Michael Groß (; born 17 June 1964), usually spelled Michael Gross in English, is a former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is tall, and received the nickname "The

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

" for his especially long arms that gave him a total span of 2.13 meters. Gross, competing for

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991.Michael Gross
Encyclopædia Britannica

Career

Gross was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, West Germany, and trained as a member of the swimming club EOSC Offenbach. He was probably the finest swimmer in the world in the 200-meter butterfly race from 1981 to 1988. In this period he set four world records, won two world titles, four European titles and two Olympic gold medals. At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, Gross was one of the great athletes of the games. Gross easily won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, dominating the field. In the 100-meter butterfly, however, Gross pulled off a bit of an upset, winning over the favorite in the event, American

Pablo Morales Pedro Pablo Morales Jr. (born December 5, 1964) is an American former competitive swimmer. He set world records in the 100-meter butterfly in 1984 and 1986. He was the 100-meter butterfly gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games, as well as wi ...

. However, in the 200-meter butterfly, Gross himself was upset by a relative unknown,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Jon Sieben Jonathan Scott Sieben, OAM (born 24 August 1966) is an Australian former butterfly swimmer of the 1980s, who won gold in the 200-metre butterfly at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Olympics. Early years Sieben was born in Brisbane, Que ...

. The men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay race became one of the marquee events of the games, with Gross leading the German relay against the underdog American squad. Despite the fact that Gross swam the fastest relay leg in the event's history, the American team pulled off the upset, earning the title of the "Grossbusters." Gross won a total of thirteen medals at the World Championships (including five gold), thirteen gold medals at the European Championships and was elected German "Athlete of the Year" four times (1982, 1983, 1984 and 1988). He retired from professional swimming in 1991. He is featured in

Bud Greenspan Jonah J. "Bud" Greenspan (September 18, 1926December 25, 2010) was an American film director, writer, and producer known for his sports documentaries. Career Greenspan was born in New York City. He overcame a lisp in adolescence and went into sp ...

's ''

16 Days of Glory ''16 Days of Glory'' is a 1985 documentary film about the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States directed by Bud Greenspan. Among the athletes it profiles are Mary Lou Retton, Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis and Mic ...

'', the documentary film of the

. American gold medalist swimmer

John Naber John Phillips Naber (born January 20, 1956) is an American former competitive swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in multiple events. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Naber studied in England and Italy where his father ...

remarked to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' 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 Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

. Gross was named Male World Swimmer of the Year by ''

Swimming World Magazine } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

'' in 1985 and inducted to the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 1995. Gross studied German and media studies as well as political science at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and holds a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. He married in 1995 and has a daughter (born 1996) and a son (born 1998).''resume on his official homepage''
Retrieved 4 August 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Michael 1964 births Living people Swimmers from Frankfurt German male butterfly swimmers Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for West Germany West German male swimmers Olympic gold medalists for West Germany Olympic silver medalists for West Germany Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming German male freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists in swimming Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for West Germany FISU World University Games bronze medalists for West Germany Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade

Career

See also

References

External links