Matt Biondi
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States | |||
| Men’s Swimming | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 4x100 m Freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 50 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 100 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 4x100 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 4x200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 4x100 m Medley | |
| Silver | 1988 Seoul | 100 m Butterfly | |
| Bronze | 1988 Seoul | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 4x100 m Freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 4x100 m Medley relay | |
| Silver | 1992 Barcelona | 50 m Freestyle | |
| World Championships - Long Course | |||
| Gold | 1986 Madrid | 100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1986 Madrid | 4x100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1986 Madrid | 4x100m Medley | |
| Silver | 1986 Madrid | 100m Butterfly | |
| Bronze | 1986 Madrid | 50m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1986 Madrid | 200m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1986 Madrid | 4x200m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Perth | 100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Perth | 4x100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Perth | 4x100m Medley | |
| Silver | 1991 Perth | 50m Freestyle | |
| Pan Pacific Games | |||
| Gold | 1985 Tokyo | 50m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1985 Tokyo | 100m Freestyle | |
| Silver | 1985 Tokyo | 200m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1985 Tokyo | 100m Butterfly | |
| Gold | 1987 Brisbane | 100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1987 Brisbane | 4x100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1987 Brisbane | 4x100m Medley | |
| Silver | 1987 Brisbane | 50m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1987 Brisbane | 100m Butterfly | |
| Gold | 1991 Brisbane | 100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Brisbane | 4x100m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Brisbane | 4x100m Medley | |
| Gold | 1991 Brisbane | 100m Butterfly | |
| Silver | 1991 Brisbane | 50m Freestyle | |
Matthew ("Matt") Nicholas Biondi (born October 8, 1965 in Palo Alto, California) is a three-time U.S. Olympic swimmer in the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Summer Olympics, winning a total of 11 medals. In the 1988 Summer Olympics, Biondi equalled Mark Spitz as the second swimmer to win seven medals in one Games. Michael Phelps would win eight medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Biondi left Seoul with five golds, setting world records in four of those events.
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[edit] Biography
Biondi started his aquatics career as a swimmer and water polo player in his hometown of Moraga, California. As he moved into his teens, his incredible abilities as a swimmer -- specifically a sprinter -- began to emerge. Though he did not start swimming year-round until he started at Campolindo High School, by his senior year Biondi was the top schoolboy sprinter in America with a National High School record of 20.40 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. He accepted a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley to swim and play water polo, and enrolled in 1983. In his freshman year he played on Berkeley's NCAA Championship water polo team and made the consolation finals at the 1984 NCAA Swimming Championships.
That summer, Biondi surprised the swimming community by qualifying for a spot on the U.S. 4x100 meter freestyle relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The team won the gold medal in a world record time. Returning to Berkeley, Biondi once again played on an NCAA Champion water polo team in the fall and in the winter of 1985 won the first of his 8 individual swimming titles at NCAAs. He would be named NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1985, 1986, and 1987, and would set several American and NCAA records.
Biondi set the first of his twelve individual swimming world records in 1985. He was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle faster than 49 seconds, and by 1988 he owned the ten fastest times swum in that event. He won a total 24 U.S. Championships in the 50, 100, and 200-meter freestyle events, as well as the 100-butterfly. In two World Championships (1986 and 1991), Biondi won 11 medals including six gold. During his career, he was a James E. Sullivan Award Finalist, the UPI Sportsman of the Year, the USOC Sportsman of the Year, and twice the Swimming World magazine Male Swimmer of the World (1986 and 1988). He is a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
He graduated from Berkeley in 1988 with a BA degree in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies (PEIS). He lives in Kamuela, Hawaii, where he teaches math, U.S. History, personal excellence, and swimming at Parker School, a small private prep school.
Biondi is married to his wife Kirsten. They married in 1995, and their son, Nathaniel (Nate), was born in 1998.
[edit] Trivia
Matt Biondi made a point of being the slowest person in the pool during warm up, no matter the skill level of the other swimmers surrounding him.
[edit] See also
- World record progression 50m freestyle
- World record progression 100m freestyle
- Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
[edit] External links
- Matt Biondi's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- Matt Biondi's Entry on the International Swimming Hall of Fame website
Olympic champions in men's 50 m freestyle |
|---|
1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Alexander Popov | 1996: Alexander Popov | 2000: Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall, Jr. | 2004: Gary Hall, Jr. |
Olympic champions in men's 100 m freestyle |
|---|
1896: Alfréd Hajós | 1906: Charles Daniels | 1908: Charles Daniels | 1912: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1920: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku | 1924: Johnny Weissmuller | 1928: Johnny Weissmuller | 1932: Yasuji Miyazaki | 1936: Ferenc Csík | 1948: Walter Ris | 1952: Clarke Scholes | 1956: Jon Henricks | 1960: John Devitt | 1964: Don Schollander | 1968: Michael Wenden | 1972: Mark Spitz | 1976: Jim Montgomery | 1980: Jörg Woithe | 1984: Rowdy Gaines | 1988: Matt Biondi | 1992: Alexander Popov | 1996: Alexander Popov | 2000: Pieter van den Hoogenband | 2004: Pieter van den Hoogenband |
Olympic champions in men's 4x100 m freestyle relay |
|---|
1964: USA (Clark, Austin, Ilman, Schollander) | 1968: USA (Zorn, Rerych, Spitz, Walsh) | 1972: USA (Edgar, Murphy, Heindereich, Spitz) | 1984: USA (Cavanaugh, Heath, Biondi, Gaines) | 1988: USA (Jacobs, Dalbey, Jager, Biondi) | 1992: USA (Hudepohl, Biondi, Jager, Olsen) | 1996: USA (Olsen, Davis, Schumacher, Hall, Jr.) | 2000: Australia (Klim, Fydler, Callus, Thorpe) | 2004: South Africa (Schoeman, Ferns, Townsend, Neethling) |
Olympic champions in men's 4x200 m freestyle relay |
|---|
1908: Great Britain (Derbyshire, Radimilovic, Foster, Taylor) | 1912: Australasia (Healy, Champion, Boardman, Hardwick) | 1920: USA (McGillivray, Kealoha, Ross, Kahanamoku) | 1924: USA (Weissmuller, O'Connor, Glancy, Breyer) | 1928: USA (Weissmuller, Clapp, Laufer, Kojac) | 1932: Japan (Yusa, Miyazaki, Yomoyama, Toyoda) | 1936: Japan (Yusa, Suguira, Arai, Taguchi) | 1948: USA (Ris, McLane, Wolf, Smith) | 1952: USA (Moore, Woolsey, Konno, McLane) | 1956: Australia (O'Halloran, Devitt, Rose, Henricks) | 1960: USA (Harrison, Blick, Troy, Farrell) | 1964: USA (Schollander, Clark, Saari, Ilman) | 1968: USA (Schollander, Spitz, Nelson, Rerych) | 1972: USA (Spitz, Kinsella, Tyler, Genter) | 1976: USA (Bruner, Furniss, Naber, Montgomery) | 1980: Soviet Union (Kopliakov, Salnikov, Stukolkin, Krylov) | 1984: USA (Heath, Larson, Float, Hayes) | 1988: USA (Dalbey, Cetlinski, Gjertsen, Biondi) | 1992: Unified Team (Lepikov, Pychnenko, Taianovich, Sadovyi) | 1996: USA (Davis, Hudepohl, Schumacher, Berube) | 2000: Australia (Thorpe, Klim, Pearson, Kirby) | 2004: USA (Phelps, Lochte, Vanderkaay, Keller) |
Olympic champions in men's 4x100 m medley relay |
|---|
1960: USA (McKinney, Hait, Larson, Farrell) | 1964: USA (Thompson Mann, Craig, Schmidt, Clark) | 1968: USA (Hickcox, McKenzie, Russell, Walsh) | 1972: USA (Stamm, Bruce, Spitz, Heidenreich) | 1976: USA (Naber, Hencken, Vogel, Montgomery) | 1980: Australia (Kerry, Evans, Tonelli, Brooks) | 1984: USA (Carey, Lundquist, Morales, Gaines) | 1988: USA (Berkoff, Schroeder, Biondi, Jacobs) | 1992: USA (Rouse, Diebel, Morales, Olsen) | 1996: USA (Rouse, Linn, Henderson, Hall, Jr.) | 2000: USA (Krayzelburg, Moses, Crocker, Hall, Jr.) | 2004: USA (Peirsol, Hansen, Crocker, Lezak) |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Biondi, Matthew Nicholas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Biondi, Matt |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American swimmer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 8, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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Categories: 1965 births | Living people | Italian-American sportspeople | Olympic swimmers of the United States | Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics | Swimming World World Swimmers of the Year | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic silver medalists for the United States | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States | University of California, Berkeley alumni | Former world record holders in swimming
