Michael Gross (swimmer)

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Olympic medal record
Men’s Swimming
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	200m Freestyle
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	100m Butterfly
Gold	1988 Seoul	200m Butterfly
Silver	1984 Los Angeles	200m Butterfly
Silver	1984 Los Angeles	4x200m Freestyle Relay
Bronze	1988 Seoul	4x200m Freestyle Relay

Michael Gross (de:Michael Groß) (born June 17, 1964 in Frankfurt) is a former swimmer from Germany. A 202 cm (6 ft 7 in) athlete, he received nickname "The Albatross", due to his super long arms which gave him a total span of 2.27 m. Gross, competing for West Germany, won three Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991.

[edit] Career

Gross was probably the finest swimmer in the world in the 200 m 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.

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 200m freestyle, dominating the field. In the 100m butterfly, Gross pulled off a bit of an upset, winning over the favorite in the event, American Pablo Morales. However, in the 200m butterfly, Gross himself was upset by a relative unknown, Australian Jon Sieben. The men's 4x200m 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 retreated 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.

Olympic champions in men's 200 m freestyle
1900: Frederick Lane | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Bruce Furniss | 1980: Sergey Kopliakov | 1984: Michael Gross | 1988: Duncan Armstrong | 1992: Yevgeny Sadovyi | 1996: Danyon Loader | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Ian Thorpe

Olympic champions in men's 100 m butterfly
1968: Doug Russell | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Matt Vogel | 1980: Pär Arvidsson | 1984: Michael Gross | 1988: Anthony Nesty | 1992: Pablo Morales | 1996: Denis Pankratov | 2000: Lars Frölander | 2004: Michael Phelps

Olympic champions in men's 200 m butterfly
1956: William Yorzyk | 1960: Michael Troy | 1964: Kevin Berry | 1968: Carl Robie | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Mike Bruner | 1980: Sergey Fesenko | 1984: Jon Sieben | 1988: Michael Gross | 1992: Melvin Stewart | 1996: Denis Pankratov | 2000: Tom Malchow | 2004: Michael Phelps

Preceded by Alex Baumann

World Swimmer of the Year 1985

Succeeded by Matt Biondi