University of Minnesota Athletics
2024-25 Men's Track & Field Roster
Kostas Zaltos
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Position:
- Throws
- Hometown:
- Kilikis, Greece
- High School:
- General Lyceum of Kampani
Kostas Zaltos' TFRRS Bio
Kostas Zaltos' IAAF Bio
HONORS AND AWARDS:
NCAA Champion; Hammer Throw (2025)
NCAA No. 6 All-Time in the Hammer Throw (78.08m | 256-2)
Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships (2025)
European Championships finalist; Hammer Throw (2024)
Four-Time Big Ten Champion; Hammer Throw (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
Four-Time NCAA First Team All-American (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
NCAA Hammer Throw Silver Medalist (2023)
Two-Time NCAA Hammer Throw Bronze Medalist (2021, 2022)
World Championships qualifier; Hammer Throw (2023, 13th)
Two-Time Greek Championships Bronze Medalist (2023, 2024)
Three-Time Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week
Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2021)
2024 Outdoor Track & Field • Redshirt Senior Season: Completed an Olympic redshirt season with the Gophers... Earned a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team for work in the classroom... Finished the season with the No. 37 overall ranking in the men's hammer throw (IAAF)... Reached his first career European Athletics Championships final, finished 12th overall with a throw of 72.64m (238-4) in the final that was held in Rome, Italy... Finished third overall at the Greek Championships in the hammer throw with a toss of 74.06m (243-0)... Won the Venizeleia-Chania International meeting in Greece in the hammer throw with a seasons best 75.81m (248-8)... Was third at the Balkan Championships in Turkey with a mark of 74.33m (243-10)... Won both the Hurricane Invitational hammer throw (73.86m) and the Gary Wilson Invite (73.29m)... Was the runner-up at the 114th Drake Relays hammer throw with a toss of 73.83m (242-2)... Ended the season still holding the school's record in the hammer throw at 76.33m (250-5).
2023 Outdoor Track & Field • Redshirt Junior Season: Won his third-straight Big Ten title in the hammer throw with a meet-record mark of 74.93m (245-10)... Qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the third year in a row with a mark of 74.42m (244-2)... Won the Drake Relays for the second year in a row in the hammer throw with a school-record throw of 75.27m (246-11), breaking Sean Donnelly's 2016 record of 74.35m (234-11)... His 75.27m school-record throw is just 0.02m short of the Big Ten's record in the event... Was ranked as high as No. 10 in the world during the season in the men's hammer throw... Won two more Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week honors during the regular season... Enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the No. 1 mark in the nation during the 2023 outdoor season.
2022 Outdoor Track & Field • Redshirt Sophomore Season: For the second straight year earned First Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten status in the hammer throw... Won the NCAA bronze medal for the second-straight year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a mark of 72.51m (237-11)... NCAA qualifier in hammer throw for the second year in a row... Won his second-straight Big Ten championship in hammer throw with a mark of 71.40m (234-3)... Won his first Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week honor... Won six different meets during the season in the hammer throw... Was victorious at the 2022 Drake Relays with a mark of 71.95m (236-1)... Finished first at the LSU Alumni Gold in the hammer throw with a mark of 69.81m (229-0)... ended the season ranked second in hammer throw (72.51m, 237-11) among all-time Gophers.
2021 Indoor Track & Field • Redshirt Freshman Season: Competed in weight throw at five meets... made B1G debut, placing ninth in weight throw with a mark of 19.61m (64-04.00) at the Big Ten Indoor Championships... recorded a season-best throw of 19.97m (65-06.25) to place fifth in weight throw at the Hawkeye B1G Invitational.
2021 Outdoor Track & Field • Redshirt Freshman Season: Named First Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honoree in hammer throw... NCAA qualifier in hammer throw... Big Ten champion in hammer throw... named Big Ten Freshman of the Year... competed in hammer throw at eight meets and discus at three meets... recorded a career-best throw of 71.21m (233-07) to finish third in hammer throw at the NCAA Championships... finished second in hammer throw (70.99m, 232-11) at the NCAA West Prelim... won Big Ten hammer throw title with a throw of 69.98m (229-07)... won six titles in hammer throw... recorded a career-best throw of 46.46m (152-05) to place 15th in discus at the Husker B1G Invitational... ended the season ranked second in hammer throw (71.21m, 233-07) among all-time Gophers.
2020 Indoor Track & Field • Freshman Season: Competed unattached at five meets, making five appearances in weight throw... recorded a season-best mark of 20.92m (68-07.75) at the UW-Stout Open... indoor season ended on March 12, 2020, when the Big Ten and NCAA announced they were ceasing competitions and championships because of COVID-19 public health concerns.
2020 Outdoor Track & Field • Freshman Season: The 2020 outdoor track & field season was canceled on March 12, 2020, when the Big Ten and NCAA announced they were ceasing competitions and championships because of COVID-19 public health concerns.
PRIOR TO MINNESOTA
Joined the Gophers after as one of the top hammer throwers in the world... Won national titles in discus (2019) and hammer throw (2018) at the Greek U20 Championships... finished as national runner-up in hammer throw (2019) at the Greek U20 Championships... 2019 European U20 Championships qualifier in hammer throw... 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships qualifier in hammer throw, placing 13th overall... owns discus personal-best marks of 52.01m for 1.75kg and 47.78m for 2kg... owns hammer throw personal-best marks of 73.34m for 6kg to rank 12th in the world and 66.11m for 16lbs to rank ninth in the world for Under 20.
