Vasilis Papageorgopoulos

Vasilis Papageorgopoulos (Greek: Βασίλης Παπαγεωργόπουλος; born June 27, 1947) is a retired Greek sprinter, former mayor of Thessaloniki and convicted felon.[1][2][3][4][5] He won two medals at the European Indoor Championships as well as the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1971 European Championships in Athletics.

Vasilis Papageorgopoulos
Βασίλης Παπαγεωργόπουλος
Mayor of Thessaloniki
In office
January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2011
Preceded byKonstantinos Kosmopoulos
Succeeded byYiannis Boutaris
Personal details
Born (1947-06-27) June 27, 1947
Thessaloniki, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy
Alma materAristotle University of Thessaloniki
OccupationBusinessman
ProfessionDentist

Biography

Papageorgopoulos' personal best in 100 metres was 10.22 seconds, achieved in August 1972 in Izmir. This ranks him twelfth among Greek 100 metre sprinters.[6] He also studied medicine.

Papageorgopoulos first got involved in politics in 1978 when he was elected City councilor of Thessaloniki. He practiced dentistry until 1981, when he was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament, representing Thessaloniki, for the Conservative New Democracy party . From 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2010, Papageorgopoulos was the mayor of Thessaloniki.

Corruption charges

In April 2011, he was among 25 people contacted by an investigating magistrate with a probe into alleged embezzlement of 51.4 million euros of the municipality. He was also accused by his successor Yiannis Boutaris of providing inaccurate financial figures.[7] In February 2013, he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzling 17.9 million euro of the Municipality of Thessaloniki while he was mayor.[8] In July 2014, the sentence was reduced to a maximum of 20 years after an appeals court in Thessaloniki ruled that Papageorgopoulos's crimes amounted to acting as "accessory to the stealing of municipal funds while in office.”[9] In July 2015 Papageorgopoulos was granted parole due to health problems.[10]

Honours
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
1971 European Indoor Championships Sofia, Bulgaria 5th 60 m [11]
European Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 100 m 10.56 s
Mediterranean Games İzmir, Turkey 1st 100 m 10.4 s
1972 European Indoor Championships Grenoble, France 3rd 50 m 5.82 s
Olympic Games Munich, West Germany (sf)* 100 m DNS
1974 European Indoor Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 8th 60 m [12]
European Championships Rome, Italy 9th (sf) 100 m 10.44 s
1975 Mediterranean Games Algiers, Algeria 2nd 100 metres
1976 European Indoor Championships Munich, West Germany 2nd 60 metres 6.67 s
  • At the 1972 Summer Olympics he was forced to scratch from the semi-finals after he had pulled a groin muscle in the quarter-finals.

References
  1. https://www.tanea.gr/2013/02/27/greece/katadikastike-se-isobia-o-papagewrgopoylos-gia-tin-ypeksairesi-ston-dimo-thessalonikis/
  2. https://www.news247.gr/politiki/enochos-o-papageorgopoylos-anamenetai-i-epivoli-poinis.6193902.html
  3. https://www.newsbeast.gr/society/arthro/495535/katadikastike-se-isovia-o-papageorgopoulos
  4. http://www.topontiki.gr/article/79033/enohos-o-papageorgopoylos-katadikastike-se-12-hronia-fylakisi
  5. https://www.capital.gr/epikairotita/2063192/se-katheirxi-12-eton-katadikastike-o-b-papageorgopoulos
  6. All time best Balkan athletes, men Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine - The Athletics Site
  7. Kathimerini: Ex-Thessaloniki mayor to face embezzlement probe. April 28, 2011
  8. Καταδικάστηκε σε ΙΣΟΒΙΑ Ο ΠΑΠΑΓΕΩΡΓΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ για το σκάνδαλο υπεξαίρεσης στον Δήμο Θεσσαλονίκης (in Greek). news247.gr. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  9. "Thessaloniki Ex-Mayor had his Life Sentence Reduced". Greek Reporter. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. 1971 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite
  12. 1974 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite
Records
Preceded by
Manfred Kokot		 European Record Holder Men's 100 m
3 June 1972 - 16 June 1972		 Succeeded by
Pietro Mennea
Preceded by
Konstantinos Kosmopoulos		 Mayor of Thessaloniki
1999 and 2010		 Succeeded by
Yiannis Boutaris
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