Ohio State Names Bilozertchev Men’s Gymnastics Assistant Coach – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Sept. 7, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dmitri Bilozertchev (bee-low-ZERT-chev) has been hired as an assistant coach for the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team, head coach Miles Avery announced Wednesday.
“As an Olympic sport there is nothing like adding an Olympic champion to your coaching staff; then on top of that to add someone of legendary status is almost overwhelming,” Avery said. “Dmitri will bring a new level of intensity to our program that we are looking forward to. When a program is successful it is really hard to change something that is working, but I think we have certainly made our program even stronger for the future. The very soft spoken Bilozertchev believes that actions should speak much louder than words.”
Bilozertchev, a two-time world champion (1983 and ’87), was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003. His world title at age 16 in 1983 made him the youngest world champion in history; he also claimed the pommel horse, rings and high bar crowns at the meet. He won the bronze medal in the all-around at the 1988 Olympics, as well as gold on pommel horse and rings. Because of the Soviet Boycott of the 1984 Olympics, Bilozertchev competed at the Alternate Games in Olomouc, Czech Republic, where he claimed gold medals in the all-around and four other events. Bilozertchev was the European all-around champion in 1985.
Prior to moving to Columbus, Bilozertchev, a native of Moscow, Russia, and his wife, Olga, were the owners and operators of United Sports Academy in Beaverton, Ore.
Bilozertchev replaces Arnold Kvetenadze, who spent the last eight years at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were the Big Ten champions last year and finished second at the NCAA championships. Senior Ron Ferris won the national and conference high bar titles, while sophomore DJ Bucher was the Big Ten parallel bars champion.
