Alexandros Nikolaidis, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in taekwondo for Greece died Friday from Cancer at the age of 42. In his career Nikolaidis participated in four Olympics capturing silver in the heavyweight division at the Athens Games in 2004 and again at the Beijing Games in 2008. He was also named the Greek male athlete of the year in 2008.

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After retiring from competition Nikolaidis became a deputy spokesperson for the SYRIZA political party in Greece. He'd been suffering from NUT carcinoma, a rare form of cancer, for more than two years and had reportedly undergone surgery on his lungs. In a moving final Facebook post, Nikolaidis discussed his fight with cancer and the people who stood by him then said he wanted his two silver medals auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charities for children.