A year has gone by since Greeks mourned the loss of beloved Tae Kwon Do Olympic champion Alexandros Nikolaidis. At the age of just 42, the Olympic silver medalist was defeated by cancer, after bravely fighting the disease for two long years.
Nikolaidis had made an announcement on his then imminent death posting an emotional sober note on his Facebook page, in which he described his battle with cancer as the last and most difficult opponent he had ever faced in his life.
“I’ll start with this cliché, saying that by the time you read this post, I am probably off to somewhere better or even nowhere.
For two years, I too was tormented with cancer. With quite a rare type of cancer, NUT carcinoma, and I know that 9 out of 10 Greek doctors reading this are hearing about it for the first time and will rush to look for it. Luckily my doctor, the wonderful John Boukovinas who took me by the hand on the most difficult journey of my life, knew about this rare type and did everything he could to save me or offer me a little more time. He moved heaven and earth to bring medicine, literally from the other side of the earth, to trial on me.
Throughout the two years I never wondered “Why me?”. There is no thought more selfish than that. It will happen to someone by pure chance, to our neighbor, to our fellow human being. And now it happens to many. If I had to give my life a rating in offerings and losses, I can tell you even now that I consider myself a lucky man. I have been blessed to make my dreams come true, to climb the podium many times, to bring glory to my sport and my country, to meet people from all over the world, to learn how to respect and play fairly, values of great importance which I’ve tried to put into practice in my life.”
Alexandros Nikolaidis – who was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year in 2008 – won his first Olympic silver medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, followed by a second one at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
