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Alexander Popov
Considered as one of the greatest sprinters he has to win two medals to tie up with Matt Biondi and Mark Spitz for a total 11 Olympic medals.
Born: November 16, 1971
Country: Russia
Weight: 74.4 kgs
Height: 198 cm
Events: Swimming (50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle)
Olympic Records:
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1996 Atlanta Olympic Games: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
2000 Sydney Olympic Games: 2nd 100m free
Other Records:
1991 European Championships: 1st 100m free
1992 European Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1993 European Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1994 World Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1995 European Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1997 European Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free
1998 World Championships: 1st 100m free, 2nd 50m free
1999 European Championships: 2nd 100m free, 3rd 50m free
2000 European Championships: 1st 50m freestyle, 1st 100m freestyle, 1st 4x100m free relay, 1st 4x100m Medley relay
2002 World Championships: 3rd 50m free, 3rd 4x100m free relay
2002 European Championships: 2nd 100m free, 1st 4x100m medley relay
2003 World Championships: 1st 50m free, 1st 100m free, 1st 4x100m medley relay, 2nd 4x100m medley relay
Alexander Popov is rightly considered one of the greatest sprinters in swimming history. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Popov was in the sixth position at the halfway mark of the 100m freestyle, but he came from behind to win the title. Two days later in the 50m freestyle, Popov led from start to earn his second gold medal. He also won two silver medals in relays. In Atlanta, Popov defended his 100m title by pulling ahead of Gary Hall Jr in the last fifteen metres. He was the first repeat winner of the 100m since Johnny Weissmuller in the 1920s.
But his run at the Sydney Olympics was not so phenomenal as the previous ones. He just managed to win a silver in the 100m freestyle and finished sixth in the 50m freestyle. But then he returned to the international scene with convincing performances at the World Championship in 2003. With two medals in Athens, Popov could tie Americans Matt Biondi and Mark Spitz for total Olympic medals with 11. In addition, he could become the first man to win the same individual swimming event at three Games.
A month after the Atlanta Olympics, Popov was stabbed by a watermelon vendor on the streets of Moscow. This incident made him shift to Switzerland in 1999. The same year he was elected to the International Olympic Committee and to the IOC's Athletes' Commission.
He recovered sufficiently from the stab wound to win the 100m at the 1998 World championships. His domination ended when in 1999 he was defeated by Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands. This ended his streak of 15 European, four Olympic and three world championships.
