Diego Hypolito
Encyclopedia
Diego Matias Hypólito is a Brazilian gymnast and the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the floor exercise. He is the first male gymnast from Brazil, and South America, to medal at the World Championships. He is also the younger brother of Daniele Hypólito
Daniele Hypolito
Daniele Matias Hypólito is a Brazilian gymnast who competed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. Hypólito was the first athlete from Brazil ever to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver on floor exercise in 2001...

, the first Brazilian gymnast ever to medal at Worlds.

Born in Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Hypólito began gymnastics at the age of 7, following in his older sister's footsteps. He won the floor exercise event in the children's division at the Brazilian National Championships in 1997 and was the all-around junior National Champion in 2001.

At 21, Hypólito has competed in five World Gymnastics Championships
World Gymnastics Championships
The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique organises World Gymnastics Championships for each of the gymnastic disciplines:...

, in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. A floor exercise specialist, he qualified for the FX event finals in all five competitions, placing fifth in 2002, fourth in 2003, earning the gold medal in 2005, the silver medal in 2006, and the gold again in 2007. With his 2005 win, Hypólito became the first male South American gymnast to medal at Worlds.

In the spring of 2008, Hypólito contracted dengue fever
Dengue fever
Dengue fever , also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles...

. However, he was able to recover and resume training in time to compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he was Brazil's only MAG representative. In the preliminary round of competition, he performed on floor and vault, and qualified to the floor event final in first place with a score of 15.950. In the floor finals, he fell on his last tumbling pass to finish the meet in 6th place.

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