end of that year she became world champion. In the 1980 Moscow Games she won another 2 Olympic gold medals: for the floor exercise, in a tie with Comăneci, and the few words that they spoke to decide how to climb onto the podium were the only words that she ever exchanged with her bitter rival. In the World Championships, she won 5 gold medals (vault and floor exercise in 1978, individual all-round 1979, team 1973-78), 4 silver and 2 bronze medals; in the European Championships, 2 gold (floor exercise 1975, vault 1977), 3 silver and 4 bronze medals; in the Soviet championships, 9 gold medals (of which 2 all-round, in 1975-80), 7 silver and one bronze. A curiosity: the Canadian singer Nelly Kim Furtado, born in 1978, was named after her.

KIM SOO-NYUNG (archery, South Korea, b. Seoul 5/4/1971). Three appearances (1988, 1992, 2000), 4 gold medals (individual 1988, team 1988, 1992 and 2000), one silver (individual 1992) and one bronze (individual 2000). 1988 2-0-0, 1992 1-1-0, 2000 1-0-1. She won two Olympic golds at the age of 17, a gold and silver at 21, then she retired, married and had 2 children. She returned to competition 7 years later, in 1999, won another team gold in Sydney, and a bronze in the individual competition after having lost the semi-final against another Korean, Yun Mi-jin (who went on to win gold, herself just 17 years old). She also won 4 World Championship gold medals, winning both individual and team events in 1989 and 1991. In 1990 she held world records for all distances.

KINDELÁN OLIVARES ORESTES (baseball, Cuba, b. Palma Soriano 1/11/1964). Three appearances (1992, 1996, 2000), 2 gold medals (1992, 1996) and one silver (2000). 1992 1-0-0, 1996 1-0-0, 2000 0-1-0. With 18 successes in 18 matches, Cuba won the first 2 Olympic gold medals in baseball. Kindelan’s statistics: 2 home runs and a batting average of .344 in 1992, then another 9 HR (including the longest in the thirty-year history of the Atlanta stadium: 158,8 metres) and .432 in 1996. In 2000, when professional players from other countries were admitted to the Games for the first time, Cuba’s winning Olympic streak was interrupted in the 22nd match (defeated 2-4 by Holland), and after having beaten the USA 6-1 in the preliminary round, it lost 4-0 in the final against the Americans. Kindelan’s statistics in the Olympic competitions: 2 home runs, and a batting average of .353. He also won 6 World Championship gold medals (1984-86-88-90-94- 98), 4 gold medals at the Pan-American Championships, and 6 Intercontinental Cups. He played 21 league championships with the Santiago de Cuba Wasps, winning 5 and achieving an absolute record of 487 home runs, with 1.379 points scored and 2.030 effective points. He ended his career in Japan. KIRALY CHARLES FREDERICK “KARCH” (volleyball and beach volleyball, USA, b. Jackson, Michigan, 3/11/1960). Three appearances (1984, 1988, 1996) and 3 gold medals (volleyball, 1984 and 1988, beach volleyball 1996). 1984 1-0-0, 1988 1-0-0, 1996 1-0-0. Son of a volleyball player (his father was ex-Hungarian national Laszlo Kiraly who fled from Budapest on a watermelon cart in 1956 when the country was invaded by the Red Army, and eventually reached America), Karch, whose surname means “king” in Hungarian, played in his first beach volleyball tournaments when he was 11, with his father. A star at the Santa Barbara High School and then at UCLA, with whom he won three national University titles (1979-81-82), he joined the National volleyball team in 1981, and 3 years later he won the Olympic gold medal at the Los Angeles games. The USA lost just one match in the preliminary round, against Brazil, a team that they beat 3-0 (15-6, 15-6, 15-7) in the final of the tournament. Kiraly was the youngest player in that team. Versatile, excellent both as a spiker and as a receiver, he won the World Cup in 1985, the World Championship title in 1986, and at the Seoul Games in 1988, the USA repeated their Olympic gold by beating the 3-1 (13-15, 15-10, 15-4, 15-8) in the final. After Seoul he left the National team, and played in Italy for two years with Messaggero Ravenna, winning in 1991 and 1992 the league championship, the Italian Cup, Champions Cup, European Super Cup and the Clubs’ World Cup. Then he returned to his first love, beach volleyball, and, playing with Kent Steffes, he won the first edition of the Olympic tournament in 1996, Atlanta, beating his

102 The Olympic Dictionary countrymen Michael Dodd and Michael Whitmarsh (12-5, 12-8) in the final. He carried on playing up until the age of 46, retiring in summer 2007, after 148 victories on the AVP circuit, two titles for best volleyball player in the world (1986-88) and election as best volleyball player of the century in 2001, with Lorenzo Bernardi.

KIRIBATI (Republic of Kiribati, Oceania, capital South Tarawa, area 811 km2, population 95.067). The Olympic Committee, formed in 2002, received IOC recognition in 2003. The country sent 3 athletes to the 2004 Games, winning no medals.

KIRK OLIVER LEONARD “OLLIE” (boxing, USA, b. Beatrice, Nebraska, 20/4/1884, d. Saint Louis, Missouri, 1958). One Olympic appearance (1904) and 2 gold medals (bantamweight 52,16 kg and featherweight 56,7 kg 1904). The only boxer to have won 2 gold medals in the same edition of the Games. In the bantamweight category, it was sufficient to beat his only opponent, the other American Finnegan, KO in the 3rd round. He had not enrolled for the featherweight category, but the spectators wanted to see him fight Haller, also American, who had beaten Gilmore; Kirk won on points, and he was given that gold medal as well. Little is known about him, but he is probably the same Kirk who fought at least 10 matches as a professional between 1912 and 1915, winning the first 2 and losing the other 8.

KISELYOVA MARIYA (synchronized swimming, Russia, b. Samara 28/9/1974). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004) and 3 gold medals (duet 2000, team event 2000 and 2004). 2000 1- 0-0, 2004 2-0-0. In 1996, when the synchronized swimming team event was first included in the Games, she finished fourth. Two months before the Sydney games she won the European gold medal with Olga Bruniskina (q.v.), but she lost it when she tested positive for ephedrine. Instead of the usual 3 months disqualification, the Russian Federation gave her just one month, thus enabling the two girls to take part in the Games, winning first the duet (receiving 10s from all 5 judges for artistic impression, and from 4 judges out of 5 for technical content), and then the team event with their 6 other team mates. They succeeded in reaching gold again in the team event in 2004 (notwithstanding an unexpected break in the music, “Night on a Bare Mountain” by Mussorgsky, after 17 seconds; the competition recommenced with 15’ delay) enabling Kiselyova and Brusnikina to win the record for number of gold medals in synchronized swimming, three. Kiselyova’s medals also include 2 World Championship golds in the team event (1998 and 2003) and 8 European golds.

KLIMKE REINER (equestrian, West Germany, b. Münster 14/1/1936, d. Münster 17/8/1999). Six appearances (1960, 1964, 1968, 1976, 1984, 1988), 6 gold (team dressage 1964, 1968, 1976, 1984, 1988, individual dressage 1984) and 2 bronze medals (individual dressage 1968, 1976). 1960 0-0-0, 1964 1-0-0, 1968 1-0-1, 1976 1-0-1, 1984 2-0-0, 1988 1-0-0. He holds the record for the number of medals in equestrian events, and only the Hungarian sabre fencer Aladar Gerevich (q.v.) won gold in more editions, 6 instead of 5. After finishing 18th in the three-day event at the Rome Games, he won 5 gold medals for team dressage in the 5 Olympics in which he took part: in 1964 and 1968 on Dux, in 1976 on Mehmed, in 1984 and 1988 on Ahlerich. The latter horse, which cost just 25 million lire, was his favourite: with Ahlerich he won the individual gold in 1984, and the horse was 17 when the 52-year old Klimke won his last team gold in Seoul, thanks to the performance of his team mates, three girls aged between 21 and 28 (Nicole Uphoff, Monica Theodorescu and Ann- Kathrin Linsenhoff), because his score was lowest and was discarded. In the World Championships he won 6 gold medals (individual 1974-82, team 1966-74-82-86, all in dressage) and one bronze; in the European Championships, 12 gold (team eventing 1959, the rest in dressage: 1967-73-85 individual, 1965-67-69-71-73-81-83-85 team) and one silver and one bronze medals. His daughter Ingrid came fourth in eventing, with Germany, at the 2000 and 2004 Games, and she was World Champion for team eventing in 2006.

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KLOCHKOVA YANA (swimming, Ukraine, b. Simferopol 7/8/1982). Two appearances (2000, 2004), 4 gold medals (200 medley 2000 and 2004, 400 medley 2000 and 2004) and one silver (800 freestyle 2000). 2000 2-1-0, 2004 2-0-0. In Sydney she started by winning the 400 medley with the world record time of 4:33.59, and then the 200 medley in which her strongest opponents, the current world champion Michelle Smith (q.v.) and the world record holder Wu Yanyan, had been taken out of the running by doping infringements. At Athens she became the first woman to repeat the double in this event, and she had a little difficulty only in the 400, winning by 12 hundredths against American Sandeno. She also won 4 gold medals (400 medley 2001-03, 200 medley 2003, 400 freestyle 2001) and 2 silvers in the World Championships, plus 6 gold and 2 silver medals for short course events; 10 gold (200 and 400 medley 1999-2000-02-04, 400 freestyle 2000-02), 2 silver and 4 bronze medals in the European Championships, plus 9 gold and 3 silver medals for short course events.

KOCH MARITA (track & field, East Germany, b. Wismar 18/2/1957). Two Olympic appearances (1976, 1980), one gold medal (400 m) and one silver (4x400 relay) for East Germany. She dominated in sprinting for a decade, but at the Games she won just 2 medals in Moscow, 1980: gold in her speciality, the 400 (ahead of Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvilová) and silver in the 4x400, when, in the last leg, she was unable to recover the distance lost by her team mates and finished at 3:20.35 at 0.023 behind the Soviet Union. When she was young she played handball and volleyball, and she took up athletics when she was 14. “Athletics was not a vocation, but a practical decision. In fact I always won in track events, but not in other sports”. She did not take part at the 1976 Montreal Games because of an injury, and she missed the 1984 Los Angeles Games due to the boycott by Soviet bloc countries. Coached by Wolfgang Meier, a naval engineer who became her husband after her retirement, in her first edition of the World Championships (Helsinki 1983) she won 3 gold medals (200, 4x100, 4x400) and one silver (100). Her career includes 6 European titles: 3 in the 400 (1978-82-86) and 3 in the 4x400 (1978-82-86); 4 indoor European titles (200 m 1983- 85-86, 400 m 1977) plus a silver and a bronze. She set 33 world records: 4 in 200 m (first woman to go under 22 seconds in 21.71 in 1979), 7 in 400 m (still valid 47.60 set in 1985), 2 in 4x100, one in 4x200, 2 in 4x400 plus 9 indoor records. She retired in 1987 and 3 years later had a son, Ulrike. As for all female DDR athletes, she has attracted suspicions of doping. Her best performances: 6.11 in the 50, 7.04 in the 60, 10.83 in the 100, 21.71 in the 200, 47.60 in the 400.

KOEN-BLANKERS FANNY See Blankers-Koen.

KOHLEMAINEN JOHANNES PIETARI “HANNES” (track & field, Finland, b. Kuopio 9/12/1889, d. Helsinki 11/1/1966). Two appearances (1912, 1920), 4 gold medals (5000 m, 10.000 m and 12 km cross country 1912, marathon 1920) and one silver (team 12 km cross country 1912). 1912 3-1-0, 1920 1-0-0. The vegetarian athlete “who put Finland on the map in the world of running” won gold medal for the 10.000 metres, and 2 days later he became the first man to run the 5000 in under 15 minutes, though his time of 14:36.6 enabled him to beat Frenchman Bouin by just a tenth of a second. At Stocholm, where the Russian flag was hoisted for his victories (Finland was still a grand duchy of the Tsars), and he once said “I would have preferred not to win in order not to have to see that flag”, he won the gold medal in the cross country even as well, and set a world record for the 3000 metres (8:36.9) in the heats of the team event. Then he moved to the USA, where he ate his first steak only in 1916 (encouraged by Abe Monteverde, Italian-American specialist in long distance running), and he returned to Europe to win the 1920 Olympic marathon. He had run a total of 6 marathons: one when he was 17, another 4 at 19, and the Boston marathon when he was 28, in which he finished 4th. But he won – over the distance of 42.750 km – with the best amateur performance in the world: 2h32:35.8. Between 1920 and 1922 he set 2 world records for the 25 km and one for the 30 km, distances for which his older brother Taavetti “Tatu” had set records before the Great War; in 1912, Taavetti was in the lead in the Olympic marathon before

104 The Olympic Dictionary retiring halfway through the race. Another brother, Wiljami “Willie”, had run the marathon in 1912 with a time of 2h29:39.2, the best time in the world amongst professionals.

KONG LINGHUI (table tennis, , b. Harbin 18/10/1975). Three appearances (1996, 2000, 2004), 2 gold medals (men’s doubles 1996, singles 2000) and one silver (men’s doubles 2000). 1996 1-0-0, 2000 1-1-0. Along with the Swede Jan Ove Waldner (q.v.), he is the greatest player in the history of table tennis. He won the gold medal in the singles beating Waldner in the final (21-13 in the 5th set), 4 years after having won the gold medal in the men’s doubles with Liu Guoliang. He had beaten his partner in the 1995 World Championships final, at the age of 19, a record young age shared with Swede Stellan Bengtsson. He won 3 other World Championship gold medals in the doubles (1997-99-2005) plus 5 silver and 2 bronze medals, including mixed doubles, as well as 4 team gold medals (1995-97-2001-04) and one team silver.

KONO THOMAS TAMIO “TOMMY” (weightlifting, USA, b. Sacramento, California, 27/6/1930). Three appearances (1952, 1956, 1960), 2 gold medals (lightweight 67.5 kg 1952, middle heavyweight 82.5 kg 1956) and one silver (middleweight 75 kg 1960). 1952 1-0-0, 1956 1- 0-0, 1960 0-1-0. When he was young he suffered from asthma: he was treated with bear kidneys, burnt birds and pulverized snake. But he recovered principally due to the dry air of Tule Lake in California, where he was interned during the Second World War with his Japanese-American parents, and where he discovered weightlifting. He won Olympic gold in the lightweight division in 1952, and in the middle heavyweight division (15 kg difference) in 1956: he ate 6-7 times a day when he had to put on weight. In 1960 he competed in the middleweight division because he had been told that the Soviet Kurynov would be a formidable opponent: and this was the case, because Kurynov lifted 10 kg more than him, putting an end to Kono’s 6-year unbeaten record during which he had also won 6 world titles (middleweight 1953-57-58-59 and middle heavyweight 1954-55, to which he later added a silver and a bronze), and had been elected Mr. World in 1954 and Mr. Universe in 1955 and 1957. “When he looks at me”, said another Soviet, Bogdanovsky, always beaten by Kono, “I feel like a rabbit hypnotized by a python”. Kono also won 3 gold medals at the Pan-American Championships (1955-59-63), 12 US titles, and he set 27 world records in 4 different categories, from 67 to 90 kg, the only weightlifter to achieve this. Later he coached the national squads for Mexico, West Germany and the USA.

KORBUT OLGA VALENTINOVNA (gymnastics, Belarus, b. Grodno, then part of the Soviet Union, 16/5/1955). Two appearances (1972, 1976), 4 gold (floor 1972, 1972, team 1972 and 1976) and 2 silver (parallel bars 1972, beam 1976) medals. 1972 3-1-0, 1976 1-1-0. The first child prodigy in gymnastics, she was in the National team at the age of 15, when she won the Spartakiad and the Soviet titles for the vault and the parallel bars. She was discovered at the age of 5 by coach Renald Knysh, and grew up in a very poor family: “Four of us survived on 8 roubles a month, in a 15 square metre room. This condition of poverty gave me such an inferiority complex that I developed the obstinacy and resilience of a mule. In those early years I developed the desire to become a leader and the will to surprise and shock everybody”. At the age of 17, when she was 1.51 in height and weighed 38 kg, she was selected for the Munich Games, where she won gold medals in the team event, the floor (beating her team mates Turishcheva [q.v.] and Lazakovich) and the beam (ahead of Lazakovich and East German Karin Janz); she won the silver medal in the parallel bars (behind Janz), finished 5th in the vault, and 7th in the individual all-round, after a fault on the parallel bars when she was in the lead. After the Games she became a star, and visited President Nixon at the White House. In 1973 she won a silver at the European Championship in the individual all-round, the year later she obtained 2 golds (vault and team event) and 3 world silvers. In 1975 she took part to her last soviet Championship winning her only absolute title (4 golds, 7 silvers and one bronze). The 1976 Montreal Games saw the arrival of the Comaneci (q.v.) phenomenon: Korbut, nearing retirement, won the gold medal in the team event and came second

105 The Olympic Dictionary on the beam (behind Comăneci). A year later she retired, at the age of 22, to teach gymnastics to young Soviet talents. In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, she moved to the USA, where she founded and directs a gymnastics academy in Scottsdale, Arizona.

KORFBALL It is governed by the IKF (International Korfball Federation, www.korfball.org). It appeared at the 1920 and 1928 Olympiads as a demonstration sport but it has never been an Olympic sport. Cf. Sports, section IV, chapter Demonstration sports.

KORZENIOWSKI ROBERT (track & field, Poland, b. Lubaczow 30/7/1968). Four appearances (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) and 4 gold medals (50 km walk 1996, 2000 and 2004, 20 km walk 2000). 1996 1-0-0, 2000 2-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. At the 1992 Barcelona games, he retired in the 20 km walk, and was disqualified – entering the stadium – when he was 2nd in the 50 km walk (he had received 5 warnings); he won his first gold medal at Atlanta for the 50 km, finishing 6 seconds ahead of the Russian Shchennikov, after having finished 8th in the 20 km. In the early 1990s he had moved to the north of France, and he trained every day crossing the frontier with Belgium. In 2000 he became the first racewalker to achieve the Olympic double. In the 20 km he finished 2 seconds behind Segura, who was informed of his disqualification while he was being congratulated on the telephone by Mexican president Zedilla; Korzeniowski heard the news while he was talking to his wife on the phone, and shouted, tears in his eyes, “Darling, I’m going crazy, I won!” Then he was asked whether something could prevent him from competing in the 50 km, and he answered “Only the Tasmanian devil”, and 7 days later he won that race as well. In 2004 he announced his retirement after his third Olympic gold in the 50 km. In the World Championships he won 3 gold medals (1997-2001-03 for the 50 km, the last time achieving the world-record time of 3h36:03) and a bronze, plus an indoor silver for the 5 km; and 2 European gold medals (1998-2002) also for the 50 km.

KOSTADINOVA STEFKA (track & field, Bulgaria, b. Plovdiv 25/3/1965). Three appearances (1988, 1992, 1996), one gold (high jump 1996) and one silver (high jump 1988). 1988 0-1-0, 1996 1-0-0. From 1985 to 1987 she won 73 meetings out of 77, setting 3 world records for the high jump (the last was 2.09 at the 1987 World Championships) and exceeding 2.03 29 times. She was unable to achieve that height at the 1988 Games, jumping 2.01 and winning silver behind American Rittner, who jumped 2.03 at her 4th attempt, at the tie-break, after both she and Kostadinova had failed 3 times. In 1992 she jumped 1.94 and came fourth. The athlete who had dominated the women’s high jump – her 2.09 world record still stands – at last won Olympic gold at the 1996 Games, when she jumped 2.05 at her second attempt and remained 2 cm in front of Greek Bakogianni. In the World Championship she won 2 gold medals (1987-95) plus another 5 indoor titles (1985-87-89-93-97); in the European Championships, one gold medal (1986) and 4 indoor titles (1985-87-88-94). She has also set 4 indoor world records. In 2005 she was elected president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee.

KOVACS PÁL (fencing, Hungary, b. Debrecen 17/7/1912, d. Budapest 8/7/1995). Five appearances (1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960), 6 gold medals (team sabre 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, individual sabre 1952) and one bronze (individual sabre 1948). 1936 1-0-0, 1948 1-0-1, 1952 2-0-0, 1956 1-0-0, 1960 1-0-0. He won the individual gold by recovering from 2-4 down against Italian Pinton to 5-4 in the last match, with a record of 19 victories in 19 assaults. He won 5 team gold medals, one less than the record held by Aladar Gerevich (q.v.). He also won 9 gold medals (individual sabre 1937-53, team 1937-51-53-54-55-57-58) and 2 silvers in the World Championships. Before taking up fencing (for which he became president of the Federation) he was a track & field athlete: hurdles and high jump.

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KRAENZLEIN ALVIN CHRISTIAN (track & field, USA, b. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 12/12/1876, d. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 6/1/1928). One Olympic appearance (1900) and 4 gold medals (60 m, 110 hs, 200 hs, long jump). At the U.S. Championships in 1899 he took part in 5 events in one day, winning 3. At the 1900 Games he competed 8 times in 3 days, becoming the first, and up until today the only, athlete to win four individual gold medals for athletics in a single edition. He set the world record for the 60 m, at exactly 7 seconds; in the long jump he jumped a centimetre further (7.185 instead of 7.175) than the distance achieved the day before in the heats by Meyer Prinstein, whom the directors of the University of Syracuse prohibited from taking part in the final on Sunday (even though Prinstein was Jewish, while Kraenzlein was Christian). He also won the two hurdles races (he was the first to jump with the straight lead leg technique), in which he had set 2 long-lasting world records 2 years before: the 15.2 for the 120 yards stood until the 1908 Games, while the 23.6 for the 200 lasted about 25 years. He also set 5 world records for the long jump, from 7.29 to 7.43, all in 1899. He worked as a dentist for a few years, but then preferred to stay in athletics as a coach. In 1913 he was invited to Germany, the land of his ancestors, to train the German team – with a 50.000 dollar contract – for the 1916 Games that were to be held in Berlin. He stayed just a few months, just long enough to hear what they said about him: “A good instructor, but a joker with barbaric habits, like smoking and spitting during lessons”. The First World War led to the cancellation of the Olympiad: he returned to the USA to coach in various universities, and he also led the Cuban national team. He died at the age of 51, as a result of complications following pleurisy.

KUIPER HENDRIKUS ANDREAS “HENNIE” (cycling, Netherlands, b. Denekamp 3/2/1949). One Olympic appearance (1972) and one gold medal (road race). He won his Olympic gold in Munich, finishing 27 seconds ahead of the Australian Sefton, assisted by means of the help, bordering on ferocity, of his team mates. One of them, Cees Priem, after having risked being punched in the face by Belgian Freddy Maertens who was fed up of seeing him right behind, said: “We worked hard for Hennie because he is one of the best types around”. Kuiper succeeded in adding the 1975 professional World Championship gold to his Olympic gold, becoming the second cyclist to succeed, after Ercole Baldini (q.v.) and, previously, Paolo Bettini. His other victories include: a Milan-Sanremo (in 1985, at the age of 36), a Giro di Lombardia (1981), a Ronde van Vlaanderen (1981), a Paris-Roubaix (1983), and a Dutch title (1975). He took part in the Tour de France 12 times, coming 2nd in 1977 and 1980.

KURLAND ROBERT ALBERT (basketball, USA, b. St. Louis, Missouri, 23/12/1924). Two appearances (1948, 1952) and 2 gold medals (1948, 1952). 1948 1-0-0, 1952 1-0-0. He was the first “7 foot” (2.13 m) player to dominate in American college basketball. Too tall to serve in the War, when already 2.08, he suffered a degree of humiliation at the start of his career – his coach in Kansas, Phog Allen, called him a “glandular goon” - but he went on to win 2 NCAA championships, in 1945 and 1946, with Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State. He was playing with the Phillips 66ers (with whom he won 3 AAU tournaments, 1947-48-50) when he took part in his first Olympics, easily won by the USA with a score of 65-21 in the final with France. He scored 65 points in the 7 matches he played, while he scored 67 in Melbourne, four years later, including 8 in the final with the USSR, beaten 36-25 by the USA. The Soviet team based their match on “freezing” the ball (the score was 4-3 after 10 minutes, and 17-15 at the break). At that time this tactic was possible, and then the rules were changed: just as what also happened partly due to Kurland himself, who in some matches was stationed permanently under the basket by his coach at Oklahoma, Hank Iba, to prevent the opponents from scoring.

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KUWAIT (Emirate of Kuwait, Asia, capital Al-Kuwayt, area 17.818 km2, population 2.851.144). One medal (the bronze won by Fehaid Al-Deehani in double trap, 2000). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1957, received IOC recognition in 1966: since 1968 it has taken part in all editions of the Games.

KYRGYZSTAN (Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Asia, capital Biskek, area 199.900 km2, population 5.316.544). From 1952 to 1988, there were Kyrgyz athletes in the USSR team and, in 1992, in the Unified Team: amongst the most famous were Aleksandr Blinov (team gold and individual silver in three-day eventing 1980) and Satymkul Dzhumanazarov (bronze in the marathon, 1980). The Olympic Committee was formed in 1991, the year in which the country won independence from the USSR, and the IOC (q.v.) recognized it in 1993: thus Kyrgyzstan was able to take part in the Games from 1996, winning a bronze medal in 2000, judo, with Aidyn Smagulov (featherweight, 60 kg).

KYUDO Literally the way of the bow, this is the Japanese version of archery, one of the martial arts. See Budo.

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