Alexander Dityatin (USSR)

1979 World AA Champion
1980 Olympic AA Champion

Medal Total

Olympic Games:  3 Gold, 6 Silver, 1 Bronze

World Championships:  7 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze

World Cup:  4 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze

European Championships:  2 Gold, 1 Silver

Dityatin was born on August 7, 1957 in Leningrad. (Trivia: He shares his birthdate with the 1980 Olympic women's champion Elena Davydova.) His father Nikolai was a WWII veteran and worked as a locksmith, and his mother Fedosiya worked in a factory.  Dityatin began gymnastics at age 9 and trained at Dynamo Leningrad with coach Anatoly Yarmovsky.  His first big victory was his first-place finish at the 1973 Jr. USSR Championships in the Candidate for Master of Sport category. In 1975, he came into his own, winning the USSR Cup and USSR Spartakiade. An elbow injury kept him out of the 1977 European Championships and World Cup, but he returned strong in 1978 to win the World Cup AA title. He was the first gymnast to win 8 medals in one Olympic Games.  He still lives in St. Petersburg and is married with two sons. The oldest, Alexei, is a physical education teacher in St. Petersburg.  Dityatin was inducted into the International Gymnast Hall of Fame in 2004.

Competition Results

1972
Jr. USSR Championships (Candidate for Master of Sport):  1st AA

1973

Jr. Friendship Tournament (Druzhba):  3rd Team, 3rd AA, 2nd FX, 2nd PH, 6th R

 

1974

Jr. Friendship Tournament (Druzhba):  1st AA, 1st PB, 3rd PH, 3rd HB, 4th FX
Jr. USSR Championships:  2nd AA, 2nd PB, 2nd HB

 

1975

Chunichi Cup:  3rd AA

European Championships:  3rd AA, 2nd PB, 3rd RG, 4th HB, 5th V

Moscow News:  4th AA, 1st PH, 2nd RG

Pre-Olympics:  3rd AA, 1st PH, 3rd HB, 4th RG, 5th FX
USSR Championships:  1st AA, 1st PH, 2nd PB, 2nd HB, 5th R, 6th V

USSR Cup:  1st Team, 1st AA

USSR Spartakiade:  1st AA

World Cup:  3rd AA, 4th PH, 4th RG, 4th PB, 5th FX, 5th HB, 6th V

 

1976

Olympic Games:  2nd Team, 2nd RG, 4th AA, 6th PH
USSR Championships:  1st PH

USSR Cup:  5th Team, 3rd AA, 1st PH, 3rd RG

 

1977

All-Union Youth Sports Games:  6th Team, 1st AA, 2nd R
Jr. USSR Championships:  1st AA
Ontario Cup:  1st AA

University Games:  2nd V
USSR Championships:  18th AA, 2nd PB, 3rd V, 6th PH

USSR Cup:  2nd Team, 3rd AA, 2nd PB, 3rd V

Wereld Turn Top:  1st AA, 1st PH, 1st RG, 3rd V

 

1978

USSR Championships:  1st R, 2nd PB, 3rd HB, 4th PH, 4th V

USSR Cup:  4th Team, 1st AA, 1st R, 2nd PB, 3rd HB

World Championships:  2nd Team, 2nd RG, 3rd AA, 3rd FX, 4th PH, 4th V

World Cup:  1st AA, 1st RG, 2nd PH, 3rd FX, 3rd V, 3rd HB, 8th PB

 

1979

European Championships:  4th AA, 1st PH, 1st RG, 2nd PB, 4th HB,

Pre-Olympics:  1st AA, 1st RG, 2nd V

World Cup:  1st AA, 1st RG, 2nd V, 2nd PB, 2nd HB, 4th FX

World Championships:  1st Team, 1st AA, 1st V, 1st RG, 3rd HB, 4th PH, 4th PB
USSR Championships:  1st AA, 1st R, 2nd PH, 2nd V, 2nd PB, 3rd FX, 3rd HB
USSR Cup:  1st AA, 3rd FX, 3rd HB

USSR Spartakiade:  1st Team, 2nd AA, 1st R, 2nd V, 4th FX, 4th PH, 4th PB, 5th HB

 

1980

Olympic Games:  1st Team, 1st AA, 1st RG, 2nd PH, 2nd V, 2nd PB, 2nd HB, 3rd FX

USSR Cup:  1st AA

 

1981

World Championships:  1st Team, 36th AA, 1st RG, 1st PB, 6th PH

 

1982

Budapest Invitational:  1st RG
USSR Championships:  5th prelims

World Cup:  5th AA

 

1983

USA-USSR Dual Meet:  1st Team, 12th AA

This page was created on November 9, 1997 and was last updated on January 19, 2015.
© Gymn Forum