Pantelis Karasevdas

Pantelis Karasevdas was a Greek sport shooter who won the military rifle event at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the first modern Games. Born in 1877 in Astakos, he was a law student at the time and was the only shooter to hit every target in that event, so he won comfortably. He also entered the free rifle and military pistol events, finishing fifth in the first and not completing the second. The year after his victory he joined the army, took part in the many conflicts Greece fought in the following decades and rose to colonel. He joined the Greek Liberal Party and sat in Parliament for Aetolia-Acarnania. In sport he later served as president of the Panhellenic Gymnastics Association and as a member of the Greek Olympic Committee. He died in 1946 in Agrinio.