Konstantinos Zaltos
Greek athlete (born 2000)
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Konstantinos “Kostas” Zaltos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ζάλτος; born 5 February 2000) is a Greek track and field athlete who competes in the hammer throw. He competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships and won the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[1]
Early life
Zaltos was raised in Pedino, Kilkis, Greece. A keen basketball player, he was introduced to the hammer throw as a 14 year-old. He moved to the United States to study and compete at the University of Minnesota following a conversation with Minnesota throwing coach Peter Miller in Sweden at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships.[2]
Career
Representing the University of Minnesota, he finished in third place at both the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Championships. His 2021 distance was 71.21 metres, and in 2022 he set a personal best distance of 72.51 metres.[3]
Zaltos won the Big Ten hammer competition for the third consecutive year in May 2023.[4] He was the runner-up at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas in June 2023, with a personal best 76.33 metres, to finish runner-up to Britain's Kenneth Ikeji.[5][6] He was selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023 but did not qualify for the final.[7]
In June 2024, he competed at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy, throwing 74.49 metres to qualify for the final, in which he placed twelfth overall.[8] Later that month, he finished third at the Greek Athletics Championships with a throw of 74.06 metres.[9]
In March 2025, he threw 76.85m in Tampa to move to 13th on the all-time NCAA list.[10] He threw 78.08 metres to win the 2025 NCAA Championships title in June 2025, ahead of Minnesota teammate and compatriot Angelos Mantzouranis.[11] In September 2025, he competed in the hammer throw at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.[12]
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Greece | ||||
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | final | 9/6 |