Leonidas Sabanis


Leonidas Sabanis is a Greek retired weightlifter, who represented Greece in 1996, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He has also been a World Champion representing Greece.

Early life & career

A Greek, Sabanis was born Luan Shabani on 28 October 1971 in southern Albania.

Results representing Albania

At the European Championship in Athens, Greece, in 1989, Sabanis represented Albania as Luan Shabani and won a bronze medal in the 56 kg category. He was the first Albanian to win a medal at a European Championship. A year later, at the European Championship in Aalborg in 1990, Sabanis won a silver medal, and the first such medal for Albania.

Results representing Greece

Sabanis emigrated to Greece in 1991 and represented Greece starting from 1993. He won a silver medal in the 59 kg category at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States and in the 62 kg category in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Sabanis was originally awarded a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but the medal was later stripped from him as a result of a doping scandal.