Alexey Nemov is a gymnast who is one of the most famous Russian athletes. During his career, he became a four-time Olympic champion, five more times won the world championships. After leaving sports, he took up journalism.
Athlete Biography
Alexey Nemov, whose photo can be seen in this article, was born in May 1976 in the small town of Barashevo in Mordovia. Soon he and his mother moved to Togliatti.
At six, the future Olympic champion fell into the gymnastics group, which was led by the famous coach Irina Shestakova. Six months later, he got to another mentor - Pavel Denisov.
Despite the good coordination of movements, young Nemov could not boast of good physical data, so he was soon transferred to the next coach - Eugene Nikolko. It was he who managed to discern the real talent of Alexei.
It was very difficult for Nemov to combine intensive training and school activities. Due to frequent absenteeism and poor academic performance, he was forced to change several secondary schools.
Sports career
The first talk about Nemov in 1989, when a 13-year-old gymnast won a landslide victory in the youth championship of the USSR. Since then, Alexey has become a regular participant in various international competitions, in which he repeatedly won not only in individual forms, but also in the overall standings.
At the World Cup 94 in Dortmund, the gymnast won the gold medal in the team competition, and a year later, Alexander Nemov won the vault at the world championship in Sabae.
The athlete went to the Atlanta Olympics in the status of one of the favorites of the competition, from which they expected only medals. And the hopes of coaches and fans were more than justified. Alexei Nemov in Atlanta managed to win six medals, among which were two gold medals - in the team event and for the vault.
Successfully performing in the inter-Olympic period, the Russian gymnast went to Sydney as an unconditional favorite. And he confirmed his status brilliantly, again becoming a two-time Olympic champion - in the all-around and in the exercises on the crossbar. In addition to gold medals, in Sydney Alexey won another silver and three bronzes.
The performance of Nemov at the 2004 Olympics in Athens was remembered, first of all, by a loud scandal. After the performance of the Russian on the crossbar, where he performed very complex elements, the judges gave him very low marks. The fans in the hall were very indignant, they expressed their protest with a loud whistle and a rumble until Alexey Nemov personally came to them and asked to calm down.
As a result of this scandal, the gymnast was slightly raised the average rating, but he still remained without medals. Also after this incident, there were some changes in the system of judges' assessment of gymnastic performances.
Life outside of sports
At the end of his sports career, Alexei Nemov took up active social activities. In 2000, he was awarded the military rank of major. The ex-gymnast was actively involved in journalism, and in 2013 he took the post of chief editor in the magazine "Big Sport".
Nemov is married to his longtime good friend Galina. During the Sydney Olympics, she bore him a son, who was named after his famous father.