Background
Alexander Shatilov was born in Uzbekistan from a Russian-Jewish family.
Alexander Shatilov was born in Uzbekistan from a Russian-Jewish family.
He began his gymnastics training in Uzbekistan at the age of 5. He immigrated to Israel in 2002. He is unusually tall for a gymnast, at 183 cm or 6 foot
Shatilov placed seventh at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and became the first Israeli gymnast in a world apparatus final.
He placed fifth on floor exercise at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Shatilov represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In the qualifying stage, he placed 8th on the floor apparatus and qualified to the final. He also placed 29th overall, and just missed the cut for the all-around final.
He suffered a serious knee injury in spring 2010 and missed the European championships, but recovered in time to place fourth at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Shatilov tied for fourth on floor and placed 12th overall, qualifying for the finals in both events. In the men"s floor final, Shatilov earned 15.333, and tied with the American Jacob Dalton, but was placed beneath him because Dalton"s execution points were higher. In the end, Shatilov placed sixth out of eight athletes.
He received a 15.333 score and shared first place with the British gymnast Max Whitlock.
Shatilov was awarded the title of Athlete of the Year in Israel in 2009 and 2013.
He specializes in the floor exercise, in which he won several medals at world and European championships, and reached the final at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2013, Shatilov won a gold medal at the European championship in gymnastics in Moscow, Russia. He also won a gold medal in the Glasgow World Cup in 2008. In the floor final he failed to improve his ranking and placed last of the eight finalists, which was still the best ever achievement in artistic gymnastics for an Israeli gymnast. He won bronze medals in the floor exercise at the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and became the first Israeli to win a medal at both events. He won four gold medals and two silver medals at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in gymnastics. In 2011, he won the silver medal in the floor exercise at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the 2011 World Championships he won the bronze medal in the floor exercise, and also finished 13th in the all-around final. His achievement qualified him to compete for Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In April 2013, Shatilov won a gold medal at the European championship in gymnastics in Moscow, Russia. Shatilov is the first Israeli gymnast to win the European championship.
