Michael Gross (June 17, 1964, Frankfurt) is a former swimmer from Germany. A 202 cm (6 ft 7 in) athlete, he received nickname "The Albatross", due to his super long arms which gave him a total span of 2.27 m. Gross, competing for West Germany, won three Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991. Swimming has been a sport at every modern Olympic Games. ... Audio samples composed by John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Theme (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Problems playing the files? See media help. ... Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics MENS EVENTS WOMENS EVENTS ... Audio samples composed by John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Theme (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Problems playing the files? See media help. ... Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics MENS EVENTS WOMENS EVENTS ... The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. ... The 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. ... Audio samples composed by John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Theme (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Problems playing the files? See media help. ... Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics MENS EVENTS WOMENS EVENTS ... Audio samples composed by John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Theme (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Problems playing the files? See media help. ... Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics MENS EVENTS WOMENS EVENTS ... The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. ... The 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... Skyline of Frankfurt at night is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... A breaststroke swimmer Swimming is a technique to move unaided through water. ... Genera Diomedea Thalassarche Phoebastria Phoebetria The albatrosses, family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellarids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Freestyle is one of the official swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. However, it is technically not a style, as there are very few regulations about the way freestyle has to be swum. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Career

Gross was probably the finest swimmer in the world in the 200 m butterfly race from 1981 to 1988. In this period he set four world records, won two world titles and one Olympic gold medal. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The sole exception occurred in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when Gross was one of the great athletes of the games. Gross easily won gold in the 200m freestyle, dominating the field. In the 100m butterfly, Gross pulled off a bit of an upset, winning over the favorite in the event, American Pablo Morales. However, in the 200m butterfly, Gross himself was upset by a relative unknown, Australian Jon Sieben. The men's 4x200m freestyle relay race became one of the marquee events of the games, with Gross leading the German relay against the underdog American squad. Despite the fact that Gross swam the fastest relay leg in the event's history, the American team pulled off the upset, earning the title of the Grossbusters. Audio samples composed by John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Theme (1985) ( file info) 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Problems playing the files? See media help. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... Pablo Morales (born 5 December 1964 in Chicago) was an Olympic swimmer for the United States. ... Jon Sieben (born August 24, 1966) is an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1980s, who won gold in the 200m butterfly at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. ...

Gross won a total of thirteen medals at the World Championships (including five gold), fifteen gold medals at the European Championships and was elected German "Athlete of the Year" four times (1982, 1983, 1984 and 1988). He retreated from professional swimming in 1991. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He is featured in Bud Greenspan's 16 Days of Glory, the documentary film of the 1988 Summer Olympics. Bud Greenspan (born September 18, 1926) is an 8 time Emmy Award-winning film director, Writer, and . ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. ...

1976 gold medal winning swimmer John Naber remarked to Sports Illustrated in 1984 that if Michael Gross were an American, he would have won six or seven medals, and that Gross was better than Mark Spitz. The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were held in 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... John Naber is a swimmer from the United States. ... July 1999 cover showing soccer star Brandi Chastain Sports Illustrated is a popular weekly American sports magazine owned by media giant Time Warner. ... -1...

He was named Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1985 by Swimming World magazine. Swimming World magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in January 1960. ...