Diego Hypólito
Hypólito in 2016
Personal information
Full nameDiego Matias Hypólito
Country represented Brazil
Born (1986-06-19) June 19, 1986
Santo André, Brazil
HometownRio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international
ClubCR Flamengo
Head coach(es)Renato Araújo
Retired2019[1]
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Brazil
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de JaneiroFloor exercise
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Melbourne Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2007 Stuttgart Floor exercise
Silver medal – second place 2006 Aarhus Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Tokyo Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Nanning Floor exercise
World Cup Final
Gold medal – first place 2004 Birmingham Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2006 São Paulo Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2008 Madrid Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2006 São Paulo Vault
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Vault
Gold medal – first place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Vault
Silver medal – second place 2003 Santo Domingo Team
Silver medal – second place 2003 Santo Domingo Vault
Silver medal – second place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 San Juan Floor exercise
Silver medal – second place 2013 San Juan Vault
Silver medal – second place 2014 Mississauga Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Mississauga Team
South American Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Medellín Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Medellín Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2010 Medellín Vault
South American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Santiago Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Santiago Floor exercise
Silver medal – second place 2011 Santiago Vault

Diego Matias Hypólito (Brazilian Portuguese: [dʒiˈeɡu iˈpɔlitu]; born 19 June 1986) is a Brazilian gymnast, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion in the floor exercise. He is the first male gymnast from Brazil, and South America, to win a medal at the World Championships.[2] He also won 63 medals in the World Cup.[3] Hypólito has represented Brazil at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.[4] He received the silver medal in floor exercise at the 2016 Olympic Games.[5][6]

He is the brother of Daniele Hypólito, the first Brazilian gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships.

Early life

Hypólito was born in Santo André, São Paulo, but moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro. He is the son of a bus driver, Wagner Hypólito, and a seamstress, Geni Matias.[7] He has Greek ancestry through his father (the surname Hypólito comes from the Greek surname Hippolyte, which was translated when his ancestors had immigrated to Brazil); he is also of Portuguese descent, through his mother.[8][9][10]

As a child, he had his first contact with the sport at the Flamengo Rowing Club, the same one his sister, Daniele, used to train. At her insistence, he specialized in solo exercises, in which he won his first titles as infantil and later as júnior.[11]

Career

Hypólito began gymnastics at age seven, following in his older sister's footsteps. He won the floor exercise event in the children's division at 1997's Brazilian National Championships and was 2001's all-around junior national champion.[12]

By the age of 21, Hypólito had competed at the 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and the 2007 World Championships. A floor exercise specialist, he qualified for the FX event finals in all five competitions, placing fifth in 2002, fourth in 2003, earning a gold medal in 2005, a silver medal in 2006, and a gold again in 2007. With his 2005 win, Hypólito became the first male South American gymnast to medal at the World Championships.

In the spring of 2008, Hypólito contracted dengue fever.[13] However, he was able to recover and resume training in time to compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he was Brazil's only MAG representative. In the preliminary round of competition, he performed on floor and vault, and qualified to the floor event final in first place with a score of 15.950.[14] In the floor finals, he fell on his last tumbling pass to finish the meet in sixth place.[15]

Hypólito was one of three male Brazilians in artistic gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but he was eliminated during the qualification stage. However, in the 2016 Summer Olympics, held in his home country, he finished fourth in qualification for the floor exercise, and won a silver medal in the individual event final.

Eponymous skills

Hypólito has one skill on floor exercise officially named after him called the Hypólito on floor, which was successfully completed when he won the gold medal on the individual floor event at the 2006 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final in São Paulo, Brazil, defeating the then reigning Olympic floor champion, Kyle Shewfelt of Canada, in the process. The skill is a full-twisting Arabian double (front) layout and was assigned a D-score of F (0.6).

Personal life

Hypólito came out as gay in May 2019. In an article for UOL Esporte, Hypólito described many years of struggling with his sexuality because of his deeply religious upbringing, but wrote, "I want people to know that I'm gay and that I'm not ashamed of it."[16]

References

  1. ↑ Globo Esporte (in Portuguese)
  2. ↑ "Diego Hypólito é primeiro brasileiro campeão mundial de ginástica" Murilo Garavello, UOL, 26 November 2005
  3. ↑ "Dani leva o ouro no salto em SP; Diego mantém alto nível, mas é prata no solo". sportv.com (in Portuguese). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Diego Hypolito". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Brazil's Hypolito, Nory take silver and bronze in men's floor exercise". USA Today. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Diego Hypólito". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Brazil's Hypolito, Nory take silver and bronze in men's floor exercise". USA Today. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Official website". Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  9. ↑ "Dani leva o ouro no salto em SP; Diego mantém alto nível, mas é prata no solo". sportv.com. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ↑ AP "Gymnastics world champ Diego Hypolito confirmed with dengue in Brazil" Associated Press, 7 April 2008
  11. ↑ "Diego Hypolito – site". DiegoHypolito. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "Official website". Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
  13. ↑ AP "Gymnastics world champ Diego Hypolito confirmed with dengue in Brazil" Associated Press, 7 April 2008
  14. ↑ MAG qualification scores—apparatus Archived 17 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine NBC Olympics, 9 August 2008
  15. ↑ Results – Floor Men's Floor Exercise Final Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine Beijing, 17 August 2008
  16. ↑ Hypolito, Diego (8 May 2019). "Quero falar uma coisa". Universo Online Esporte (in Portuguese). Universo Online. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
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