Two-time Olympic taekwondo silver medalist Alexandros Nikolaidis has died, age 42

Greece's two-time Olympics taekwondo silver medalist Alexandros Nikolaidis died today at age 42, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Nikolaidis won his first silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the second at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

On 24. March 2008, he had the honour of being chosen as the first torch-bearer of the Olympic Flame for the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay.

Olympic medalist Nikolaidis dies

On 11 April, 2008, he won the European Championship in Rome.

The same year, he was named Greek Male Athlete of the year.

He carried the flag for Greece during the Parade of Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

A very rare form of cancer, NUT carcinoma

Nikolaidis for two years battled a very rare form of cancer known as NUT carcinoma (NC), which usually affects the head, neck, and lungs. The median survival time from diagnosis is six to seven months, so in that sense he again beat the odds in his final challenge.

Nikolaidis had also served as alternate spokesman for the current main opposition SYRIZA, and party leader Alexis Tsipras issued a condolence statement today.

"Today, a distinguished man has left us. In his brief life, he managed to do more and achieve more significant accomplishments than each of us," Tsipras wrote.

"He raised the Greek flag high in the Olympics, but he raised even higher the beautiful ideals of justice and solidarity in the struggles of life. Godspeed Alexandros."

Heart-wrenching Facebook post

A heart-wrenching post that he had prepared about his life, his accomplishments, his battle with cancer, and his young children was posted on his Facebook wall today.

The post reads as follows:...