Dmitri Poliaroush
| Dmitri Poliaroush | |
|---|---|
| — Gymnast — | |
| Nickname(s) | The Russian Machine |
| Country represented |
 Belarus |
| Former countries represented |
 Soviet Union |
| Born |
September 20, 1970 Berezniki, Russia |
| Discipline | Trampolining |
| Eponymous skills | Poliaroush (Double Full In – Double Full Out) |
Dmitri Vladimir "Dima" Poliaroush (born September 20, 1970) is a Belarusian gymnast. Poliaroush is a 6 time World Champion, 7 time European Champion and 20 time World Cup winner. He competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing fifth and fourth respectively. He was the first man who did a “Double Full In – Double Full Out” on trampoline and the skill is named after him as an “Poliaroush”. He is the only person who has been an active trampolinist and trampoline coach at the Olympic Games.[1]
Competition Life
Before 1990
Dmitri Poliaroush was born on September 20, 1970 in Berezniki, Russia. From a young age, Dmitri always wanted to be an astronaut. At the age of 6, he saw a trampolinist flying in the air, and later told his mom that he wanted to do this. So he joined the local trampoline club in Berezniki, where his obvious talent did not go unnoticed. Starting from an early age, he worked out many hours per day which would later help him to win numerous titles. His first success was in 1984, when he won the Soviet Union Junior National Competitions and was named to the Soviet Union Junior Team. In 1985, Dmitri competed in his first international competition in Denmark, where he finished 5th. 1986 was a big year for Dmitri, he won the bronze medal at the Soviet Union National Championships, won the European Junior Championships, and participated at his first Trampoline World Championships in Paris. At the early age of 16, he had already finished 5th in the world. Trampoline Specialists all over the world saw his talent and knew right away that he would be very successful and will innovate the world of trampoline. In 1987 and 1988, Dmitri won the Soviet Union National Championships, which had been one of his big goals. In 1988, he competed at the World Championships in Birmingham, USA, where he brought home a gold medal in the team competition and a silver in the individual competition. He lost in the final round of competition to trampoline legend, Vadim Krasnoshapka by only 0.2. This was a big disappointment for Dmitri but was seen as a big success for such a young athlete.[2]
1990s
From 1990, Alexander Moskalenko and Poliaroush were two major names in the sport of trampoline. They were constantly competing head to head against one another. This made competitions interesting, and this would last until the end of their careers. In 1990, Dmitri came home from the World Championships in Essen, Germany, with two gold medals (team and synchronized), but had to settle for a silver medal again in individual, losing to teammate, Alexander Moskalenko. This loss was a motivation for Poliaroush to make upgrades to his routine. In 1991 at the European Championships, Dmitri competed with a routine that had a difficulty of 14.6, which was a new world record. His routine finished with a new skill that had never been seen before, it was a double full in – double full out, which would later be named the “Poliaroush”. In 1991, the Soviet Union Sports Government honored Dmitri with the highest award for any athlete, Honor Master of Sport of the Soviet Union. In 1992, Dmitri was not able to compete at the World Championships even though he had a new routine and was in the best shape of his life. This was a time of political problems within the Soviet Union. In 1993, Dmitri moved to Vitebsk, Belarus and started representing Belarus at international competitions. This helped the Belarus team tremendously. He led the team to beat the reigning world champions, Russia at the World Championships in 1994. In 1995, the Belarus Sport Administration awarded Dmitri with the Honor Master of Sport of the Republic of Belarus. In 1995 and 1996, Dmitri did not lose any competitions, winning many world cup titles, world cup final, European Championships, and finally at the World Championships in 1996 in Vancouver, Canada, Dmitri won the individual world title. After this competition, Dmitri decided to retire from the sport, since he had already won every title that could possibly be won. However, in 1998, the sport of trampoline was announced as an Olympic sport, this pushed Poliaroush to make a comeback. At this point, Dmitri was already living in the Lafayette, Louisiana, United States where he had started his coaching career. It was very difficult for him to combine his coaching and training life together. At the 1999 World Championships in South Africa, he finished a disappointing 4th place.[3]
2000 – 2005
Motivated by his 1999 South African finish, Dmitri worked extremely hard, and in 2000 he won all competitions that he entered, including the World Cup in Great Britain where he set 2 new world records, in Optional Routine and total score. His routine was given a 42.1, with a 14.2 tariff of difficulty, which made his execution scores, 9.3 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.3. In Sydney, Australia, trampoline made its Olympic debut. Two days before the competition took place, Dmitri celebrated his 30th birthday. Dmitri felt very good going into this competition. Preliminary competitions went extremely well, but unfortunately, in the final routine, Dmitri made a huge mistake. He finished a disappointing 5th place. This competition made a major decision for Dmitri, on whether he needed to stay in the sport, or retire. After a half year of break, Dmitri realized that he did not want to give up so easily. He continued competing until the 2004 Olympic Games. He was a winner and medalist at many competitions such as the Goodwill Games, World Cups, and in 2003 at the World Championships, he won the synchronized world title with Nikolai Kasak, which made him the oldest male to win a world title in trampoline. He was 33 years old. In Athens, at the Olympic Games, Dmitri was not feeling good and finished 4th. He saw this a good way to end off his career at the age of 34. The 19 year international career was a major success, he had a total of 13 medals from the World Championships, which makes him the second most decorated male trampolinist in history (behind Alexander Moskalenko).[4]
Retirement
In 2005, there was a big retirement party for Dmitri in Vitebsk, Belarus. This was a big celebration of an incredible athlete, however, it was also a sad occasion because Dmitri would no longer be seen competing .[5]
Trampoline Records and Special Awards
Poliaroush set many world records in the sport of trampoline. They are listed below:
- 1991-1997- World Difficulty Record
- 2000 – Highest Optional Score
- 2000 – Highest Total Score
- 2004 – Winner of the most individual World Cups (Men)
There were also many prestigious awards that Poliaroush earned throughout, and even after his career was complete. Some of them are listed below:
- 1991– Honor Master of Sport of the USSR
- 1995 – Honor Master of Sport of the Republic of Belarus
- 2008 – Inducted to Gallery of the Legends, World Acrobatic Association
- 1991 – Invented the double full in – double full out, “Poliaroush”
Coaching Life
In 1998, Dmitri began coaching at Trampoline and Tumbling Express in Lafayette, Louisiana USA. He has coached and produced numerous USA National Team Members, USA National Champions, World Age Group Games Winners, medalist at World Championships, Pan American Games Champion, 2008 Olympians (Erin Blanchard, Christ Estrada), and 2010 Youth Olympians (Savannah Vinsant, Hunter Brewster). From 2005–2008, Dmitri was the USA Trampoline and Tumbling National Team Coordinator, where he was serving USA Gymnastics to help develop the Sport of Trampoline in the United States. USA Gymnastics awarded Dmitri with the USA Trampoline Coach of the Year Award in 2002, 2003, and 2008.
Dmitri currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he is the president of the Olympic Trampoline Academy and the head trampoline coach at Trampoline and Tumbling Express. He is serving the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique on the Trampoline Technical Committee as the Athlete Representative. He has judged all over the world with his FIG Category 1 Brevet rating. He participates in many competitions and clinics around the country, to help the trampoline program grow and prosper.