Famous Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov: biography and sports career

Alexei 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 he won at the world championships. After retiring from the sport I started journalism.

Biography of the athlete

Alexei 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 years, the future Olympic champion was in 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 the movements, young Nemov could not boast of good physical data, so he was soon transferred to another coach - Eugene Nikola. It was he who was able to see the real talent of Alexei.

It was very difficult for Nemov to combine intensive training and school activities. Due to frequent absenteeism and poor performance, he was forced to change several secondary schools.

Sports career

For the first time, Nemov was talked about in 1989, when the 13-year-old gymnast scored a confident victory at the USSR Youth Championship. Since then, Alexei has become a regular participant in various international competitions, in which he won many times not only in certain types, but also in absolute classification.

At the FM-94 in Dortmund, the gymnast won a gold medal in the team event, and a year later Alexander Nemov won the base jump at the world championship in Sabae.

At the Olympic Games in Atlanta athlete went in the status of one of the favorites of the competition, from which only medals were expected. And the hopes of coaches and fans were justified more than full. Alexei Nemov in Atlanta managed to win six medals, among which were two golds - in the team classification and for the base jump.

Successfully speaking in the inter-Olympic period, the Russian gymnast went to Sydney 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, Alexei won another silver and three bronze medals in Sydney.

Speech of Nemov at the 2004 Olympics in Athens was remembered, above all, by a loud scandal. After the performance of a Russian on the crossbar, where he performed very complex elements, the judges exposed him greatly underestimated. The fans in the hall were very indignant, they expressed their protest with a loud whistle and roar until Alexei Nemov personally went out to them and asked to calm down.

As a result of this scandal, the gymnast was slightly raised by an average rating, but he still remained without medals. Also after this incident, there have been some changes in the system of judges' evaluation of gymnastic performances.

Life outside sports

At the end of his sports career, Alexei Nemov started active public work. In 2000 he was awarded the military rank of major. Ex-gymnast was actively engaged in journalism, and in 2013 he took up the post of editor-in-chief in the magazine "Bolshoi Sport".

Nemov is married to his long-time good friend Galina. During the Sydney Olympics, she bore him a son, who was named after the famous father.