Michael Gross is a retired German competitive swimmer, born June 17, 1964, in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. Standing 2.01 meters tall with a 2.13 meter arm span, he earned the nickname The Albatross. Competing for West Germany, he won three Olympic gold medals across the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics in freestyle and butterfly events, and captured multiple World Championship titles in the 200 meter freestyle and butterfly. He won 13 gold medals at European Championships, was named German Athlete of the Year four times, held world records in several events, and was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1985. He retired in 1991 and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995.
Facts
Career HighlightWon three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988, in freestyle and butterfly events 1 Medals or Titles Band Partially Attested
NationalityInfobox gives only the national team, West Germany, not a nationality field Classification
Competition Category FAQs
Why was Michael Gross called The Albatross?
He was nicknamed for his enormous arm span of over seven feet.
Olympedia says Gross was known as The Albatross because of his enormous arm span of over seven feet, given as 2.14 metres. The same biography records that he won a record 13 medals at the World Championships, five gold, five silver and three bronze.
Connections
Competed In
Source Wikipedia: Michael Gross (swimmer)
Plays
Source Wikipedia: Michael Gross (swimmer)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Michael Gross
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Michael Gross (swimmer)
Infobox: birth_date
June 17, 1964
Infobox, Born (display form)
17 June 1964
Infobox, National team
West Germany
Career
won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events
- Category: German male butterfly swimmers
- Infobox medal table lists 40 gold, silver or bronze medal rows
Article text
American gold medalist swimmer John Naber remarked to Sports Illustrated in 1984 that if Michael Gross were an American, he would have won six or seven medals and that Gross was better than Mark Spitz.
Plays: Swimming, lead paragraph, plays
Michael Groß (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçaʔeːl ˈɡʁoːs] ; born 17 June 1964), usually spelled Michael Gross in English, is a former competitive swimmer from Germany.
Competed In: 1984 Summer Olympics, Article text (competition)
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Gross was one of the great athletes of the games.
View the SourceWikidata: Michael Gross
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