Alexander Vladimirovich Popov

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For the biathlonist, see Alexander Vladimirovich Popov (biathlonist).

Olympic medal record
Men’s swimming
Gold	1992 Barcelona	50 m Freestyle
Gold	1992 Barcelona	100 m freestyle
Gold	1996 Atlanta	50 m freestyle
Gold	1996 Atlanta	100 m freestyle
Silver	2000 Sydney	100 m freestyle

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 swimmers of The 1990s.

[edit] Career

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).

Olympic champions in men's 50 m freestyle
1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Aleksandr Popov | 1996: Aleksandr Popov | 2000: Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall, Jr. | 2004: Gary Hall, Jr.

Olympic champions in men's 100 m freestyle

1896: Alfréd Hajós | 1906: Charles Daniels | 1908: Charles Daniels | 1912: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1920: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1924: Johnny Weissmuller | 1928: Johnny Weissmuller | 1932: Yasuji Miyazaki | 1936: Ferenc Csík | 1948: Walter Ris | 1952: Clarke Scholes | 1956: Jon Henricks | 1960: John Devitt | 1964: Don Schollander | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Jim Montgomery | 1980: Jörg Woithe | 1984: Rowdy Gaines | 1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Aleksandr Popov | 1996: Aleksandr Popov | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Pieter van den Hoogenband