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Mark
Orlando, Florida
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| Beginnings: | Born on April 9, 1979 in Toa Alata, Puerto Rico |
| Family: | Mother - Lydia Torres
Older Brother - John Erick Older Sister - Gizzle Father - Armondo died when he was 19 |
| Education: | Major - Business Administration
Graduated - Doctor Phillips High School, Orlando, Florida |
| Sport(s): | Spring board and platform. |
| Interests: | Mark likes to be with his girlfriend.
He enjoys golf, basketball and table tennis. He likes wake boarding. |
| Accomplishments: | 4 Men's 1m springboard. |
| Interesting Facts: | His favorite dive is the summer slat tuck.
Finished 6th in Men's Diving 10m Platform Final in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. |
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To learn more about Mark Ruiz, Click Here. |
Diving-History and Present Day |
Diving started in ancient Greece at the first Olympic games. There was a 2500 year old tomb found with a statue of a man diving off a narrow platform. The tomb was found in Naples, Italy. People dove off cliffs, rocks and bridges. The British started taking diving seriously in 1880. Divers would bring up rubbish from the bottom of ponds. The only dive was a straight dive and we still do that dive today. Swedish and German gymnasts practiced their somersaults and twists over water. In 1904, at the Saint Louis Games, there was a race after a dive to see how far a person could go without coming to the surface. Women were allowed to participate in the platform for the first time.
Some of the rules are that a diver has to give officials a list of all the dives they are going to do. If a diver does a dive that hasn't been announced, they don't get any points. If a diver does a dive in a different way, they only receive 2 points from all the judges. If a diver does a mistake, they only receive 4.5 points. If a diver does a stand dive, they can not bounce off the platform or spring board. If a diver takes his or her feet off the broad before take-off, the judges will deduct points from their score. If a diver does a handstand dive, they have to show good balance before take-off.
The Country the Athlete Represented
Mark Ruiz is from America and he represented the United States. He participated in the 1m spring board. He does spring board and platform. The population of the United States is 300,000,000. The U.S. is in the northern hemisphere. Mark Ruiz lives in Orlando, Florida. It is hot there in the summer and mild in the winter.To see a flag of Mark Ruiz's home state, Click Here.
To see a flag of the United States,
Click Here.
