FOR THE RECORD: 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform); 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES: gold (10m platform synchro), silver (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES: bronze (3m springboard); 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform); 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform, 3m springboard); 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard), bronze (3m springboard synchro); 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard synchro), bronze (3m springboard); 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (3m springboard);1991 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (10m platform); 1993 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform);silver (3m springboard); 1995 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard), bronze (10m platform); 1997 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: silver (3m springboard); 1999 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform); 2000 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (10m platform, 10m platform synchro, 3m springboard), silver (3m springboard synchro); 2002 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard, 3m springboard synchro); 2006 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard), silver (3m springboard synchro); 2008 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: gold (3m springboard, 3m springboard synchro); 2010 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: bronze (3m springboard synchro)
Dmitry Sautin’s steep climb up the international sports ladder began in 1991, when he won silver for the Soviet Union on the 10-meter platform event at the European Championships, in Athens, Greece, at the age of 17. But later that same year Dmitry was brutally attacked on a street in Moscow. He was stabbed numerous times in his legs and body and almost bled to death before reaching the hospital. But true to his grit, discipline and determination, he fought back and by the summer of 1992, against all odds, he won the bronze medal behind Hall of Famers Mark Lenzi and Tan Liangde on the 3-meter springboard at the summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Dmitry Sautin began diving from the 10-meter platform at age nine, and the beating his body took from the thousands of practice dives from 33 feet above the water, took its toll. For over two decades, he overcame injuries to his wrists, shoulder and back to compete in a multitude of events, including the European Championships, the FINA World Championships, and the Olympic Games, between the years of 1992 and 2008. Sautin won his first Olympic gold medal on the 3-meter springboard in Atlanta in 1996, but the highlight of his career would arguably have to be the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Australia. These were the first games where synchronized diving was added to the Olympic program, raising the number of diving events from two to four for both men and women. Sautin received medals in all four events, winning individual gold on the 10-meter platform, bronze on the 3-meter springboard, gold again on the 10-meter synchronized event with partner, Igor Lukashin and silver on the 3-meter synchronized event with partner, Aleksandr Dobroskok.
In a career remarkable for it’s longevity, Dmitry Sautin competed in ten European Championships, six FINA World Championships, and five Olympic Games, winning a total of 20 gold medals, six silver and nine bronze. His eight Olympic medals are the most by any male diver in history.