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v Saturday, August 28, 2004 v
Ok, time to rave about hot Olympians before the Olympics end!
Like Alexei Nemov. I remember him from Sydney! Ohh, he won all round first, fantastic. He still looks as cool and fab as ever and he has won 12 medals from Olympics so maybe his peak is over but he's still great.
Didn't hear much from Rodrigo Pessoa, unfortunately.
But oooh Alexandre Despatie is hooooo sizzling hot. Yumm.
Alexandre Despatie
Country
Canada
Sport
Diving
Event(s)
3m Springboard, 10m Platform, 10m Synch.
Birthdate
June 8, 1985
Birthplace
Montreal, Quebec
Height
5'6" / 168 cm
Weight
161 lbs / 73 kgs
Residence
Montreal, Quebec
Canada flyNot only does Alexandre Despatie have an excellent chance of becoming the first Canadian man to win an Olympic diving medal, but the 2003 world champion on platform could come home with three medals in all, as he did at the 2004 World Cup/test event last February. The 19-year-old French Canadian will also be a fan favorite with his tousled hair, sideburns, gap-toothed smile, Montreal accent, and casual attitude -- and not just among Canadians. The Greeks will also be cheering for him too. His paternal "granny," Clara Gavaris, is from Greece.
Damien Meyer/Getty Images
Canada's Alexandre Despatie won the platform title at the 2003 Worlds.Sydney storyDespatie made his Olympic debut in Sydney at age 15 and nearly made it to the medal stand. He qualified for the platform final and then placed fourth, tying the best Olympic finish ever by a Canadian man in diving. (Alfie Phillips finished fourth on springboard at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics).
Since SydneyIn 2001, Despatie won a silver medal on platform at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, narrowly edging out Australian Mathew Helm. At the 2002 FINA/USA Grand Prix, a major international competition in Coral Springs, Fla., Despatie was the only non-Chinese diver to win an event. He edged American Mark Ruiz in platform in his final dive. In that competition he showed poise beyond his years, overcoming severe deductions for a balked third dive (the wind forced him to move a hand while he was in his armstand).
World-class difficultyAt the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, his "back 2½ with 2½ twists" became synonymous with platform gold. Entering his final dive in third place, the 18-year-old produced the best dive of his life to win, receiving two perfect 10.0s on a dive with 3.8 degree of difficulty and a score of 107.1 points -- the highest-scoring dive in history. That performance allowed him to edge Helm of Australia and Tian Liang of China, who finished second and third, respectively. The 3.8 degree of difficulty was the highest of any dive attempted at the Worlds. While six of the 12 finalists tried, none performed it as precisely as Despatie. In Athens, any diver who hopes to win the gold medal will either include the dive in his final program and stick it, or be flawless without it. "It only takes one person to nail it in competition and it's not very long before everyone has it," says Despatie.
DiversifyingThough he focused on platform leading up to the 2000 Games, Despatie has shown versatility in the seasons since. The biggest indicator of that was his victory in the springboard event at the 2004 World Cup. He had never won a major springboard event and wasn't expecting victory at all, since most of his success had come on the platform.
Alexandre Despatie
He's lovin' itIn his first major international competition, the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he became the youngest-ever Commonwealth Games gold medalist when he won the platform title at 13. When Despatie returned to Montreal he craved a Big Mac. A journalist mentioned it in a story, and McDonald's quickly contacted Despatie and signed him to a deal. In addition to promotional opportunities, Despatie works with Ronald McDonald Children's Charities and helps the company with scholarships and other charitable programs.
Feet firstDespatie had flat feet as a toddler and had difficulty walking. His maternal grandfather Paul-Emile Renaud, an orthopedic surgeon, noticed this and performed surgery on Despatie's feet. Despatie says without the correction, he probably would never have been very good.
Downhill starDespatie learned to ski before he could walk, with his parents strapping skis to his feet when he was barely a year old. He was a competitive downhill skier for several years, and notes that the speed of that sport makes it a lot scarier than diving off a 10-meter platform. When the time came to choose between skiing and diving, Despatie says he knew he wouldn't have made it to as high a level in skiing, so he chose diving. He still snowboards in his spare time.
BeginningsDespatie first started diving at age 5 in his backyard, then started training at the Club Aquatique de Montreal (CAMO), where 1996 springboard bronze medalist Annie Pelletier trained. Michel Larouche, who started coaching him in 1997, says Despatie has more talent than any diver he has ever coached. Despatie currently trains 30 hours a week.
Aleksei Nemov
Country
Russia
Sport
Gymnastics
Event(s)
High Bar, Team
Birthdate
May 28, 1976
Birthplace
Tolyatti, Russia
Height
5'9" / 175 cm
Weight
141 lbs / 64 kgs
Residence
Moscow, Russia
Record in reachAleksei Nemov has been one of the world's top gymnasts for the past decade, and he could become the most decorated Olympic athlete in history at the Athens Games. The charismatic Russian won medals in six of the eight men's events in Atlanta and six more in Sydney. Those 12 medals bring him within reach the men's Olympic record of 15 held by Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov, who coached Nemov in the junior ranks. The defending Olympic all-around champion, Nemov will be competing for his third straight all-around medal in Athens; he won silver in 1996.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Aleksei Nemov won six medals at the Atlanta Games and six more in Sydney.
Aleksei's anticsNemov endears himself to fans around the world with his sleek lines, graceful tumbling and crowd-pleasing antics. A natural ham, many gymnastics fans remember the image of Nemov ripping his shirt off in front of the crowd in Atlanta. He returned home from Atlanta to a tidal wave of adulation and became one of Russia's best-known sporting icons. Some of his fans refer to him as "Sexy Aleksei."
More pain, more gainThough taller than the average gymnast, Nemov is slightly built and suffered numerous injuries throughout his career. When he was younger he had wrist and back problems, and then a shoulder injury that affected him at the 1996 Olympic Games. Returning from shoulder surgery at the 1997 Worlds, Nemov struggled to 26th in the all-around before claiming gold on floor. He arrived at the 1999 World Championships with what was described as separated vertebrae, which Nemov said made it painful even to walk. He competed on only four of the six apparatus in the team event in helping Russia to the silver medal. In the individual events, he still managed to win his second consecutive gold in floor and another gold on pommel horse. Nemov and his personal coach Yevgeny Nikolko developed special exercises to keep him from displacing a disc.
Atlanta's awardsNemov won six medals in Atlanta in 1996, more than any other athlete at those Games, despite a sprained ligament in his left shoulder. His status had been in doubt on the eve of the Games, but Nemov insisted on competing. Nemov proved himself the leader of a Russian squad that many had believed would fall to the powerful Chinese team. He had the highest individual total during the team event, leading Russia to the gold. After that Nemov earned a silver medal in the individual all-around, finishing .049 points behind gold medalist Li Xiaoshuang of China in the closest finish in the men's event since 1984. A watered-down floor routine in the final rotation may have cost him the gold, but since the team won, he was happy. Nemov followed up his all-around silver with a gold on vault and bronzes on high bar, pommel horse and floor exercise.
Six in SydneyFour years later in Sydney, Nemov was even more spectacular, winning medals in all events except rings and vault. Although Nemov performed well in the team event, the Russian team ended up with bronze -- the worst finish for a Soviet, Unified or Russian team since the Soviet Union first competed in 1952. In the all-around, Nemov avenged his narrow loss in Atlanta by finishing first on three of the apparatus to build a sizable lead and claim gold. The 1999 world champion in floor and pommel horse, Nemov took silver in floor exercise and bronze on pommel horse. And he would have won a seventh medal were it not for a fall on his first vault in the finals, leaving him .019 points away from the bronze. He then took bronze on parallel bars and finished the Games with the gold medal on the high bar.
Worlds of successNemov's Olympic medals highlight an accomplished career during which he earned 13 world championship medals, five of them gold. He made his World Championship debut in 1993 and a year later won his first medal, a bronze on parallel bars. His first gold came on vault in 1995, a title he defended a year later. At the 2003 Worlds, Nemov took the bronze in high bar and tied for silver on parallel bars. The Russian team placed fourth.
Starting outAs a young boy Nemov preferred soccer and ice hockey. His mother directed him to gymnastics when he was six to keep him from being disruptive at home, and brought him to a local gym for lessons. Nemov wasn't exactly a natural; in his first in-house competition, he finished sixth out of six. Nemov was eventually spotted by 15-time Olympic medalist Nikolai Andrianov, then the Soviet national junior coach. At 14, Nemov made the national team and was invited to train at the famed Round Lake facility near Moscow. He is still friends with fellow gymnasts from Round Lake, Belarussians Ivan Ivankov and Vitaly Rudnitsky and former teammate Dmitry Karbanenko, now of France.
The man with the golden rattleNemov was married in June 2000, and he and his wife Galina had a baby, Aleksei, just before the Sydney Games. He joked he wanted to bring home a golden rattle from Sydney. An only child himself, Nemov didn't know his father but is close to his mother.
Ok. Haha, I'm rooting for the Russian Women's V-ball tonight!
~wYLdeFiLLy~ 10:22 pm [+]
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