Kyle Shewfelt

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Kyle Shewfelt in 2009

Kyle Shewfelt (born May 6, 1982 in Calgary , Alberta ) is a Canadian gymnast . His gold medal on the floor at the 2004 Summer Olympics was the first medal won by a Canadian gymnast in an international competition and the first Canadian gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

Life

Born in Calgary, Shewfelt began gymnastics in 1988, influenced by a neighbor. He attended the National Sport School in Calgary to complete his school education while he and other students pursued his Olympic plans. He trained from the age of six until the 2004 Olympic Games at the Altadore Gymnastic Club under coach Kelly Manjak . Afterwards, Manjak married and moved to Ontario, while Shewfelt stayed in Calgary and trained under coach Tony Smith at the University of Calgary.

Shewfelt's long-prepared Olympic gold was jeopardized by an ankle injury in March 2004, but he made a full recovery by the time of the Athens Games. Before the Olympics, Shewfelt had speculated about going to Cirque du Soleil after the end of his sporting career . A gold medal would have opened many doors for him in this regard. Shewfelt was seen as one of the medal contenders ahead of the Athens Games . In the end, he won on the ground and was fourth on the vault. There was great controversy about the jump decision because Marian Dragulescu , who won bronze, fell on the second jump. The Canadian federation protested against this decision without success, although four referees were subsequently suspended for their decision.

In 2005 he starred in the semi-biographical Hungarian sports film Fehér tenyér ( White Palms ).

In 2006, Shewfelt made his international comeback at the Commonwealth Games in Australia , winning bronze on the ground and gold on the vault and leading the Canadian team to gold. He then increasingly focused on team competitions. At the competitions of the Pacific Alliance in Hawaii , Canada then took second place behind Olympic champion Japan . Shewfelt himself won gold both on the ground and on the jump. At the subsequent World Championships in Denmark, Shewfelt won bronze on the ground and finished 6th with the Canadian team and thus the best place that a Canadian team had ever achieved at a world championship.

In August 2007, shortly before the World Championships in Stuttgart , Shewfelt broke both of his kneecaps in an accident and had to watch from his wheelchair as his teammates made 11th place and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing . After the Canadian Association nominated him for the Olympic team, he made his international comeback there.

In May 2009 he announced his resignation.

Shewfelt was an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right to Play .

Web links

Commons : Kyle Shewfelt  - collection of images, videos and audio files