Mike Whitmarsh

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Mike Whitmarsh (born May 18, 1962 in San Diego , California , † February 17, 2009 in Solana Beach , California) was an American basketball and beach volleyball player .

Whitmarsh first played college basketball at the University of San Diego , where he also studied politics and economics. In 1984 he was able to lead his basketball team to the first West Coast Conference title. In 1985 he completed his studies in political science with a bachelor's degree and also successfully completed his business studies. Already in 1984, he was in the fifth round by the Portland Trail Blazers drafted but never played in the NBA . He went to Germany to play basketball for three years , where he a. a. played for Alba Berlin (1990/91 season).

At the same time, the 2.01 m tall Whitmarsh had started playing volleyball in 1986 and finally switched to beach volleyball in 1990, where he was voted "Rookie of the Year" by the AVP, a California-based association for professional beach volleyball. In the following years he was able to establish himself among the world's best on the AVP tour. The inglorious climax was a three-month doping ban for unauthorized use of the drug pseudoephedrine , which the world association pronounced against him and his compatriot Scott Friederichsen in October 1995.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , Whitmarsh won the silver medal in beach volleyball together with Michael Dodd behind their US compatriots Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes . He was also able to fight for a silver medal at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Los Angeles in 1997 . In 2002 he was named Best Block Player. At the end of the 2004 season, Whitmarsh ended his beach volleyball career at the comparatively old age of 41. In his career, which at the age of 15 was unusually long despite the relatively late entry, he was able to bring in 28 titles and prize money of over $ 1.6 million. He was still one of the top ten best-earning beach volleyball players of all time.

To be able to celebrate such successes in two different sports like basketball and beach volleyball is extraordinary at world level, especially since Whitmarsh started playing beach volleyball very late.

He has been a real estate agent in California since retiring.

On February 17, 2009, he was found dead in the garage of a house in Solana Beach owned by a friend he stayed with occasionally. According to the coroner's findings, it was suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide-containing exhaust gases. Whitmarsh was married and had two daughters. He lived with his family near San Diego.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ All ALBA players since 1990 ( Memento from March 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ IN BRIEF Historical Archive · No. 247 of October 23, 1995 ( Memento of the original of July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.abendblatt.de
  3. ↑ Mike Whitmarsh Dead, Pro Beach Volleyball Champion (Photos)
  4. ^ Mike Whitmarsh dies at 46; Olympic medalist in beach volleyball
  5. ^ Mike Whitmarsh dies at 46; Olympic medalist in beach volleyball
personal data
SURNAME Whitmarsh, Mike
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American beach volleyball player
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH San Diego , California
DATE OF DEATH February 17, 2009
Place of death Solana Beach , California