Dimitri Sautin

Biography

"Born on March 15, 1974 in Voronejz, Russia
Height: 5'9'. Weight: 165 pounds.
Dmitri was 30 years old at the time of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
9 years fter starting diving, Dmitry joined the Soviet National Team, and only one year later he won his first silver medal at the European Championshis. He won his first major Gold Medal in 1994 after defeating favorite, Sun Shuwei from China at the World Championships.

In 1991 while standing at a bus stop, Dimitri was stabbed so badly he almost bled to death. He spent two months in hospital and feared he would not walk again. But he vowed to get better and competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Apparently he got into an argument at his bus stop with a group of classmates. he remembers being stabbed and spemt 2 months in the hospital.

Four years later, at the Altlanta Olympic Games he had a wrist injury and was forced to take cortisone shots. He finished 5th on the 3 meter springboard event and then came back to win the platform event. He competed with an injured left wrist at these games,and had to have surgery after the games were over.

in 1988 Dimitri was again plegged by pain. After winning the Goodwill games he had to get surgery to treat chronic back pain. And his recovery took so long that he was unable to participage in the 1999 World Cup.

In Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games, Dmitry won 4 medals, one gold (in the Platform Synchro event), 1silver, (in the springboard synchro event) and 2 Bronze (in the 2 individual events). Dmitry has been known to say that after missing a few dives he had to nail his last dive in order to win the bronze medal. He did it and told everyone that he was exhausted, and that events so close together took a lot of energy out of him and that he should have used a different strategy to endure the mental pressure.

While training for the 2004 Games, Dmitry, went with his team to the US to train at their Centralized training center. He was working on reverse triples on the dryboard when he landed on his head. Dmitry had to take a long break before training again.

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