Alexei Nemov

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

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Yurievich and the family name is Nemov.
Alexei Nemov
Алексей Немов
Personal information
Full nameAlexei Yurievich Nemov
Country represented Russia
Born (1976-05-28) 28 May 1976
Barashevo, Mordovian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
HometownTolyatti
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team1992–2004 (RUS)
ClubTrade Union
Head coach(es)Evgeny Nikolko
Assistant coach(es)A. Shestakova
Retired2004
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Vault
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney High Bar
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta All-Around
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Floor
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Floor
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta High Bar
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Pommel Horse
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Team
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Pommel Horse
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Parallel Bars
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Sabae Vault
Gold medal – first place 1996 San Juan Vault
Gold medal – first place 1997 Lausanne Floor
Gold medal – first place 1999 Tianjin Floor
Gold medal – first place 1999 Tianjin Pommel Horse
Silver medal – second place 1994 Dortmund Team
Silver medal – second place 1996 San Juan Parallel Bars
Silver medal – second place 1999 Tianjin Team
Silver medal – second place 2003 Anaheim Parallel Bars
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Brisbane Parallel Bars
Bronze medal – third place 1996 San Juan Pommel Horse
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Lausanne Team
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Anaheim High Bar
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1994 Prague Parallel Bars
Gold medal – first place 1998 St. Petersburg Floor
Gold medal – first place 2002 Patras Floor
Bronze medal – third place 1998 St. Petersburg All-Around
European Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 1999 Patras Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Moscow Team

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.

2004 Olympics controversy and rule change

Although injury took its toll, Nemov competed through to the 2004 Athens Olympics, mainly as an anchor for the fledgling Russian team. Though unable to defend his all-around title, Nemov's performances brought the house down on high bar in Athens and placed him in the middle of a judging controversy. After performing a routine with six release skills in the high bar event final (including four in a row – three variations of Tkatchev releases and a Gienger), the judges posted a score of 9.725, placing him in third position with several athletes still to compete. This was actually a fair judging decision because he took a big step on landing which was a two tenths deduction. The crowd became unruly on seeing the results and interrupted the competition for almost fifteen minutes. Influenced by the crowd's fierce reaction, the judges reevaluated the routine and increased Nemov's score to 9.762, but this did not improve his placement and he finished without a medal.

This scandal was just the latest of several judging disputes in the competition, such as the scoring controversy involving Korean gymnast Yang Tae-Young, and prompted a major reconstruction of the gymnastics scoring system, which was implemented in 2006. The rule changes are credited as having encouraged more acrobatic activity and increasing difficulties on the high bar apparatus seen in later competitions.[1] The Russian Olympic Committee later awarded Nemov $40,000 in recognition of his character, and he retired from gymnastics soon after.[2]

Personal life

Nemov currently lives in his hometown of Tolyatti with his wife Galina and his son Alexei (born 2000) and his other son Dima (born 2009).

In 2022, after the International Gymnastics Federation opened a disciplinary case against Ivan Kuliak for wearing the military symbol "Z" (used by Russian invading forces in Ukraine) at an international gymnastics medal ceremony, Nemov expressed support for him, saying that Kuliak had been "provoked"[3] and that his actions showed "courage".[4]

See also

References
  1. Emma John (7 August 2012). "London 2012: Gymnastic gold for true flying Dutchman Epke Zonderland". Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. "Russian Olympic Committee will award gymnast Alexei Nemov for performance in Athens Olympics". Pravda. 11 September 2004.
  3. "Alexei Nemov, One Of Russia's Most Celebrated Gymnasts, Defends Ivan Kuliak For Wearing The Russian Pro War Symbol At Doha World Cup". wogymnast.com. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022.
  4. "«Мы будем его защищать. Он проявил мужество». Немов — о дисциплинарном деле в отношении Куляка" [We will protect him. He showed courage." Nemov - about Kuliak's disciplinary case]. Sport Express (in Russian). 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022.
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