This is fantastic news. I heard from Aleksei Grigoriev today. At least through Roland from the "Spectacular Fly-Over Show" web site. (You'll find that link in this column below.) He's in Germany. All I can tell you is to watch the videos and see the incredible things they are doing. It is so great to be in touch with him again. Now, Nemov is next! <g>
posted on 7/4/2005 7:52:59 PM
Aleksei Page Hits (from my Blog)
I got an e-mail from Earthlink concerning the Archive Page for my Russian Gymnastics friends. On Tuesday, August 24, 2004 my site used over half a gig of bandwidth from people surfing for more information on Aleksei Nemov. I'm sure it was a large group of people doing a "Google" search after the "booing situation" Monday night. Earthlink's point is that if I go over my allotted bandwidth, then the page goes away until the next renewal. That would be tomorrow. Today the hits have drastically decreased.
What I am happy about is that people will read about these incredible athletes and the incredible people they really are. I have prepared a "text only" page to upload in case the page shows signs of going down. Most only want to view and download pictures. If it goes away, you'll know why. posted on 8/26/2004 7:13:20 AM
I have to say this about Aleksei and our world class gymnasts. They worked to get where they are. It's not as if they were discovered and achieved instant fame and success. They work endlessly and never stop trying to reach the next level. My hat's off to them all for what they have done. To all of the athletes. And Aleksei? He was just being who I know him to be. A true champion with lots of class. He taught us all what athletic competition is about. Now, maybe the Olympic judges can learn from this and leave their prejudices at home.
The e-mails have certainly picked up since the high bar competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics. I am sorry to say that I do not have any contact information as far as his address.
posted on 8/25/2004
Aleksei Nemov makes regular trips to the US. I have not seen him in person since the Gymnastic team's visit in '93. The same with Aleksei Grigoriev. I used to call his home often to check on his family, but since starting my own business, the AT&T translator (plus the cost of the call itself) became cost prohibited. Nemov and I have e-mailed a few times. I attempted to send Nemov's new son a gift, but the parcel was returned because he didn't live at the gym. Perhaps one day we will all get together again. The Aleksei page is one of the most viewed pages on this site, yet it comes up pretty low on a Goggle search.
posted on 5/12/2003
MORE PICTURES:
Here are some video stills of trip here.
Click to see a bigger image & comments.
PLEASE DO NOT POST THESE ON ANOTHER PAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION
ABOUT:
This page is intended as a tribute to their visit, and our friendship. You may link to this page, but please do not put these pictures on another web site, newsgroup or ftp. They are my personal property. Thanks! I do not intend to put back the "How to mail" or "FAQ about Aleksei". I also cannot forward messages or posts to him. I won't give out his home telephone number.
I last spoke to Aleksei in 1999. He was at home and I read to him the fan letters that were e-mailed to me. We laughed and remembered fun experiences when the Russian Gymnasts were here. I don't want to reveal any of the private conversation except to say that his humor and fun personality has not been changed by his success in the sport. The facts page about him on the Official Olympic Site is a little wrong. He is actually 5'8" and not 5'4" tall. This is because he stood slightly taller than me at 5'7". You can tell by the picture to the right. He is also married. His wife just gave birth to little Aleksei while his father was training for the Sydney Olympics.
A brief bit about an interpreter that helped make this all possible. Gregory Zerkal was a Mercer student brought here as part of the Rotary Club's Student Exchange program. He was brilliant at what he did and was very available to us on a continual basis. He would have a watchful eye to come help explain a thought or custom. On the phone I would use an AT&T translation service. You could hear the translater audibly gasp when something funny was said. and all at only $7 a minute. LOL! Later, Gregory and I devised a way to do a three way call where he could continue to translate. He deserves so much credit for the incredible job he did those two weeks.
FYI:
This is an UPDATED version of the Archives page. It was updated to give more information to the Aleksei Nemov Fans finding this page from all over the world. It is actually about all of the Russian Gymnasts visit to Macon, and the fun time with both Aleksei Nemov and Aleksei Grigoriev.
LINKS:
grigoriev links:
Spectacular Fly-Over Show (german)
Die Überflieger Online (german)
nemov links:
Aleksei Nemov- male Russian gymnast
Nemov- KUNSTTURNEN Profile
Nemov- CBS Sports Online
Nemov Claims 6th Olympic Medal- BBC Sport
It was about this time in 1993 that some special guests came to Macon. They were the Russian Olympic Gymnastics Team. The purpose of the visit was to select a site to be the home base for the team for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Their visit was to last two weeks, but no-one suspected that the friendships would last forever. Randy Carr was the owner and coach of the Gym Nest Gymnastics School. He invited me to come and see their exhibition at the Macon Mall. This was a way for the town to greet these world class athletes. It was a great show of skill. I stood on the sidelines like anyone else. All I knew was that the place was packed. It was a great time for all. If you would mistakenly say that these kids were from the Soviet Union, they would correct you and say "no, Russia!" with a big smile on their face. I was invited to come out to the dorm and meet them a couple of nights later. There was to be a competition at the Macon Coliseum to raise money to help defray the cost of their trip.
They spoke hardly any English (although they knew more words than they would let us know) and we didn't know Russian. That night we just were with them watching them watch TV, play ping pong, and Nintendo.
The night at the Coliseum was magic. They were incredible. A gymnast named Aleksei Grigoriev wowed the crowd with his "one arm" move on the high bar. Another gymnast, Aleksei Nemov did a magnificent "Floor Exercise". Randy asked me to emcee the event, and I readily accepted. The evening of the exhibition I could hardly believe my eyes. Macon had never seen gymnastics like that. It was very close to the last night of Gymnastics at the Olympics. Very fun, very upbeat. Naturally, the crowd was won over by their talent and charm. The next day we were on a bus to Atlanta to the Georgia Dome to get a first look at the site of the Olympic Gymnastics events. I was seated next to Aleksei Nemov. Aleksei Grigoriev was still asleep in the seat behind. In Atlanta, the Athletes got their first glimpse of the Georgia Dome. We toured the entire structure from the press boxes to the box seats, to the locker rooms. Of course the field level of the dome (which would be shared with basketball) was so big, birds were flying near the top of the roof. A lot of ice melted that day as we played around with the video camera and joked. I taught Aleksei and Demitri to do the famous Bill "sawing handshake". As the video camera rolled, I handed it to Aleksei Gregoriev, who captured some great moments on tape. Aleksei Nemov would gladly clown around for posterity. After a delicious lunch, a visit to the NationsBank Building, the health Club located there and a visit to the board room. As you may have guessed, both Aleksei's and Bill enjoyed sitting around the large Board Table pretending to run the company. The first thing we did was to give ourselves a raise! After that we were on our way back to Macon. It was a fun day.
On the way home we stopped at a K-Mart to shop. This was a magnificent event. Imagine, non-English speaking Russians and Americans shopping til you drop in two different languages! (I almost got my new friends in deep trouble when we were five minutes late to the bus.) The athletes were to be back at the bus at 4pm exactly. That wasn't a problem. We had a great time looking at the variety of items. They wanted to buy a television, but I had to try to explain that our American system of NTSC wouldn't work on their Russian System of SECAM. We laughed through the entire conversation. That's when I learned the Russian word for "no". After about an hour and a half of shopping it was time to go to meet the bus. My watch was apparently five minutes behind the Coaches watch. We were five minutes late and she was not pleased. I knew that I had messed up "big time". The guys were laughing about the expression on my face when she shook her finger in it. When we arrived back at the school I knew that this may be the last time we would see each other. Aleksei walked toward the door of the dorm, stopped, and turned around. Making a "steering wheel" motion with his hands, he pointed to my car. He wanted to drive it ! There was an empty field behind the dorm. I had a world class athlete in my car teaching him to drive a five speed. I say I taught him. He probably already knew how to drive and was just making me feel as if I was helpful!
I wish you could have been there.In this open field behind the Gym Nest, my little blue Subaru would peddle around being driven by both Alekseis. (one at a time of course) I got a letter from Nemov telling me that he had bought a car when he returned from this trip. They did wonderfully. By the end of the first week both of my Aleksei's were driving like pros. I only wish I knew the Russian word for "slowly" when describing the clutch. Well, I know it now! (Ha!)
I was there almost every day of their two week stay. Before I would leave they would point at their wrists and say the Russian word for tomorrow, asking what time I would return. One day I entered the gym as they were running warm up laps. Suddenly I heard them chant my name with every step. "Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill" went on and on. They broke up with laughter. I was a fantastic honor for me. What a wonderful gift. I learned a great deal about friendship from them. To this day I consider this time one of my greatest blessings. Before it was over, we had traded several shirts and personal items.
I have several medals given to me by them, as well as a Russian patch, and a thermometer of a beautiful deer. There were party's and receptions, as well as afternoons and evenings spent just hanging out.
One evening a group of gymnasts came over from Alabama. I didn't know who they were but they had traveled all day to visit with the Russian Gymnasts. There was one man with a camera. I was talking with Aleksei and he wanted to get a picture with the two of them. I went and sat down while the Polaroids were snapped. I think Aleksei thought I had been slighted, and wouldn't let them take their picture until I was in it. They even signed it. That's just the kind of friends they are. That's how I got the picture with the three of us looking serious. That was rare.
One night the guys called me outside and gave me a "jumper" that they had gotten from Arizona. I proudly showed it to Randy. I have it to this day but won't ware it. It's a precious gift. My brother-in-law who worked for one of the more popular stores in our area, Belk Mathews arranged for every gymnast, boy and girl, to get a pair of Levis jeans. I think they liked them, at least I hope they did. They were all so incredibly kind.
The friendships grew closer, and before they returned home, we had several great parties. We were even allowed to watch the practices.
I have to add that in those tapes you can see Aleksei working on the same floor exercise he performed in the Olympics. It was amazing to see then, and it was even more exciting to see it three years later. Aleksei Grigoreiv had never been beaten at Ping Pong. However, he kindly did not keep score when we would play. One night Randy came and got all three of us. He had a special treat. We all sat outside during a cool January nite and enjoyed a Snickers Bar. We laughed as Aleksei Grigoriev would say in a long drawn southern twang "Sneeekerrs". All of this, and practice for five hours a day.
The morning they left, 250 pound men had tears rolling down their cheeks. We knew we would deeply miss them. We still do. We did not get the honor of their home site for the Olympics, that went to Athens. I'm not even sure we'll get to see each other this summer. Aleksei Grigorev has left the team and is freelancing in Germany or Italy. (I am not sure) Aleksei Nemov won 4 gold medals in the Goodwill Games two years ago. Aleksei Grigoriev and I speak almost monthly. Our world is a bit smaller, and more rich because of this great friendship. And I can never thank Randy Carr enough for including me and allowing me to be there so much. How was I ever so blessed?! Where ever they are I hope they will not forget me/us or the time they spent here. If they happen on this page, know that you remain in my thoughts and prayers and I'm sending a BIG HELLO!!!! You are the best!
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