Diego Hypólito

Diego Hypólito
Hypólito in 2016
Personal information
Full name Diego Matias Hypólito
Country represented  Brazil
Born (1986-06-19) June 19, 1986
Santo André, SP, Brazil
Hometown Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior international
Club CR Flamengo
Head coach(es) Renato Araújo

Diego Matias Hypólito (Brazilian Portuguese: [d͡ʒi.ˈeɡu iˈpɔlitu]; born June 19, 1986 in Santo André) is a Brazilian gymnast and the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the floor exercise. He is the first male gymnast from Brazil, and South America, to win a medal at the World Championships.[1] He also won 63 medals in World Cup.[2] Hypólito has represented Brazil in 3 Olympics: 2008, 2012 and 2016. He received the silver medal in Floor at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.[3] He is also the younger brother of Daniele Hypólito, the first Brazilian gymnast ever to medal at Worlds.

Career

Hypólito began gymnastics at the age of 7, following in his older sister's footsteps. He won the floor exercise event in the children's division at the Brazilian National Championships in 1997 and was the all-around junior National Champion in 2001.[4]

By the age of 21, Hypólito had competed in five World Gymnastics Championships, in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. A floor exercise specialist, he qualified for the FX event finals in all five competitions, placing fifth in 2002, fourth in 2003, earning the gold medal in 2005, the silver medal in 2006, and the gold again in 2007. With his 2005 win, Hypólito became the first male South American gymnast to medal at Worlds.

In the spring of 2008, Hypólito contracted dengue fever.[5] However, he was able to recover and resume training in time to compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he was Brazil's only MAG representative. In the preliminary round of competition, he performed on floor and vault, and qualified to the floor event final in first place with a score of 15.950.[6] In the floor finals, he fell on his last tumbling pass to finish the meet in 6th place.[7]

Hypólito was one of three male Brazilians in artistic gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but he was eliminated during the qualification stage. However, in the 2016 Summer Olympics, held in his host country, finished fourth in qualification for the floor exercise, and won a silver medal in the individual event final.

References

  1. "Diego Hypólito é primeiro brasileiro campeão mundial de ginástica" Murilo Garavello, UOL, 26 November 2005
  2. "Dani leva o ouro no salto em SP; Diego mantém alto nível, mas é prata no solo". sportv.com (in Portuguese). May 21, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. "Brazil's Hypolito, Nory take silver and bronze in men's floor exercise". Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  4. Official website
  5. AP "Gymnastics world champ Diego Hypolito confirmed with dengue in Brazil" Associated Press, April 7, 2008
  6. MAG qualification scores--apparatus NBC Olympics, August 9, 2008
  7. Results – Floor Men's Floor Exercise Final Beijing, August 17, 2008
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