Alexei Nemov

Alexei Nemov
Personal information
Full name	Alexei Yurievich Nemov
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1976-05-28) 28 May 1976 Barashevo, Mordovia
Hometown	Tolyatti
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Club	Trade Union
Head coach(es)	Evgeny Nikolko
Assistant coach(es)	A. Shestakova
Retired	Fall of 2004
Medal record Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team 1996 Atlanta Vault 2000 Sydney All-Around 2000 Sydney High Bar 1996 Atlanta All-Around 2000 Sydney Floor 1996 Atlanta Floor 1996 Atlanta High Bar 1996 Atlanta Pommel Horse 2000 Sydney Team 2000 Sydney Pommel Horse 2000 Sydney Parallel Bars World Championships 1995 Sabae Vault 1996 San Juan Vault 1997 Lausanne Floor 1999 Tianjin Floor 1999 Tianjin Pommel Horse 1994 Dortmund Team 1996 San Juan Parallel Bars 1999 Tianjin Team 2003 Anaheim Parallel Bars 1994 Brisbane Parallel Bars 1996 San Juan Pommel Horse 1997 Lausanne Team 2003 Anaheim High Bar European Championships 1994 Prague Parallel Bars 1998 St. Petersburg Floor 2002 Patras Floor 1998 St. Petersburg All-Around European Team Championships 1999 Patras Team 2003 Moscow Team

Alexei Yurievich Nemov (Russian: Алексей Юрьевич Немов; born 28 May 1976 in Barashevo, Mordovia) is a former artistic gymnast from Russia and one of the most celebrated gymnasts of all time. During his career, he won five world championships, three European championships and twelve Olympic medals.

Early life

Alexei Nemov grew up in Tolyatti on the Volga River. His father left him and his mother when Nemov was just a baby, and Nemov has never seen him since. Alexei started gymnastics at age five.

Gymnastics career

Nemov made his debut at the 1993 World Championships at the age of sixteen, placing fifth in the floor event. The following year, he stamped himself as a true all-around contender, winning his qualifying session at the Worlds. He later faltered and dropped to twelfth overall. He won his first major all-around title at the Goodwill Games in Saint-Petersburg, beating his second-place teammate and World Silver Medalist Aleksei Voropaev by over one point. Nemov's style of gymnastics was considered very well-rounded; he had complex acrobatics, a unique style, and elegance when he performed.

Despite his initial promising success internationally, by 1995 Nemov had gained a reputation for having inconsistent performances. In the all-around at the 1995 European Cup, Nemov, then 19, was the leader after five events and had put up the high score on three events. When he came to high bar, he only needed an 8.75 to win the title. He missed his two major release moves and crashed into the bar on another, botched a required element, and stopped in the middle of his routine. He scored a 7.35 and dropped to ninth overall.

A few months later, Nemov competed in the World Championships in Sabae, Japan. The Russian team had an extremely poor showing during the qualifying round, finishing in 11th place, with Nemov in 96th position all-around. The team rebounded in the finals to finish 4th overall (still a disappointment since it marked the first time in decades that the Russians failed to medal in the team competition), while Nemov put up the highest optional score of all the competitors. His compulsory round ranking prevented him from qualifying to the all-around finals, however.

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Nemov seemed poised to win the gold. Nemov won six medals (two gold, one silver, and three bronze). He performed solidly in the all-around, battling World Champion Li Xiaoshuang every step of the way. Nemov ruined his chances for gold, however, when he botched his middle tumbling run in the final event, finishing second by a narrow margin.

While many questioned Nemov's dedication and fitness level, he continued to excel. Several shoulder injuries, as well as his marriage and the birth of his first son, along with perceived inconsistencies in character were cited as evidence of weak gymnastics prior to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This led to increased concerns about Aleksei's lack of a major title. However, as a high-performance athlete, Nemov went into the 2000 Olympics in the best shape of his life – having never seen his newborn son (born in September 2000), and was able to take home to his son what he called a golden rattle, in reality an all-around gold medal. Except for still rings, he had won at least one Olympic medal in every other discipline of men's gymnastics by the end of the Sydney games. More than anything though it is important to note that Nemov was the last of the Soviets and the first of the Russians to compete internationally. He was a relic of the old era in his style and training, but an indicator of the new in his personality.

Personal life

Nemov currently lives in his hometown of Tolyatti with his wife Galina and his son Alexei.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics

References

• Russian Olympic Committee will award gymnast Alexei Nemov for performance in Athens Olympics from newsfromrussia.com
• List of competitive results at Gymn Forum

External links

• Alexei Nemov at the International Federation of Gymnastics