Kostas Kenteris
July 2003
Jonathan Mulkeen for AthleticsLinks.com
Not many athletes can claim to have won the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships. One man, however, currently holds all three titles in the 200m, despite the fact that four years ago, he was relatively unknown.
What’s more is that Kostas Kenteris won these three titles in a row - Olympic Champion in 2000, World Champion in 2001, and European Champion in 2002, where he also smashed the 20-second barrier for the first time in his career, with a 19.85s run.
Before dominating the 200m, Kostantinos Kenteris’ speciality was the 400m - an event in which he won the Mediterranean Games in a time of 45.70s. He didn’t better this time until five years later (1998), running 45.60s in his homeland of Greece. It was not until the year after when he began dividing his attention between the 200m and the 400m.
The result was a huge PB time of 20.50s, bettering his previous wind-legal mark by 0.26s - an eternity in sprinting terms. However, it wasn’t until the following season when Kostantinos Kenteris made his break-through on the international stage. And what better place to do it than the Olympic Games?
Looking comfortable in every round of the 2000 Olympic 200m, Kenteris went on to win the final in a time of 20.09, ahead of Britain’s Darren Campbell. He has dominated the 200m in major championships ever since, despite notoriously running very few races each season. He won the World Championships in 2001, the European Championships in 2002, and more recently won the European Cup for the third year in a row.
Athletics Links: What made you take up athletics in the first place?
Kostas Kenteris: I come from a family of athletes. My two brothers were practicing sports from time to time and they were the models for me in order to turn towards sports. The first sport I was interested in was soccer. Later on I turned to track and field.
AL: Do you (or did you) look up to any athletes of the past as role models or idols?
KK: I never had a specific athlete as my model. I have been watching many great athletes that I admired and I was taking the good and positive characteristics from each one of them, trying to apply them on myself.
AL: What do you feel was the main factor which transformed your performances since your days as a 400m athlete?
KK: Until 2000 I was staying in Thessalonica. That is when I decided to change city and coach and move to Athens in order to train with a new coach, named Chris Tzekos. While training with him, I changed completely my philosophy as far as training is concerned and I became more professional. Last but no least, I have decided to concentrate in one of the two events that I was doing until then, and that was the 200m.
AL: Since switching to the 200m, you haven’t ran any 400m races. Do you plan on racing any in future?
KK: Right now there isn’t any consideration of competing in the 400m. Running the 400m requires a totally different training.
AL: Do you believe it is universally beneficial to all athletes to miss the Grand Prix races and simply prepare for the major championships?
KK: I believe that every athlete in the beginning of the year sets his or her objectives and decides where he/she prefers to put more importance. It is logical that if an athlete puts more importance in the meetings, the volume of his training will be smaller and when reaching the important competitions of the year (which for Track and Field are held towards the end of each season) will not be in such a good condition.
Until now, I have chosen to put more weight in my preparation and not in the meetings. Despite the fact that this decision pretty often is not in my interest, concerning the financial facts, this is what I choose to do.
AL: Do you see Michael Johnson’s 200m world record of 19.32s being breakable? If it is within reach, how close do you see yourself getting to it?
KK: I believe that the 19.32 record of Michael Johnson is one of the best world records that is held until today in the track and field, and I think that it is difficult for an athlete to break it before the Olympic Games of 2008.
AL: How long do you feel you can remain undefeated at the major championships?
KK: I believe that as long as I am healthy and train properly and methodically, I will have the same good results that I have had until today. In sports you can never be sure about anything at all.
As my guide, I have always used the saying that I followed in the Olympic Games of Sydney, to which I went as an outsider. This saying quotes the following: “No one is better than someone else, if he does not prove it on the track”.
AL: Do you plan to run in any major indoor championships in the near future?
KK: I used to compete in indoor championships but from 2000 and on I have stopped and there is no consideration of competing in them again.
AL: How supportive is the Greek Government towards the world-class Greek athletes?
KK: The Greek Government supports all the Greek athletes and now that the Olympic Games of 2004 are close it is paying a lot of attention so as all the athletes are totally satisfied and they can be fully concentrated in their preparation.
AL: What kind of things do you tend to do in training?
KK: My training consists of speed runs, in combination with weight lifting and exercises of general strengthening.
AL: You’ve mentioned not wanting to run any more 400m races in future, but what about the 100m?
KK: In the last few years, I start by running in the 100m as a lucky charm and in order to help my club which is Olympiakos. Until now, I have never trained for this specific event and I believe that the training of the 100m is completely different from that of the 200m.
AL: What will your 2003 season be like in the run-up to the World Championships?
KK: For me this year will be a little bit relaxing, without this meaning that I am not going to run fast. I have planned to run in a few meetings and in the World Championship.
AL: What are your goals for the future? How do you feel about retaining your Olympic title?
KK: During my sports career I have faced several problems of injuries and that is why I have learned not to set long term goals and to make sure that I am ok for the next day, for the next training.
It is too early to decide what I will do after the Olympic Games of 2004. What I want is God to keep me healthy and to be able to participate in this competition that is going to be held in my country.
AL: What are your goals for the future? How do you feel about retaining your Olympic title?
KK: During my sports career I have faced several problems of injuries and that is why I have learned not to set long term goals and to make sure that I am ok for the next day, for the next training.
It is too early to decide what I will do after the Olympic Games of 2004. What I want is God to keep me healthy and to be able to participate in this competition that is going to be held in my country.
AL: What are your plans for 2003?
KK: To be healthy and try to become a better person every day.
Images used in this article are taken from Kenteris’ official website, www.kenteris.gr