Michael Gross (swimmer)

Michael Gross (swimmer)
Michael Gross
Personal information
Nickname(s) The Albatross
Born 17 June 1964 (1964-06-17) (age 47)
Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 88 kg (190 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) Butterfly, freestyle
Club EOSC Offenbach

Michael Gross (born 17 June 1964), spelled Michael Groß in German, is a former swimmer from Germany. He is 201 centimeters (6 feet, 7 inches) tall, and received the nickname "The Albatross" due to his especially long arms that gave him a total span of 2.13 meters. Gross, competing for West Germany, won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991.

Career

Gross was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was probably the finest swimmer in the world in the 200-meter butterfly race from 1981 to 1988. In this period he set four world records, won two world titles, four European titles and one Olympic gold medal. He is perhaps the finest European swimmer ever.

The sole exception occurred in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when Gross was one of the great athletes of the games. Gross easily won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, dominating the field. In the 100-meter butterfly, Gross pulled off a bit of an upset, winning over the favorite in the event, American Pablo Morales. However, in the 200-meter butterfly, Gross himself was upset by a relative unknown, Australian Jon Sieben. The men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay race became one of the marquee events of the games, with Gross leading the German relay against the underdog American squad. Despite the fact that Gross swam the fastest relay leg in the event's history, the American team pulled off the upset, earning the title of the "Grossbusters."

Gross won a total of thirteen medals at the World Championships (including five gold), fifteen gold medals at the European Championships and was elected German "Athlete of the Year" four times (1982, 1983, 1984 and 1988). He retired from professional swimming in 1991.

He is featured in Bud Greenspan's 16 Days of Glory, the documentary film of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

1976 gold medal winning swimmer John Naber remarked to Sports Illustrated in 1984 that if Michael Gross were an American, he would have won six or seven medals, and that Gross was better than Mark Spitz.

He was named Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1985 by Swimming World magazine and admitted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995.

See also

External links

Records
Preceded by
United States Pablo Morales
Men's 100 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)

30 July 1984 – 23 June 1986
Succeeded by
United States Pablo Morales
Preceded by
United States Craig Beardsley
Men's 200 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)

26 August 1983 – 3 August 1984
Succeeded by
Australia Jon Sieben
Preceded by
Australia Jon Sieben
Men's 200 metre butterfly
world record holder (long course)

29 June 1985 – 12 January 1991
Succeeded by
United States Melvin Stewart
Preceded by
United States Rowdy Gaines
Men's 200 metre Freestyle
World Record Holder (Long Course)

21 June 1983 – 19 September 1988
Succeeded by
Australia Duncan Armstrong
Awards
Preceded by
Germany Toni Mang
German Sportsman of the Year
1982 – 1984
Succeeded by
Germany Boris Becker
Preceded by
Germany Harald Schmid
German Sportsman of the Year
1988
Succeeded by
Germany Boris Becker
Preceded by
Canada Alex Baumann
World Swimmer of the Year
1985
Succeeded by
United States Matt Biondi
Preceded by
Hungary Sándor Wladár
European Swimmer of the Year
1982 – 1986
Succeeded by
Hungary Tamás Darnyi

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Michael Gross — may refer to: Michael Gross (artist) (1920–2004), Israeli painter, sculptor and conceptual artist Michael L. Gross (chemist) (born 1940), American professor of chemistry, medicine, and immunology Michael Gross (actor) (born 1947), American actor… …   Wikipedia

  • Gross (surname) — Gross is a surname, and may refer to:* Alfred J. Gross, American inventor * Arye Gross, American actor * Benedict Gross, American mathematician * Bill Gross, American businessman * Bill Gross (fl. 1990s), American financial manager author * Chaim …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Groß — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Michael Gross et Gross. Michael Groß …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gross, Michael — born June 17, 1964, Frankfurt am Main, W.Ger. German swimmer. With a height of 6 ft 7 in. (2 m), Gross acquired the nickname the Albatross because of his wide arm span. He won six Olympic medals (two gold and two silver in 1984, one gold and one… …   Universalium

  • Bruce Hayes (swimmer) — Infobox Swimmer swimmername=Bruce Hayes imagesize= caption = fullname = Lawrence Bruce Hayes nicknames = nationality = USA strokes = Freestyle club = collegeteam = UCLA birthdate = birth date and age|1963|3|8 birthplace = Sarasota, Florida… …   Wikipedia

  • Duncan Armstrong — Personal information Full name Duncan John D Arcy Armstrong Nationality  Australia Born 7 April 1968 …   Wikipedia

  • Craig Beardsley — Personal information Full name Craig Russell Beardsley Nationality  United States Born 1961 …   Wikipedia

  • List of Yale University people — Yalies are persons affiliated with Yale University, commonly including alumni, current and former faculty members, students, and others. Here follows a list of notable Yalies. Dynamic listNotes: * LL.B. (Legum Baccalaureum) is a graduate degree… …   Wikipedia

  • Rafael Vidal — Rafael Antonio Vidal Castro (January 6, 1964 ndash; February 12, 2005) was a Venezuelan swimmer and sports commentator. He was a native of Caracas, Venezuela.At age 19, Vidal became the first Venezuelan swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the 200… …   Wikipedia

  • Jon Sieben — Jonathan ( Jon ) Scott Sieben (born 24 August 1966) is an Australian former butterfly swimmer active in the 1980s, who won gold in the 200 m butterfly at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.Hailing from Brisbane, Queensland, Sieben was coached by… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”