Matt Biondi
DOB: 08/10/65 Events: 50, 100, 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay Medals: 8 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze Flag: USA
Last Updated: 25/07/12 1:10pm
Born in Palo Alto, California in 1965, Biondi swam and played water polo in high school, quickly emerging as the outstanding schoolboy sprint freestyler in the United States.
By now standing 6ft 7in, he accepted a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley and was part of their NCAA Championship water polo team in his freshman year of 1983.
Biondi's Olympic career began as a 19-year-old in Los Angeles in 1984, where he won gold as part of the United States' 4x100m freestyle relay team.
But it was in Seoul four years later that he established himself as an Olympic great, bouncing back from the disappointment of bronze in the 200m freestyle and losing the 100m butterfly by one hundredth of a second to win all of his remaining five events, including four world records.
In the 50m freestyle, Biondi defeated team-mate Tom Jager for the first time in two years and his haul of seven medals in a single Games equalled Mark Spitz's then record from 1972.
He returned for a third Olympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona and claimed three more medals to take his career tally to 11; silver in the 50m freestyle to go with relay golds in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley, in which he swam only the heat.
After retiring from the pool, Biondi earned a master's degree in teaching from Lewis & Clark College in Portland and began a new career as a high school maths teacher in Hawaii.
