Kyle Shewfelt
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Kyle Shewfelt (May 6, 1982) is a Canadian gymnast. His gold medal in the men's floor exercise competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the first medal ever by a Canadian in an artistic gymnastics event and was the first Canadian gold of the 2004 Olympics.
Shewfelt, a native of Calgary, was considered a medal threat in Athens. In fact, Sports Illustrated magazine predicted he would win. Kyle, then one of the youngest competitors, finished twelfth on the floor at the Sydney Olympics and won two bronze medals at world championships and two golds at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
His gold medal performance was characteristically precise and error free. He tied the score of Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu, but Shewfelt was awarded the gold after a series of tiebreakers that put Dragulescu in second place. The next day Shewfelt competed in the men's vault. He completed two successful vaults with only small steps on landing. Shewfelt finished fourth, amid much controversy, with Dragulescu taking the bronze medal despite a fall on his second vault. Canadian gynmastics officials protested the judging but, months later, no change was made in the vault medals despite the fact that four of the vault judges were eventually sanctioned. Many noted that Dragalescu is Romanian as is Adrian Stoica, who leads the Men's Technical Committee.
Born in Calgary Shewfelt first began practicing gymnastics in 1988 influenced by a neighbour. His father was also an athlete playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings hockey team. While Shewfelt was a skilled hockey player he turned to gymnastics at an early age. He attended Calgary's National Sport School in order to complete his high school education, while pursuing his Olympic plans with fellow athletes at the school[1]. Kyle trained at Altadore Gymnastic Club under coach Kelly Manjak, from age 6 up until the 2004 Olympics. Manjak married in 2004 and moved following the Olympics to Ontario. Shewfelt stayed in Calgary, training with coach Tony Smith at the University of Calgary.
Shewfelt's long-held goal of Olympic gold was endangered by an ankle injury in March 2004, but he made a full recovery in time for Athens. Before the Olympics Shewfelt has speculated on moving to Cirque du Soleil after his athletic career is over. A gold medal could easily open many other opportunities for him, however, as he has instantaneously became a household name in much of Canada.
In 2005 he acted as himself in the hungarian made semi-biographical sports movie "Fehér tenyér" (White Palm). In 2006 Shewfelt led the Canadian team to a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, collecting bronze on Floor and gold on Vault for himself.
Kyle Shewfelt is certainly the most successful Canadian gymnast ever.
External links
| Canadian medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Image:Canadaolympiclogo.JPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold: Kyle Shewfelt, men's floor exercise gymnastics; Lori-Ann Muenzer, women's 200 m track cycling sprint; Adam van Koeverden, men's K1 500 m kayak; Chantal Petitclerc, women's 800 m wheelchair (demonstration event) | |||
| Silver: Karen Cockburn, women's trampoline gymnastics; Cameron Baerg, Jake Wetzel, Thomas Herschmiller and Barney Williams, men's four rowing team; Tonya Verbeek, women's 55 kg freestyle wrestling; Alexandre Despatie, 3 m springboard diving; Marie-Hélène Prémont, women's cross country mountain bike; Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs, Star class sailing regatta | |||
| Bronze: Blythe Hartley and Émilie Heymans, women's synchronized 10 m platform diving; Adam van Koeverden, men's K1 1000 m kayak; Caroline Brunet, K1 500 m kayak | |||
Categories: 1982 births | Alberta sportspeople | Calgarians | Canadian Olympic gold medalists | Canadian athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Canadian athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Canadian gymnasts | German Canadians | Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Living people | Commonwealth Games gold medallists