View source for Alexander Dityatin

{{Short description|Russian gymnast (born 1957)}}
{{Infobox gymnast
| name = Aleksandr Dityatin
| image = Dityatin Aleksandr Nikolayevich.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption =
| full_name =
| altname =
| nickname =
| country = {{URS}}
| formercountry =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1957|08|07}}
| birth_place = [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| hometown =
| residence =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| discipline = MAG
| level =
| natlteam =
| club =
| gym =
| collegeteam =
| headcoach =
| assistcoach =
| formercoach =
| choreographer =
| music =
| eponymousskills =
| retired = Yes
| show-medals = Yes
| medaltemplates = <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|All-around]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Rings]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Montreal]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Montreal]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics|Rings]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Pommel horse]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Vault]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Parallel bars]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Horizontal bar]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Floor Exercise]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1979 Ft. Worth]]|Team competition}}
{{MedalGold|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1979 Ft. Worth]]|All-around}}
{{MedalGold|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1979 Ft. Worth]]|Vault}}
{{MedalGold|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1979 Ft. Worth]]|Still rings}}
{{MedalGold|[[1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1981 Moscow]]|Team competition}}
{{MedalGold|[[1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1981 Moscow]]|Parallel bars}}
{{MedalGold|[[1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1981 Moscow]]|Still rings}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1978 Strasbourg]]|Team competition}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1978 Strasbourg]]|Still rings}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1978 Strasbourg]]|All-around}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1978 Strasbourg]]|Floor exercise}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1979 Ft. Worth]]|Horizontal bar}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|1979 Essen|Pommel horse}}
{{MedalGold|1979 Essen|Still rings}}
{{MedalSilver|1975 Bern|Parallel bars}}
{{MedalSilver|1979 Essen|Parallel bars}}
{{MedalBronze|1975 Bern|All-around}}
{{MedalBronze|1975 Bern|Still rings}}
}}

'''Aleksandr Nikolaevich Dityatin''' ({{langx|ru|Александр Николаевич Дитятин}}, born 7 August 1957) is a retired Russian gymnast, three-time [[Lists of Olympic medallists|Olympic champion]], and ''Honoured Master of Sports of the [[USSR]]''. Winning eight medals at the [[1980 Summer Olympics]], he set the record for achieving the most medals of any type at a single Olympic Games. The American swimmer [[Michael Phelps]] has now twice equalled this record, at [[2004 Summer Olympics|Athens 2004]] and [[2008 Summer Olympics|Beijing 2008]].<ref>[http://www.kiat.net/olympics/facts.html Facts & figures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304212907/http://www.kiat.net/olympics/facts.html |date=2007-03-04 }}</ref> Dityatin competed for the [[Leningrad]] [[Dynamo (sports society)|Dinamo sports society]].

== Biography ==
Dityatin was born in [[Leningrad]] (St. Petersburg) on 7 August 1957. At the age of 15, he was given special dispensation to take part in the senior USSR championships. Two years later, he won the Spartakiades in USSR, an event which was followed by a growth crisis in which he grew 12&nbsp;cm in one year. At the age of 18, as part of the national team, he came third in the European championships, which were won outright by compatriot [[Nikolai Andrianov]].

Dityatin's first Olympic success was at the [[1976 Summer Olympics]] in [[Montreal]], where he won two silver medals: on the rings and in the team competition. At the [[1980 Summer Olympics]], after years of being second to teammate Andrianov, 22-year-old Dityatin won a record eight medals in the Moscow Games where he won the all-around title and seven more medals, including two golds to add to his historic achievement of the [[Perfect 10 (gymnastics)|perfect 10]], a feat which had only been recorded by Romania's [[Nadia Comaneci]] and the Soviet Union's [[Nellie Kim]] in the Olympic Games by then. Shortly after the 1980 Olympics, Dityatin was seriously injured while training, which ended his career. He was the most successful athlete at the 1980 Summer Olympics. As of 2017, he is the only athlete who won a medal in each of the eight gymnastics events at one Olympics.

To add more to the impressiveness of his performance at the 1980 Olympics, not only did he medal in every event, which, of course, suggests an excellent standard of performance throughout the entire competition, but throughout his 24 performances (the maximum # of performances a male gymnast can have throughout an Olympics), he scored no lower than a 9.800 out of 10 throughout those 24 performances, and on 18 of those performances, his score was at least a 9.900.

Dityatin is the first athlete in Olympic history to win eight medals in one Olympic Games. He was also the first male gymnast to be awarded a [[Perfect 10 (gymnastics)|perfect score of ten]] in an Olympic competition, a feat he accomplished in the long horse vault.

Dityatin graduated from ''Leningrad Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education''. He was awarded [[Order of the Badge of Honor]] (1976), and [[Order of Lenin]] (1980, for guarding the State Border of the [[USSR]]). Between 1980 and 1995, Dityatin was the head coach of a sports team from Leningrad (Leningrad OKPP).

In 2004, Dityatin was inducted into the [[International Gymnastics Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web | title = ALEXANDER DITYATIN | work = [[International Gymnastics Hall of Fame]] | url = http://www.ighof.com/honorees/honorees_dityatin.html | access-date = March 31, 2007 }}</ref>

The annual Alexander Dityatin Cup competition is held in his honor in Russia.

==Achievements (non-Olympic)==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 75%;"
! Year
! Event
! width=25px|AA
! width=25px|Team
! width=25px|[[Floor (gymnastics)|FX]]
! width=25px|[[Uneven bars (gymnastics)|PH]]
! width=25px|[[Rings (gymnastics)|RG]]
! width=25px|[[Vault (gymnastics)|VT]]
! width=25px|[[Parallel bars (gymnastics)|PB]]
! width=25px|[[Horizontal bar|HB]]
|-
|rowspan="4"|'''1975'''||align=left|European Championships||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||
|-
|align=left|World Cup||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||||||||||||
|-
|align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd
|-
|align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''1976'''||align=left|USSR Championships||||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||||
|-
|align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="3"|'''1977'''||align=left|USSR Championships||||||||||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||
|-
|align=left|[[1977 Summer Universiade|University Games]]||||||||||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||||
|-
|align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="3"|'''1978'''||align=left|[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||||||
|-
|align=left|World Cup||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd
|-
|align=left|USSR Championships||||||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd
|-
|rowspan="4"|'''1979'''||align=left|[[1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd
|-
|align=left|World Cup||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd
|-
|align=left|European Championships||||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||
|-
|align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd
|-
|rowspan="1"|'''1980'''||align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="1"|'''1981'''||align=left|[[1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]||||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=gold|1st||
|}

== See also ==
* [[List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists]]
* [[List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games]]
* [[Perfect 10 (gymnastics)]]

==References==
{{gymnast ru}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{FIG|bio=24236|lic=686|name=Alexander Dityatin}}
* {{IGHOF|2004_Alexander_Dityatin}}
* [http://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/men/ditiatin.html Alexander Dityatin] at Gymn Forum
* {{Olympics.com profile|name=Aleksandr Dityatin}}
* {{Olympedia|name=Aleksandr Dityatin}}

{{navboxes|title=International Championships won by Alexander Dityatin|list=
{{Footer Olympic Champions All-Around Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Rings Men}}
{{Olympic champions artistic gymnastics Men TC|1980}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMenTC|1979|1981}}
{{Footer World Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Champions (Men)}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMen'sStillRings}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMen'sVault}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMen'sParallelBars}}
{{European Champions Artistic Gymnastics Pommel Horse}}
{{European Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Men's Rings}}
}}
{{International Gymnastics Hall of Fame members}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dityatin, Alexander}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1980 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Russian male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Soviet male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Gymnasts from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:World champion gymnasts]]
[[Category:European champions in gymnastics]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen]]