Iosif Kesidis
Cypriot athlete (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iosif Kesidis (Greek: Ιωσήφ Κεσίδης; born 19 August 2005) is a Cypriot hammer thrower. He won the bronze at the 2022 World U20 Championships and the gold medals at the 2024 World U20 Championships and the 2025 European U23 Championships.[1]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Cypriot |
| Born | 19 August 2005 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Hammer throw |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | Hammer throw: 74.87 (Bergen, 2025) |
Medal record | |
Career
He is a member of the development program of the Cyprus Amateur Athletic Association (KOEAS).[2] He is coached by Panicos Charalampous.[3]
He won gold in the hammer throw at the 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships in Jerusalem, Israel, in July 2022.[4] He was a bronze medalist in the hammer throw at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia in August 2022 with a 6kg hammer throw of 76.32 metres.[5]
He won silver in the hammer throw at the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem.[6] He broke the Cypriot youth record for the men's hammer three times in 2023, ending the year with a best of 71.43m.[7]
In 2024, he increased his personal best to 81.07 metres.[8] He won gold at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, in the hammer throw, with a personal best 6kg distance, and national under-20 record of 82.80 metres.[9] It was a dominant performance, every throw Kesidis made would have been sufficient to win the gold medal.[10][11] In September 2024, he was nominated for the European Athletics Rising Star award.[12]
He was victorious at the European Throwing Cup in March 2025 in Nicosia, winning the U23 hammer competition.[13] His distance of 72.96 metres broke his own Cypriot under-23 record. It was the first ever gold medal for Cyprus in tne competition.[14] In July 2025, he threw a new personal best and national U23 record of 74.87 metres to win the gold medal at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway.[15]
On 14 March 2026, he won the silver medal in the U23 hammer throw behind Ármin Szabados of Hungary, at the 2026 European Throwing Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus with a throw of 74.16 metres.[16]