Alexei Nemov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alexei Nemov
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Personal information
Full name	Alexei Yurievich Nemov
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1976-05-28) 28 May 1976 (age 48) Barashevo, Mordovian ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Hometown	Tolyatti
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1992–2004 (RUS)
Club	Trade Union
Head coach(es)	Evgeny Nikolko
Assistant coach(es)	A. Shestakova
Retired	2004
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Gold 1996 Atlanta Vault Gold 2000 Sydney All-Around Gold 2000 Sydney High Bar Silver 1996 Atlanta All-Around Silver 2000 Sydney Floor Bronze 1996 Atlanta Floor Bronze 1996 Atlanta High Bar Bronze 1996 Atlanta Pommel Horse Bronze 2000 Sydney Team Bronze 2000 Sydney Pommel Horse Bronze 2000 Sydney Parallel Bars World Championships Gold 1995 Sabae Vault Gold 1996 San Juan Vault Gold 1997 Lausanne Floor Gold 1999 Tianjin Floor Gold 1999 Tianjin Pommel Horse Silver 1994 Dortmund Team Silver 1996 San Juan Parallel Bars Silver 1999 Tianjin Team Silver 2003 Anaheim Parallel Bars Bronze 1994 Brisbane Parallel Bars Bronze 1996 San Juan Pommel Horse Bronze 1997 Lausanne Team Bronze 2003 Anaheim High Bar European Championships Gold 1994 Prague Parallel Bars Gold 1998 St. Petersburg Floor Gold 2002 Patras Floor Bronze 1998 St. Petersburg All-Around European Team Championships Gold 1999 Patras Team Gold 2003 Moscow Team

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.

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.

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" and that his actions showed "courage".

See also

In Spanish: Alekséi Némov para niños

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics
• List of Olympic male artistic gymnasts for Russia