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Alexander Popov Profile |
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Birth Date: November 16, 1971
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Birth Place: Sverdlovsk, Russia
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Birth Name: Aleksandr Popov
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Height: 6'7"
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Biography |
Alexander Popov, also spelt as Aleksandr Popov and in
Russian: Александр Попов (born November 16, 1971) is a
Russian former professional swimmer, one of the world's best
fast swimmers of 1990s.
Born in Sverdlovsk, Popov began swimming at 8: at that time,
was afraid of the water. However, his father insisted on him
taking swimming lessons, and in his own words, he has "been
stuck there ever since". Popov started out as a backstroker
but switched to freestyle when he joined Gennadi Touretski's
squad. Since then, he has moved from Russia to Australia to
be with his coach.
Popov won the men's 50 m and 100 m freestyle in the
Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and repeated his victories in
the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, becoming the first man to do so
since Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller. He presented Touretski
with his 1996 Olympic gold medal from the 100 m freestyle.
"I have a title and I'm on the paper, but, you know, Gennadi
hasn't got anything from Atlanta or from Barcelona," Popov
said. "But I know how much this particular medal means for
him, is worth for him."
One month after the Atlanta Olympics, he was stabbed in the
abdomen with a knife during a dispute with three Moscow
street vendors. The knife sliced his artery, grazed one of
his kidneys and damaged the pleura, the membrane that
encases the lungs. He had emergency surgery and spent three
months in rehabilitation. He went on to the 1997 European
Championships and defended his 50 m and 100 m freestyle
titles. "My soul wasn't damaged, my brain wasn't damaged,
only my body."
During the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Popov came in second to
Pieter van den Hoogenband in the men's 100 m freestyle. He
finished 5th in the men's 50 m freestyle, dashing his dream
to be the first man to win 3 consecutive olympic gold medals
in the men's 50 m or the 100 m freestyle events. However,
Popov accepted his defeat with the grace of a true champion.
"It's not the end of the world," said Popov. "I can't win
everything, I have to share."
In the 2003 Barcelona World Championships, Popov once again
made a clean sweep of the men's 50 m and 100 m freestyle
events, citing that Barcelona would always be special to
him, for it was there that for him, everything first began.
He announced his participation in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
However, being the oldest competitor at the pool, the gold
medal eluded him, and he did not even manage to make it into
the finals of both the men's 50 m and 100 m freestyle
events.
Popov was elected a full member of the International Olympic
Committee in December 1999. He also represents the athletes
on the IOC Sport for All Commission and was elected directly
as one of seven athletes to the IOC Athletes Commission by
the athletes participating in the 1996 Olympics. He was
re-elected to the Athletes Commission at the 2000 Games and
is now Honorary Secretary. He was awarded the 1996 Russian
Medal of Honour for contributions to sport. He was also
named Russian Athlete of the Year and European Sports Press
Union Athlete of the Year in 1996.
In June 2003, he confirmed that he was permanently leaving
Australia in early 2004 to live in Solothurn, Switzerland.
He said the move followed the offer of a business
proposition in Switzerland, once he had retired from
swimming. He plans to retain Touretski as a long-distance
coach.
Popov has both a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Sports
Coaching from the Russian Academy. He is currently married
to a former Russian swimmer. He is also a spokesman for
Omega watches. He is 2 m tall and weighs 87 kg, and is
well-known for his kindness and friendliness, as well as his
good looks.
As of 2006, Popov still holds the Olympic and World records
for the men's 50 m freestyle (21.91 s and 21.64 s,
respectively). |
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Other Information |
On June 16, 2000 at Moscow he swam the 50 metres freestyle
at a world record of 21.64 seconds.
Four time gold medalist at the Olympic Summer Games 1992 and
1996. He is the first man to win the 50m and 100m freestyle
in two consecutive Olympics since Johnny Weissmuller.
Was stabbed in the abdomen with a knife during dispute with
three street vendors in Moscow and spent three months in
rehabilitation (1996).
Lived in Australia from 1993 to 2003. Since 2003, he has
resided in Solothurn, Switzerland with his wife and their
two children. |
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