DOB: May 28 1976
Achievements:
Team competition winner 1996 Atlanta
Vault winner 1996 Atlanta
All-around winner 2000 Sydney
High bar winner 2000 Sydney
All-around silver medalist 1996 Atlanta
Floor exercise silver medalist 2000 Sydney
Floor exercise bronze medalist 1996 Atlanta
High bar bronze medalist 1996 Atlanta
Pommel horse bronze medalist 1996 Atlanta
Team competition bronze medalist 2000 Sydney
Pommel horse bronze medalist 2000 Sydney
Parallel bars bronze medalist 2000 Sydney
Alexei Nemov is a famous gymnast from Russia. Alexei embodies all the ideal qualities of a world-class gymnast: complex acrobatics, elegance, and style.
Nemov started gymnastics at the age of five in his hometown Togliatti.
As a 16-year-old he made his debut at the 1993 World Championships, placing fifth on floor. It was the next year that he stamped himself as a true all-around contender, winning his qualifying session at the World Championships. However, Nemov later stumbled and dropped to 12th overall. He won his first major all-around title at the Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburg, where he beat his teammate Alexei Voropaev by over one point.
Despite promising international success, he soon became known for showing patchy performance.
In the all-around of the European Championships, Nemov was the leader in five events. However, Nemov eventually dropped to ninth overall.
A few months later, Alexei helped Russia at the World Championships in Sabae, Japan to jump from the 11th place after the first round to the fourth overall.
The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia was the highest point of Nemov’s career as the gymnast took 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. However, he ruined his chances for gold due to lack of concentration as he botched his middle tumbling run on the final event. He finished a narrow second.
However, an unfortunate period followed as Nemov continually battled recurring shoulder injuries, boredom, and poor fitness level. Thus, he failed to win a major all-around title for nearly four years, and was not viewed as a formidable opponent at the Sydney Olympics. However, he surprised everyone by doing the best gymnastics of his career, and once again took home six medals including the all-around gold.
Alexei competed through to the 2004 Athens Olympics, mainly as an anchor for the fledgling Russian team. Though unable to defend his all-around title, Alexei's performances won the hearts of supporters in Athens, and placed him in the middle of the largest judging controversy in the history of the sport. After performing the most difficult and dazzling routine of high bar finals, marred only by a step on the landing of his dismount, the judges posted a 9.725, placing him in third. An endless chorus of boos and cheers followed that produced a 15-minute break in the competition. Under the pressure of the crowd the judges reevaluated, and increased his score to a 9.762, still only placing him in third. The protest began to wane only after Alexei stepped up to the podium and pleaded with his supporters to quiet down for the sake of the other athletes. Nemov himself never criticized the judges nor the situation. The Russian Olympic Committee later awarded Alexei $40,000 in recognition of his class and character, and he retired from gymnastics soon after.
