Stephen Raj Bhavsar (born September 7, 1980) is an American
artistic gymnast
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
. He was a member of the 2001 and 2003
World Championships U.S. team. He earned a bronze medal as a member of the
2008 U.S. Olympic Team. He was originally an alternate, but was named to the team following the injury withdrawal of
Paul Hamm
Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is a retired United States, American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2004 Olympic Games, 2004 Olympic all-around champion, a three-time Gymnastics at the Summer Ol ...
. At the Games, Bhavsar earned a bronze medal with the U.S. team in
Artistic Gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
with teammates
Alexander Artemev
Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Artemev (russian: Александр Владимирович "Саша" Артемьев, be, Аляксандр Уладзіміравіч Арцем'еў; born August 29, 1985) is a retired American artistic g ...
,
Joey Hagerty
Joseph "Joe" Hagerty (born April 19, 1982, in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2008 U.S. national champion on the horizontal bar and the 2008 all-around bronze medalist. He was a member of the bronze medal-win ...
,
Jonathan Horton
Jonathan Alan Horton (born December 31, 1985) is a former American artistic gymnast. He is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist on high bar, the 2010 World all-around bronze medalist, a two-time Olympian, a two-time U.S. National All-Around Champ ...
,
Justin Spring
Justin Edward Spring (born March 11, 1984) is a retired American gymnast. He is a member of the bronze medal winning U.S. team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He was also a top gymnast in NCAA competition, where he represented the University ...
, and
Kai Wen Tan.
He was a contender for the 2004 Olympic Team, and was named as an alternate.
Biography
Raj Bhavsar is a
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
.
He is the son of Jyotindra and Surekha Bhavsar. His father is from
Vadodara
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...
,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, and his mother was born in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
but educated in Gujarat.
He was born in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. He was raised in
Greater Houston
Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...
and attended Bear Creek Elementary, Wolfe Elementary, Mayde Creek Junior High and Mayde Creek High School. During this time he trained at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics under his coach Bill Foster.
Bhavsar was a member of the United States team to the
2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and won the silver medal with the team. He won a second silver medal at the
2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
At the 2004 Olympic Trials, he was in contention for the U.S. Olympic Team. He was named as an alternate. In 2004 he was first in the rings in the trials, and fourth overall in the national championships, yet was passed over. In 2008 he was third in the Olympic trials and the Visa Championships and again wound up an alternate to the 6-man team. This was due to the fact that his strongest events overlapped with those of
Paul Hamm
Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is a retired United States, American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2004 Olympic Games, 2004 Olympic all-around champion, a three-time Gymnastics at the Summer Ol ...
and
Morgan Hamm
Morgan Carl Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is an American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is an Olympic silver medalist in the Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around, team compet ...
, and the team needed gymnasts who were stronger in other disciplines. After Paul Hamm was injured, Bhavsar was selected to the team which earned a bronze medal.
He attended
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
and won the NCAA title with that team. He won the All-Around at the 2002 NCAA Championships.
Bhavsar is the creator of two new gymnastics elements, which are now named after him. "The Bhavsar" on the still rings was created in 2003. It is a front lever start with movement into a final position called a Maltese. "The Bhavsar" on parallel bars was created and performed in 2009 at the Moscow World Cup. This is a tkatchev style release move starting on one end of the bars and finishing on the other.
After obtaining his goals as an Olympic gymnast, in 2010 Bhavsar started working for
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...
as an artist for their performance show
Iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
Iris or IRIS may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional ent ...
which debuted in July 2011.
References
External links
*
USA's Bhavasar finally realizes his dreama
USATODAY.COM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhavsar, Raj
1980 births
Living people
American male artistic gymnasts
Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics
Gymnasts at the 1999 Pan American Games
Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Houston
Ohio State University alumni
American sportspeople of Indian descent
American Hindus
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Gujarati people
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics
American people of Gujarati descent
Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics