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"THEY DID not congratulate me, and I remember that it was the British gymnasts who took me out to celebrate," he recalls. This situation is unlikely to have occurred in the case of Nemov. When he was called on to get them out of trouble, it mattered not a jot to Nemov that it was on the parallel bars that he sustained the shoulder injury - shortly after the Atlanta Olympics four years ago - that necessitated two operations. It has mattered not a jot to his teammates that he has attracted so much publicity. Both Dimas and Tito are in agreement that much of Nemov's success in Sydney can be attributed to greater maturity. His wife has given birth to their first child since his arrival in Sydney, and Tito observes: "I think it has given him the feeling of being a real man. "HE HAS also improved with experience. In Atlanta (where Nemov gained silver) he did difficult routines, but not with a great deal of style. Now, the style is there. He knows the real beauty of gymnastics." Dimas added: "It is difficult for gymnasts to keep going from one Olympiad to another. The sport can change so much in four years and your body takes a real pounding. But in his case, I think you have to remember the high standards the Russians set for themselves; they all feel they are good enough to be number one. "I would say that not getting the gold in Atlanta would really have fuelled the fire in him." Tito wishes that the Russians had more like him. "Some of our other boys seemed to go into the competition thinking they were already Olympic champions. So when they started making mistakes, they lost their composure. "Alexei didn't. He showed the strong character to keep his nerve and fight." But not to the point of making spectators feel that he couldn't have some fun with them.
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