Kyle Shewfelt

Kyle Shewfelt ( born May 6, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta ) is a Canadian gymnast. His gold medal on floor at the 2004 Summer Olympics was the first medal, which was won by a Canadian gymnast at an international competition and the first Canadian gold medal at the Olympic Games 2004.

Life

Born in Calgary, Shewfelt began influenced by a neighbor in 1988 with the Artistic Gymnastics. He attended the National Sport School to complete his education there, while he pursued his Olympic plans with other students in Calgary. He trained from the age of six up to the 2004 Olympic Games when Altadore Gymnastic Club under coach Kelly Manjak. Then Manjak married and moved to Ontario, while Shewfelt remained in Calgary and further trained at the University of Calgary under coach Tony Smith.

Shewfelts long prepared Olympic gold has been compromised by a Sprungelenksverletzung in March 2004, but he recovered completely up to the Athens Games. Before the Olympics Shewfelt had speculated about going to the Cirque du Soleil after the end of his athletic career. A gold medal would have opened to him in this regard, many doors. Shewfelt was traded prior to the Athens Games as one of the medal contenders. In the end he won on the ground and was fourth on vault. To jump the decision there was great controversy because Marian Dragulescu who won bronze, crashed on the second jump. The Canadian Association protested in vain against this decision, even though four judges were suspended in retrospect for its decision.

In 2005 he played himself in the semi- biographical Hungarian sports film Fehér tenyér ( White Palms ).

In 2006, Shewfelt his international comeback at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, won bronze at the bottom and gold on vault and led the Canadian team to gold. Then he put his focus increasingly on the team competitions. For races of the Pacific Alliance in Hawaii Canada took then place behind Olympic champion Japan. Shewfelt even won gold both on the ground and at the jump. In the subsequent World Championships in Denmark Shewfelt won bronze on floor and finished with the Canadian team to 6th place and thus the best place ever to a Canadian team had achieved in a World Cup.

In August 2007, shortly before the World Championships in Stuttgart, located Shewfelt broke both kneecaps in an accident and had to watch from a wheelchair, as his team-mates erturnten eleventh place and thus for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing qualified. After he was nominated to the Canadian Association for the Olympic team, he was there his international comeback.

In May 2009 he announced his retirement.

Shewfelt was athlete ambassador of development organization Right to Play.