name	The Times
type	Daily newspaper
format	Compact
price	UK£0.90 (Monday–Friday)£2 (Saturday) £1.30(Sat., Scotland)
foundation	1 January 1785
owners	News Corporation
sister newspapers	The Sunday Times
political	Moderate Conservative
headquarters	Wapping, London, UK
editor	James Harding
issn	0140-0460
website	www.thetimes.co.uk
circulation	502,436 March 2010 }}

The Times is a British daily national newspaper published in London since 1785, when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.

The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, since 1981 a subsidiary of News International. News International is entirely owned by the News Corporation group, headed by Rupert Murdoch. Though traditionally a moderately centre-right newspaper and a supporter of the Conservatives, it supported the Labour Party in the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2004, according to MORI, the voting intentions of its readership were 40% for the Conservative Party, 29% for the Liberal Democrats, 26% for Labour.

The Times is the original "Times" newspaper, lending its name to many other papers around the world, such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Daily Times (Malawi), Jimma Times (Ethiopia), The Times of India, The Straits Times, Polska The Times The Times of Malta and The Irish Times. For distinguishing purposes it is therefore sometimes referred to, particularly in North America, as the 'London Times' or 'The Times of London'. The paper is also the originator of the ubiquitous Times Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of The Times in collaboration with the Monotype Corporation for its legibility in low-tech printing.

The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 partly in an attempt to appeal to younger readers and partly to appeal to commuters using public transport. An American edition has been published since 6 June 2006.

Today

The newspaper's cover price in the United Kingdom is £1 on weekdays (30p for students at some university campus shops) and £1.50 on Saturday. The Times's sister paper, The Sunday Times, is a broadsheet and priced at £2.20. Although The Times and The Sunday Times are both owned by News International, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, they do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have shared the same owner only since 1967. In November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in its new font, Times Modern.

History

The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, with Walter in the role of editor. Walter changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, John Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name. John Walter Sr. had already spent sixteen months in Newgate prison for libel printed in The Times, but his pioneering efforts to obtain Continental news, especially from France, helped build the paper's reputation among policy makers and financiers.

The Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its early life, the profits of The Times were very large and the competition minimal, so it could pay far better than its rivals for information or writers.

In 1809, John Stoddart was appointed general editor, replaced in 1817 with Thomas Barnes. Under Barnes and his successor in 1841, John Thadeus Delane, the influence of The Times rose to great heights, especially in politics and amongst the City of London. Peter Fraser and Edward Sterling were two noted journalists, and gained for The Times the pompous/satirical nickname 'The Thunderer' (from "We thundered out the other day an article on social and political reform.").The increased circulation and influence of the paper was based in part to its early adoption of the steam driven rotary printing press. Distribution via steam trains to rapidly growing concentrations of urban populations helped ensure the profitability of the paper and its growing influence.

The Times was the first newspaper to send war correspondents to cover particular conflicts. W. H. Russell, the paper's correspondent with the army in the Crimean War, was immensely influential with his dispatches back to England. In other events of the nineteenth century, The Times opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws until the number of demonstrations convinced the editorial board otherwise, and only reluctantly supported aid to victims of the Irish Potato Famine. It enthusiastically supported the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which reduced corruption and increased the electorate from 400 000 people to 800 000 people (still a small minority of the population). During the American Civil War, The Times represented the view of the wealthy classes, favouring the secessionists, but it was not a supporter of slavery.

The third John Walter (the founder's grandson) succeeded his father in 1847. The paper continued as more or less independent. From the 1850s, however, The Times was beginning to suffer from the rise in competition from the penny press, notably The Daily Telegraph and The Morning Post.

During the 19th century, it was not infrequent for the Foreign Office to approach The Times and ask for continental intelligence, which was often superior to that conveyed by official sources.

The Times faced financial extinction in 1890 under Arthur Fraser Walter, but it was rescued by an energetic editor, Charles Frederic Moberly Bell. During his tenure (1890–1911), The Times became associated with selling the Encyclopædia Britannica using aggressive American marketing methods introduced by Horace Everett Hooper and his advertising executive, Henry Haxton. However, due to legal fights between the Britannica's two owners, Hooper and Walter Montgomery Jackson, The Times severed its connection in 1908 and was bought by pioneering newspaper magnate, Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe.

In editorials published on 29 and 31 July 1914 Wickham Steed, the Times's Chief Editor argued that the British Empire should enter World War I. On 8 May 1920, under the editorship of Wickham Steed, the Times in an editorial endorsed the anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as a genuine document, and called Jews the world's greatest danger. In the leader entitled "The Jewish Peril, a Disturbing Pamphlet: Call for Inquiry", Steed wrote about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:

What are these 'Protocols'? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans and gloated over their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in part fulfilled, in part so far gone in the way of fulfillment?".

The following year, when Philip Graves, the Constantinople (modern Istanbul) correspondent of the Times, exposed The Protocols as a forgery, the Times retracted the editorial of the previous year.

In 1922, John Jacob Astor, a son of the 1st Viscount Astor, bought The Times from the Northcliffe estate. The paper gained a measure of notoriety in the 1930s with its advocacy of German appeasement; then-editor Geoffrey Dawson was closely allied with those in the government who practised appeasement, most notably Neville Chamberlain.

Kim Philby, a Soviet double agent, served as a correspondent for the newspaper in Spain during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. Philby was admired for his courage in obtaining high-quality reporting from the front lines of the bloody conflict. He later joined MI6 during World War II, was promoted into senior positions after the war ended, then eventually defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.

Between 1941 and 1946, the left-wing British historian E.H. Carr was Assistant Editor. Carr was well known for the strongly pro-Soviet tone of his editorials. In December 1944, when fighting broke out in Athens between the Greek Communist ELAS and the British Army, Carr in a Times editorial sided with the Communists, leading Winston Churchill to condemn him and that leader in a speech to the House of Commons. As a result of Carr's editorial, the Times became popularly known during World War II as the threepenny Daily Worker (the price of the Daily Worker was one penny)

In 1967, members of the Astor family sold the paper to Canadian publishing magnate Roy Thomson, and on 3 May 1966 it started printing news on the front page for the first time. (Previously, the paper's front page featured small advertisements, usually of interest to the moneyed classes in British society.) The Thomson Corporation merged it with The Sunday Times to form Times Newspapers Limited.

An industrial dispute prompted the management to shut the paper for nearly a year (1 December 1978 – 12 November 1979).

The Thomson Corporation management were struggling to run the business due to the 1979 Energy Crisis and union demands. Management were left with no choice but to save both titles by finding a buyer who was in a position to guarantee the survival of both titles, and also one who had the resources and was committed to funding the introduction of modern printing methods.

Several suitors appeared, including Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland and Lord Rothermere; however, only one buyer was in a position to meet the full Thomson remit. That buyer was the Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch

In 1981, The Times and The Sunday Times were bought from Thomson by Rupert Murdoch's News International. The acquisition followed three weeks of intensive bargaining with the unions by company negotiators, John Collier and Bill O'Neill.

Murdoch soon began making his mark on the paper, replacing its editor, William Rees-Mogg, with Harold Evans in 1981. One of his most important changes was the introduction of new technology and efficiency measures. In March–May 1982, following agreement with print unions, the hot-metal Linotype printing process used to print The Times since the 19th century was phased out and replaced by computer input and photo-composition. This allowed print room staff at The Times and The Sunday Times to be reduced by half. However, direct input of text by journalists ("single stroke" input) was still not achieved, and this was to remain an interim measure until the Wapping dispute of 1986, when The Times moved from New Printing House Square in Gray's Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to new offices in Wapping.

In June 1990, The Times ceased its policy of using courtesy titles ("Mr", "Mrs", or "Miss" prefixes for living persons) before full names on first reference, but it continues to use them before surnames on subsequent references. The more formal style is now confined to the "Court and Social" page, though "Ms" is now acceptable in that section, as well as before surnames in news sections.

In November 2003, News International began producing the newspaper in both broadsheet and tabloid sizes. On 13 September 2004, the weekday broadsheet was withdrawn from sale in Northern Ireland. Since 1 November 2004, the paper has been printed solely in tabloid format.

The Conservative Party announced plans to launch litigation against The Times over an incident in which the newspaper claimed that Conservative election strategist Lynton Crosby had admitted that his party would not win the 2005 General Election. The Times later published a clarification, and the litigation was dropped.

On 6 June 2005, The Times redesigned its Letters page, dropping the practice of printing correspondents' full postal addresses. Published letters were long regarded as one of the paper's key constituents. Author/solicitor David Green of Castle Morris Pembrokeshire has had more letters published on the main letters page than any known contributor – 158 by 31 January 2008. According to its leading article, "From Our Own Correspondents", removal of full postal addresses was in order to fit more letters onto the page.

In a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, Murdoch stated that the law and the independent board prevented him from exercising editorial control.

In May 2008 printing of The Times switched from Wapping to new plants at Broxbourne on the outskirts of London, and Merseyside and Glasgow, enabling the paper to be produced with full colour on every page for the first time.

Controversy and image

Long considered the UK's newspaper of record, The Times is generally seen as a serious publication with high standards of journalism. It is not without trenchant critics: Robert Fisk, seven times British International Journalist of the Year, resigned as foreign correspondent in 1988 over what he saw as "political censorship" of his article on the shooting-down of Iran Air Flight 655 in July 1988. He wrote in detail about his reasons for resigning from the paper due to meddling with his stories, and the papers' pro-Israel stance.

Some allege that The Times' partisan opinion pieces also damage its status as 'paper of record,' particularly when attacking interests that go against those of its parent company – News International. In 2010 it published an opinion piece attacking the BBC for being 'one of a group of' signatories to a letter criticising BSkyB share options in October 2010.

Readership profile and image

The British Business Survey 2005 named The Times as the UK's leading daily newspaper for business people. This independent survey was sponsored by The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, and The Times.

The latest figures from the national readership survey show The Times to have the highest number of ABC1 25–44 readers and the largest numbers of readers in London of any of the "quality" papers. The certified average circulation figures for November 2005 show that The Times sold 692,581 copies per day. This was the highest achieved under the last editor, Robert Thomson, and ensured that the newspaper remained ahead of The Daily Telegraph in terms of full-rate sales, although the Telegraph remains the market leader for broadsheets, with a circulation of 905,955 copies. Tabloid newspapers, such as The Sun and middle-market newspapers such as the Daily Mail, at present outsell both papers with a circulation of around 3,005,308 and 2,082,352 respectively. By March 2010 the paper's circulation had fallen to 502,436 copies daily and the Telegraph's to 686,679, according to ABC figures.

Format and supplements

The Times features news for the first half of the paper with the leading articles on the second page, the Opinion/Comment section begins after the first news section, the world news normally follows this. The business pages begin on the centre spread, and are followed by The Register, containing obituaries, Court & Social section, and related material. The sport section is at the end of the main paper.

Literary Supplement

The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) is a separately-paid-for weekly literature and society magazine.

Science Reviews

Between 1951 and 1966 The Times published a separately-paid-for quarterly science review, The Times Science Review. Remarkably, in 1953 both the newspaper and its science supplement failed to report on the discovery of the structure of DNA in Cambridge, which was reported on by both the News Chronicle and The New York Times.

The Times started another new (but free) monthly science magazine, Eureka, in October 2009.

Times2

The Times's main supplement was the times2, featuring various lifestyle columns. It was discontinued on 1 March 2010, most of its regular features being absorbed into the main paper, the puzzles into a new supplement called Mind Games. Its previous incarnation began on 5 September 2005, before which it was called T2 and previously Times 2. Regular features included columns by a different columnist each weekday. There was a column by Marcus du Sautoy each Wednesday, for example. The back pages were devoted to puzzles and contain sudoku, "Killer Sudoku", "KenKen", word polygon puzzles, and a crossword simpler and more concise than the main "Times Crossword". The penultimate page was "Young Times", with puzzles and news for children. All these features are now found in Mind Games.

The supplement also contained arts and lifestyle features, TV and radio listings and reviews which have now become their own weekly supplements.

The Game

The Game is included in the newspaper on a Monday, and details all the weekend's football activity (Premier League and Football League Championship, League One and League Two.) The Scottish edition of The Game also includes results and analysis from Scottish Premier League games.

Saturday supplements

The Saturday edition of The Times contains a variety of supplements. These supplements were relaunched in January 2009 as: Sport, Weekend (including travel and lifestyle features), Saturday Review (arts, books, and ideas), The Times Magazine (columns on various topics), and Playlist (an entertainment listings guide).

Saturday Review is the first regular supplement published in broadsheet format again since the paper switched to a compact size in 2004.

At the beginning of Summer 2011 Saturday Review switched to the tabloid format

The Times Magazine features columns touching on various subjects such as celebrities, fashion and beauty, food and drink, homes and gardens or simply writers' anecdotes. Notable contributors include Giles Coren, Food And Drink Writer of the Year in 2005.

Online presence

The Times and Sunday Times have had an online presence since March 1999, originally at the-times.co.uk and sunday-times.co.uk, and later at timesonline.co.uk. In April 2009, the timesonline site had a readership of 750,000 readers per day.

Paywall

Rupert Murdoch argued that readers should pay for online content, and since July 2010, News International requires readers that do not already subscribe to the print edition to pay £1 per day or £2 per week to access Times and Sunday Times content.

There are now two websites, instead of one: thetimes.co.uk is aimed at daily readers, and the thesundaytimes.co.uk site at providing weekly magazine-like content.

According to figures released in November 2010 by The Times, 100,000 people had paid to use the service in its first four months of operation, and another 100,000 received free access because they subscribe to the printed paper. Visits to the websites have decreased by 87% since the paywall was introduced, from 21 million unique users per month to 2.7 million.

Typeface

The Times commissioned the serif typeface Times New Roman, created by Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype, in 1931. It was commissioned after Stanley Morison had written an article criticizing The Times for being badly printed and typographically antiquated. The font was supervised by Morison and drawn by Victor Lardent, an artist from the advertising department of The Times. Morison used an older font named Plantin as the basis for his design, but made revisions for legibility and economy of space. Times New Roman made its debut in the 3 October 1932 issue of The Times newspaper. After one year, the design was released for commercial sale. The Times stayed with Times New Roman for 40 years, but new production techniques and the format change from broadsheet to tabloid in 2004 have caused the newspaper to switch font five times since 1972. However, all the new fonts have been variants of the original New Roman font:

Times Europa was designed by Walter Tracy in 1972 for The Times, as a sturdier alternative to the Times font family, designed for the demands of faster printing presses and cheaper paper. The typeface features more open counter spaces.

Times Roman replaced Times Europa on 30 August 1982. Times Millennium was made in 1991, drawn by Gunnlaugur Briem on the instructions of Aurobind Patel, composing manager of News International. Times Classic first appeared in 2001. Designed as an economical face by the British type team of Dave Farey and Richard Dawson, it took advantage of the new PC-based publishing system at the newspaper, while obviating the production shortcomings of its predecessor Times Millennium. The new typeface included 120 letters per font. Initially the family comprised ten fonts, but a condensed version was added in 2004. Times Modern was unveiled on 20 November 2006, as the successor of Times Classic. Designed for improving legibility in smaller font sizes, it uses 45-degree angled bracket serifs. The font was published by Elsner + Flake as EF Times Modern; it was designed by Research Studios, led by Ben Preston (deputy editor of The Times) and designer Neville Brody.

Sponsored events

The Times, along with the British Film Institute, sponsors the London Film Festival (or more specifically, The Times bfi London Film Festival). As of 2005, it is Europe's largest public event for motion pictures.

The Times also sponsors the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature at Asia House, London.

Political allegiance

The Times was a traditional Conservative Party supporter, even after its 18-year rule in government was ended by the Labour landslide of 1997, but for the 2001 general election the paper declared its support for Tony Blair's Labour government, which was re-elected by a landslide. It supported Labour again in 2005, when it achieved a third successive election win, though with a reduced majority. For the 2010 general election, however, the newspaper declared its support for the Tories once again; the election ended in the Tories taking the most votes and seats but having to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in order to form a government as they had failed to gain an overall majority.

The Times had declared its support for Clement Attlee's Labour at the 1945 general election; the party went on to win the election by a landslide over Winston Churchill's Conservative government. However, the newspaper reverted to the Tories for the next election five years later. It would not switch sides again for more than 50 years.

Ownership

John Walter (1785–1803)

John Walter, 2nd (1803–1847)

John Walter, 3rd (1847–1894)

Arthur Fraser Walter (1894–1908)

Lord Northcliffe (1908–1922)

Astor family (1922–1966)

Roy Thomson (1966–1981)

News International (subsidiary of News Corporation), run by Rupert Murdoch (1981– )

Editorship

!Editor's name	!Years
	1785–1803
	1803–1812
John Stoddart	1812–1816
	1817–1841
John Delane	1841–1877
Thomas Chenery	1877–1884
George Earle Buckle	1884–1912
George Geoffrey Dawson	1912–1919
	1919–1922
George Geoffrey Dawson	1923–1941
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward	1941–1948
William Francis Casey	1948–1952
William Haley	1952–1966
William Rees-Mogg	1967–1981
Harold Evans	1981–1982
	1982–1985
	1985–1990
Simon Jenkins	1990–1992
Peter Stothard	1992–2002
	2002–2007
	2007–

Columnists and journalists

Murad Ahmed

Michael Atherton

Guillem Balague

Simon Barnes

Alice Bowe

Peter Brookes, leader-page cartoonist

David Brown

Kaya Burgess

Rachel Campbell-Johnston

Sam Coates

Giles Coren

Robert Crampton

Ginny Dougary

Stephen Farrell

Daniel Finkelstein

Richard Ford

Adam Fresco

Joanna Geary

Frances Gibb

Brian Glanville

Ruth Gledhill

Michael Gove

Nico Hines

Anthony Howard

Philip Howard

Ben Hoyle

Mick Hume

Anatole Kaletsky

Patrick Kidd

Magnus Linklater

Richard Lloyd Parry

Anthony Loyd, war correspondent on retainer

Ben Macintyre

Sam Marlowe, theatre reviewer

Stefanie Marsh

Hugh McIlvanney

Alice Miles

Caitlin Moran

Michael Moran

Morten Morland, political cartoonist

Richard Morrison

Kate Muir

Matthew Parris

Grayson Perry

Catherine Philp

Libby Purves

Lord Rees-Mogg

Peter Riddell

Hugo Rifkind

Aki Riihilahti

Nick Robinson

Alyson Rudd

Dan Sabbagh

Sathnam Sanghera

Marcus du Sautoy

David Sinclair

Graham Stewart

Andrew Sullivan

Richard Susskind

Ann Treneman

Janice Turner

Philip Webster

Tom Whipple

Tom Whitwell

Tony Halpin

Alexander Williams, cartoonist

Jeremy Clarkson

Other publications

(Times Books Group Ltd)

The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, 2007 ISBN 978-0-00-780150-3

Biography

Harold Evans, Good Times, Bad Times. Includes sections of black-and-white photographic plates, plus a few charts and diagrams in text pages.

In fiction

In the dystopian future world of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Times has been transformed into the organ of the totalitarian ruling party, its editorials—of which several are quoted in the book—reflecting Big Brother's pronouncements.

Rex Stout's fictional detective Nero Wolfe is described as fond of solving the London Times crossword puzzle at his New York home, in preference to those of American papers.

In the James Bond series, written by Ian Fleming, the title character, James Bond, reads The Times. As described by Fleming in From Russia, with Love: "The Times was the only paper that Bond ever read."

See also

List of newspapers by date

References

External links

The Sunday Times site

Times World Atlases official website including a History and Heritage section detailing landmark Times atlases

Archive from 1785 to 1985 – full text and original layout, searchable (not free of charge, registration required)

The Times editor Robert Thomson lecture online: From the editorial desk of The Times, RMIT School of Applied Communication Public Lecture series

Anthony Trollope's satire on the mid-nineteenth century Times

Journalism Now: The Times Winchester University Journalism History project on the Times in the nineteenth century

Category:Newspapers published in the United Kingdom Category:News Corporation subsidiaries * Category:Publications established in 1785 Category:1785 establishments in Great Britain

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name	Sydney Forest
background	solo_singer
born	San Diego, California, U.S.
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	Acoustic music }}

Sydney Forest is a composer and musician. Her music has been featured in several films, notably Disney's English dub of Kiki's Delivery Service.

Biography

Born in San Diego, Sydney Forest is the daughter of Gayla Peevey, a woman who became famous in her childhood for singing the famous I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. Upon entering into her career, Forest was signed to a deal with Disney Music Publishing shortly after she began gigging in Los Angeles. Her lyrics and music gained a great deal of attention including the National Academy of Songwriters’ Lionel Richie Songwriting Award. Forest has credited her inspirations to be from Charles Dickens to Honoré de Balzac, even Dr. Seuss and to Shel Silverstein. Later on, Forest appeared on the Warner Bros. network TV series Popular in which she had performed her own songs as melodic interludes.

Discography

Soundtrack

Autumn in New York (2000) (songs: “Our Love Never Ends”)

Simply Irresistible (1999) (songs: “Once In A Blue Moon”)

Popular (1999) (songs: “High School Highway”)

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) (songs: "Soaring" and "I'm Gonna Fly")

Television

Popular

Episode: "The Phantom Menace" (1999) (Role: Herself)

References

External links

Sydney Forest

Category:Living people Category:American composers

name	Kurt Elling
background	solo_singer
origin	Chicago, IllinoisUnited States
birth date	November 02, 1967
instrument	Vocals
genre	Vocal jazz, Vocalese
occupation	Musician, composer
years active	1995–present
label	Concord Jazz, Blue Note
website	KurtElling.com
notable instruments	}}

Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist and vocalese performer. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling first became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. Growing up, Elling sang in choirs and played various musical instruments, but wasn't exposed to jazz until he attended Gustavus Adolphus College. Elling enrolled in graduate school at the University of Chicago Divinity School, but left school one credit short of a master's degree to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist.

Elling began to perform around Chicago, scat singing and improvising his own lyrics. He recorded a demo in the early 1990s and was signed by Blue Note Records, releasing a total of seven albums with the label. He has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Vocal Jazz Album for Dedicated to You (2009) on the Concord Jazz label. Elling often leads the Down Beat critics poll, and he was awarded the Prix Billie Holiday from the Académie du Jazz. Since 1995, Elling has collaborated with pianist, composer, and arranger Laurence Hobgood, leading a quartet that regularly tours the world.

Early life

Kurt Elling was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 1967 to Henry and Martha Elling. His interest in music started with his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. Elling attended elementary school at St. Paul Lutheran School in Rockford, and throughout his early years, he sang in choirs and played violin, French horn, piano, and drums. During his middle school years, Elling remembers watching Tony Bennett and the Woody Herman band on television and imagining what it would be like to sing with a band. Growing up, Elling sang in the classical style, learning counterpoint from the motets of Johann Sebastian Bach. In high school, Elling continued to sing in the choir: "When it was undeniably uncool and geeky and all that, to be in the choir, I did it anyway, because it was reliably beautiful, and it was rewarding, and it gave me gifts of experience and friendships."

Elling attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he majored in history and minored in religion. In college, Elling sang in the 70-voice Gustavus Choir, an a cappella choir that performed works from a variety of different composers, allowing him to hone his technical skills. Elling also toured Europe with his college choir. He first became interested in jazz at Gustavus Adolphus, listening to Dave Brubeck, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others.

After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus in 1989, Elling enrolled in graduate school at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he studied for his master's degree in philosophy of religion. Elling thought about continuing work in academia or working for the World Council of Churches when he graduated. Elling began playing Jazz gigs once a week during graduate school, with one of his first shows at Milt Trenier's, a basement club in Chicago (now defunct). Elling earned little money at these gigs, but Karl Johnson, the house pianist, was his mentor and teacher. Elling recalls: "By day I was reading Kant and Schleiermacher, trying to get a handle on that, and at night I was sitting-in in clubs, and, of course, you can't do both and be effective. Eventually Saturday night won out over Sunday morning." Elling remained a graduate student until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation.

In Chicago, Elling held day jobs to survive, working as a bartender and even a mover. Elling made extra income singing at weddings in addition to playing at clubs. At this time, he began singing in a scat style and improvising his own lyrics. Elling began listening to the vocalese of jazz singer Mark Murphy, who exposed him to the poetry of Jack Kerouac. The minimalism and emotion of Chet Baker's music was also influential.

Career

While living in Chicago in 1995, Elling decided he was ready to record. He had met pianist Laurence Hobgood through Ed Petersen, who played the Green Mill on Monday nights. Elling convinced Hobgood that he was ready to go into the studio, and they came out with nine solid songs. Following the advice of pianist Fred Simon, the cassette recording was sent to Bill Traut, a manager in Los Angeles, who eventually gave it to Bruce Lundvall of Blue Note Records.

Blue Note (1995–2005)

Two months later, Elling was signed to Blue Note, and the songs on the demo became the Grammy nominated label debut, Close your Eyes (1995). The album features Edward Petersen and Von Freeman on tenor saxophone, Dave Onderdonk on guitar, Laurence Hobgood on piano, Eric Hochberg and Rob Amster on acoustic bass, and Paul Wertico on drums.

Close Your Eyes was followed several years later by The Messenger (1997), with Elling releasing a total of seven albums for the Blue Note label.

In 1999, Elling became a National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and in 2003, he was elected Vice Chair and served two terms.

Concord (2006–present)

In 2006, Elling performed on the television program Legends of Jazz, in the episode "The Jazz Singers". Elling sang "She's Funny That Way" and performed a duet with Al Jarreau on "Take Five". The recording was released on CD and DVD. In August of the same year, Elling signed a new record contract with Concord Jazz, and his first album with the label, Nightmoves, was released in 2007.

The follow-up, Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman (2009), is a tribute to the 1963 recording John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, widely recognized as one of the all-time finest jazz vocal albums. The album arose out of a 2005 concert commissioned by the Chicago Jazz Festival, showcasing the Coltrane-Hartman material. Later, Elling and pianist Laurence Hobgood rearranged the music, culminating in a performance in the Allen Room at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The concert was recorded in January 2009 and the album was released in June.

Elling is a baritone with a four-octave range, and a writer and performer of vocalese, the art of writing and performing words over improvised jazz solos. In 2007, Elling's lyrics were published in a book by Circumstantial Productions.

Collaborators

Elling has performed and recorded with David Amram, Bob Belden, Joanne Brackeen, Oscar Brown, Jr., Billy Corgan, Orbert Davis, George Freeman, Buddy Guy, Jon Hendricks, Charlie Hunter, Randy Bachman, Bob Mintzer, Rex Richardson, and Bob Sheppard.

As of 2010, Elling's band included musical director Laurence Hobgood on piano, John McLean on guitar, Harish Raghavan on bass, and drummer Ulysses Owens.

Personal life

In 1996, Elling married dancer Jennifer Carney. Their daughter Luiza was born in 2005. In the same year, the Ellings purchased a condominium from Barack Obama in Hyde Park, Chicago. The Ellings moved to New York in 2008.

Discography

;Blue Note Records

Close Your Eyes (1995)

The Messenger (1997)

This Time it's Love (1998)

Live in Chicago (2000)

Flirting with Twilight (2001)

Man in the Air (2003)

;Concord Records

Nightmoves (2007)

Dedicated to You (2009)

The Gate (2011)

;Guest appearances

"Tanganyika Dance" from Bob Belden's album Shades of Blue (1996)

"Desert Way", "Close Your Eyes" from Charlie Hunter's album "Songs from the Analog Playground" (2001)

"Sim Ou Nao" from Till Brönner's album Rio (2008)

"Perdido" from John Pizzarelli's album Rockin' in Rhythm: A Tribute to Duke Ellington (2010)

Elling also contributed vocals to his longtime collaborator Laurence Hobgood's three albums, Left to My Own Devices (2000), Crazy World (2005) and When the Heart Dances (2009)

Awards and nominations

Elling has won the Down Beat Critics Poll twelve times, from 2000–2011, and the Down Beat Readers Poll and the JazzTimes Readers' Poll six times, all in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He has also received the Jazz Journalists Association Male Singer of the Year award seven times. In 2010 he received the Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist in a Major Engagement.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. On January 31, 2010, Elling won his first Grammy Award in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for the album Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman on the Concord Jazz label.

|- |rowspan="1"|1995 |Close Your Eyes | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | |- |rowspan="1"|1997 |The Messenger | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | |- |rowspan="1"|1998 |This Time it's Love | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | |- |rowspan="1"|2000 |Live in Chicago | Best Jazz Vocal Album | |- |rowspan="2"|2001 |Flirting with Twilight | Best Jazz Vocal Album | |- |"Easy Living" |Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist | |- |rowspan="1"|2003 |Man in the Air | Best Jazz Vocal Album | |- |rowspan="1"|2007 |Nightmoves | Best Jazz Vocal Album | |- |rowspan="1"|2009 |Dedicated to You |Best Jazz Vocal Album |

Publications

References

Further reading

External links

KurtElling.com - Elling's official website.

Kurt Elling at Concord Music Group.com

Kurt Elling at Blue Note Records.com

Category:1967 births Category:American jazz singers Category:American male singers Category:Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Category:Living people Category:Concord Records artists Category:Blue Note Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Vocalese singers Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Rockford, Illinois Category:American baritones

de:Kurt Elling es:Kurt Elling fr:Kurt Elling it:Kurt Elling he:קורט אלינג nl:Kurt Elling pl:Kurt Elling

Name	Jessica Watson
Birth date	May 18, 1993
Birth place	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Known for	The youngest person to sail solo around the world.
Occupation	Sailor
Nationality	Australian }}

Jessica Watson (born 18 May 1993) is an Australian sailor. She resides in Buderim, Queensland. In May 2010, she unofficially became the youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world, although her route did not meet World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) criteria for circumnavigation of the globe.

Watson departed from Sydney on 18 October 2009, heading eastbound over the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. She returned to Sydney on 15 May 2010, three days before her 17th birthday.

On 25 January 2011 she was named the 2011 Young Australian of the Year.

Early life

Jessica Watson was born on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The second of four children of New Zealand couple Roger and Julie Watson, who moved to Australia in 1987, she has dual Australian and New Zealand nationality. She has an older sister (Emily) and younger brother and sister (Tom and Hannah). All four took sailing lessons as children, and the family went on to live on board a 16 metre cabin cruiser for five years, the children being home schooled via distance learning. Later they lived on a purpose-built double decker bus for some time. When Jessica was eleven and they were still living on the boat, her mother read Jesse Martin's book Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit to the children as a bedtime story. This led to Jessica forming the ambition at age twelve to sail around the world too.

Circumnavigation and publicity

Watson had been planning to complete a solo non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the globe since at least early 2008. Officially announced in May 2009, the journey was expected to take eight months with an estimated distance of 23,000 nautical miles. To fulfill the plan of sailing non-stop and unassisted, during the journey no other person would be allowed to give her anything and she must not moor to any port or other boat, although advice over radio communication was permitted.

Watson's planned circumnavigation route was to start and end at Sydney, and to pass near New Zealand, Fiji, Kiribati, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and South East Cape. In accordance with the definitions for circumnavigations set out by the International Sailing Federation's WSSRC, the equator must be crossed; this crossing was carried out near Kiritimati. However, the journey eventually did not meet the WSSRC requirement of an orthodromic distance of 21,600 nmi (refer below for the reason).

Watson arrived back in Sydney Harbour at 1:53pm, Saturday 15 May 2010. The Harbour Master, Capt. Steven Young, blew into a party whistle to signal Jessica's official arrival back home.

The Los Angeles Times reported Watson's reason for her journey: "I wanted to challenge myself and achieve something to be proud of. And yes, I wanted to inspire people. I hated being judged by my appearance and other people's expectations of what a 'little girl' was capable of. It's no longer just my dream or voyage. Every milestone out here isn't just my achievement, but an achievement for everyone who has put so much time and effort into helping getting me here."

After the journey she continued a relationship with Michael Perham, the previous youngest circumnavigator. They met during a stop he made in Australia during his circumnavigation, and they had several phone conversations during her journey. More recently, however, Jessica has also been seen spending time with Australia's youngest ever federal politician, Wyatt Roy. Jessica's mother insists they are just friends, and that Jessica's schedule—which takes her around the country and world—is currently preventing her from "dating boys."

Watson has written a book about her experience, which is called True Spirit and published by Hachette Australia (ISBN 0733624979). The book was released 29 July 2010.

Jessica has also filmed a documentary about her solo trip before, during and after completing her solo trip which will be narrated by Sir Richard Branson and premiered on ONEHD on 16 August 2010 and then was released on DVD along with a CD album on 20 August 2010.

Preparation

As training for her voyage, Watson crewed on a number of vessels, including OceansWatch's Magic Roundabout on which she acted as skipper during a crossing of the Tasman Sea. At the time she left on her voyage, Watson had the following qualifications:

RYA/ISAF Offshore Safety course (ISAF SR 6.01) Cat zero (one day 8 hour course)

RYA Diesel Engine course (one day 8 hour course)

RYA Radar course (one day 8 hour course)

YAs Safety and Sea Survival certificate (two day 16 hour course)

OMTC issued Certificates of Competence for Apply First Aid HTLF301B

IMO compliant Elementary First Aid Table A VI/1-3 STCW95 (one day 8 hour course)

Yachtmaster Ocean theory certificates (40 hour course)

Radio operator’s licence

About 6,000 coastal and 6,000 ocean miles experience.

Boat

{|

Ship image
Ship caption	Ella's Pink Lady at the Australian National Maritime Museum, following the completion of her voyage }}

Ship country	Australia
Ship flag
Ship name	Ella's Pink Lady
Ship namesake	Ella Baché
Ship route	Sydney - Kiritimati - Cape Horn - Cape of Good Hope - Cape Leeuwin - Sydney
Ship launched	1984
Ship renamed	original name Shanty
Ship badge	}}

Ship type	S&S; 34 yacht
Ship length
Ship beam
Ship draught
Ship propulsion	Sails
Ship crew	1
Ship notes	}}

|} The boat is a Sparkman & Stephens S&S; 34, the same design as used by Jon Sanders, David Dicks and Jesse Martin in their circumnavigations. It was obtained and refitted with new equipment under the supervision of Don McIntyre and Bruce Arms, both skilled and experienced sailors. The refitting included a new galley, reconditioned diesel and water tanks, and a complete rebuild of the electrical system. Jessica Watson was also deeply involved in the preparation of the boat, which she named Ella's Pink Lady. Most of the time the boat is steered by a self-steering windvane system. She has named the system Parker after the chauffeur of the pink Rolls-Royce in the Thunderbirds television series.

Test run and collision

During a test run sailing from Brisbane to Sydney, on her first night after leaving Brisbane, Ella's Pink Lady collided with the Silver Yang, a 63,000-tonne bulk carrier at about 02.00 am on 9 September 2009 near Point Lookout. Watson's boat was dismasted in the collision. She was able to retain control and return the boat to Southport under motor.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's preliminary report on the collision found that Watson had been taking a five minute nap during the event, (thus she was asleep at the time of the collision), and that while she had checked her radar prior to lying down, she had failed to spot the Silver Yang. This led to the accident four minutes later. The report also found that the Silver Yang had been aware of her presence and had attempted to change course, but that this had been insufficient to avoid Watson's boat.

The final report was released in June 2010. The report stated that both Watson and the Silver Yang's watchkeepers had failed to maintain an adequate lookout and that both had failed to properly employ the navigational aids. In addition, the report found that the watchkeeper on the Silver Yang had failed to offer assistance to Watson after the two vessels had collided.

Journey

Watson sailed out of Sydney Harbour on 18 October 2009 in her pink-hulled Ella Baché-sponsored Ella's Pink Lady. 18 days later, on 5 November, she passed Tonga, sailing clear of both New Zealand and Fiji.

As required for a full circumnavigation, she crossed the equator on 19 November 2009 (Australian date), near Jarvis Island at about 161°40'W longitude, and rounded Kiritimati on 22 November 2009 (Australian date) after 36 days. Then she crossed the equator again at 156°20'W longitude, and continued south-easterly towards Cape Horn. The sailed distance from Sydney to Kiritimati was about 3,900 nmi. At Christmas she was near Point Nemo, the place located furthest from land.

On 13 January 2010 (9:40 UTC) she passed Cape Horn, having sailed around 9,800 nmi in 87 days. This was 11 days ahead of the planned per day schedule. Soon after her parents flew over her in a small plane in order to witness the passage. Just over a week later, on 23 January 2010, several days after passing the Falkland Islands, she suffered four knock-downs in a severe storm with 10-metre waves and winds. The storm caused minor damage to her boat and her emergency beacon was accidentally activated as the mast hit the water.

The halfway point on the voyage was passed on 25 January 2010, her 100th day at sea, based on the original calculation of sailing route.

On 15 February 2010, she crossed the Prime Meridian, crossing from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere. This placed her near the Cape of Good Hope, which she passed on 24 February, reaching Cape Agulhas, (the southernmost point of Africa), and crossing from the Atlantic Ocean into the Indian Ocean. From southern Africa, Watson sailed more than towards Western Australia.

Watson arrived in the Australian economic zone on 10 April 2010, celebrating with crackers and Vegemite. There her parents and media flew over her in a small plane in order to welcome her. She passed Cape Leeuwin on south-western Australia two days later, with approximately remaining.

When south of Australia, Watson suffered a lot of inclement weather. In this part of the journey, she had at least three knockdowns (where the mast hit the water), one of them with the mast deep into the sea, luckily without any real damage or injury. The swells she experienced in the Great Australian Bight were up to 12 metres in height, higher than anytime before.

On 3 May, Watson rounded the South East Cape of Tasmania and began heading north to Sydney, her final destination.

Watson completed her journey on day 210 of her voyage at 1:53pm on 15 May 2010 when she arrived in Sydney Harbour. Her 17th birthday was 3 days later.

During the journey Watson had to do repairs herself to the boat and the equipment. Several of the repairs were reported on the blog: the battery monitor (18 Dec), the stove, toilet and mainsail (24 Jan), the toilet again (11 March), replacement of wind generator blades (30 March), the kettle (10 April), the mainsail again (18 April), replacement of the wind generator with a spare (21 April), and finally the fuel pump of the engine (10 May).

Ella's Pink Lady stays in Queensland

In the months following the completion of Jessica's journey, there were questions about what would become of her boat, Ella's Pink Lady. In April 2011, after the state and federal governments jointly purchased the yacht for $300,000, it was announced that the Pink Lady would have a permanent exhibition at the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane.

Criticism

Watson's journey has been criticised, particularly after the collision with the freighter. Barry Tyler of Pacific Motor Yacht magazine wrote, "like the majority of the seafaring world [I] consider it irresponsible, cavalier and indeed ignorant to attempt such a feat, at such a tender age and with so little trans-ocean experience." Questions about her experience were also expressed by Phil Jones, the CEO of Yachting Australia, and by Grant Wharington, the skipper of Skandia, with Wharington stating that he had been impressed by Watson when they had met, but that he had advised her to gain experience by undertaking a number of shorter solo passages before attempting the circumnavigation, although she chose not to follow his advice. A more general concern was raised by the Australian Childhood Foundation, who questioned whether a 16 year old girl would have the ability to fully understand the risks that such a venture would involve.

Circumnavigation scrutiny

Sailing website Sail-World.com published an analysis on 3 May 2010 which claimed that the expected rhumb line distance travelled by Watson was , which was less than the required distance according to the definition set by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), and that the journey was therefore ineligible to claim world record status for round-the-world journeys. The equivalent orthodromic distance for Watson's route would be . The WSSRC definition states in part "The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least in length." The analysis suggests that Watson's published distance logs are based on sailed distances, including tacks and strategic weather detours, rather than the shortest orthodromic track between islands and capes as defined. The rule is based on the older rule, followed by current record-holder Jesse Martin, that during a circumnavigation the sailor must pass two points on opposite sides of the earth (antipodes). For example, if starting in southern England, a place near the start will be opposite to the track near New Zealand. It was replaced by the rule that for world records the shortest orthodromic track must be at least as long as the circumference of the earth (hence 21,600 nautical miles).

Watson responded "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time! Yes it's a shame that my voyage won't be recognized by a few organizations because I'm under 18, but it really doesn't worry me."

Watson's manager, Andrew Fraser, dismissed the claim, noting that the WSSRC does not recognise records by sailors under eighteen. He stated "Jessica has sailed a southern hemisphere solo circumnavigation, [in which] 'a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator'. Jessica has ticked all of these boxes. Jessica has sailed the most challenging and treacherous oceans of the world, passing the four capes (Cape Horn, Cape Agulhas, Cape Leeuwin and the Cape of SE Tasmania) and crossed the Equator twice. She has sailed around the world, non-stop, solo, unassisted and when she completes the voyage, she will be the youngest to have done that, sailing almost 23,000 nautical miles in the process. We have official TracPlus data to confirm Jessica's exact distance upon her return."

British sailing journalist and author Bob Fisher published an article on Sail-World.com refuting the round the world claim. He said "True, Jessica has sailed alone and unassisted, passed under the four required capes, but the orthodromic route she has taken does not total the necessary 21,600 miles that is equivalent of the girth of the Earth at the equator. And that, Andrew Fraser, is a requirement for the world record you were claiming for Jessica, and which would put her in line to beat Jesse Martin's record."

Watson commented on this matter in her book True Spirit. She states that she wrote a number of letters to the WSSRC asking what she had to do to claim the record. Their answer was that she could not claim the record since age records were no longer recognized. She got the impression it was (according to WSSRC) not necessary to follow the route Jesse Martin followed (which went far north of the equator in the Atlantic), a route Watson knew well from reading Martin's book more than once. Watson decided to follow a route commonly accepted as round the world. A number a sailors, like Kay Cottee, followed a similar route which has been accepted.

In the book she also criticised those who criticised her management. Sail-World.com has written "We don’t believe she decided her route. People think we’re criticising Jessica. We’re not. We’re criticising her management". She felt hurt by that, since it hinted that "He was suggesting that I was just a puppet, that I had no voice and no will of my own."

Praise

Despite criticism, Watson has had her supporters, not only after, but before the departure. In particular, adventurer Don McIntyre strongly supported her attempt, providing her with a boat and speaking in support of her attempt. Similarly, Tony Mowbray, who, like McIntyre, has previously circumnavigated the globe, provided his support, arguing that she was "doing it for the right reasons" and that he was confident of her success. The captain of the Magic Roundabout spoke highly of her skills, backing her circumnavigation attempt by describing her as a "damn-good crew member" and stating that he believed that she possessed the necessary abilities. Also adventurer and company owner Richard Branson gave his support before departure.

During her journey others expressed their support for her attempt. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a public speech on 26 January that "Jessica Watson ... is an extraordinary young Australian." According to ABC News, competing circumnavigator Abby Sunderland congratulated Jessica on rounding Cape Horn, "She's done an amazing job and I hope the rest of her trip goes as well as it has so far."

At the arrival in Sydney, she was met by approximately 75,000 spectators including Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. He said "Jess welcome back to dry land. Welcome back home to Australia. You know something, you may feel a little wobbly on your feet just now, but in the eyes of all Australians you now stand tall as our newest Australian hero."

Awards

Since completing her circumnavigation, Jessica Watson has been recognised with a number of awards. These include the "Spirit of Sport" award from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and "Young Performer of the Year" for 2010, an award voted by the Australian public and presented at the annual Sports Performer Awards in Melbourne. She was selected as one of the ten international "2010 Adventurers of the Year" by National Geographic Society, and was the only sailor in the group.

Watson was named the Young Australian of the year on 25 January 2011.

Further projects

Jessica Watson took part in the Mini Fastnet sailing race, in Europe, in June 2011, sailing a two person mini sailboat with Scott Cavanough as skipper. Following the Mini Fastnet, she sailed the Round the Island Race in United Kingdom in June 2011, as a crew member with Phil Baughen as skipper and Michael Perham as third crew member, although they had to retire after boat damage. She also sailed in the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race with part of the intended Sydney-Hobart crew using the boat "Another Challenge". They won their class.

After that, she plans to sail in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in December 2011, skippering the boat "Another Challenge" with the youngest crew to compete in the race, consisting of ten people aged under 22..

References

External links

Official website

Broadcast of her arrival in Sydney (7:19 in length). Retrieved 29 Jan 2011.

Collision between Silver Yang and Ella's Pink Lady off Point Lookout, Queensland on 9 September 2009 ATSB Final Report, 15 June 2010

Category:1993 births Category:Living people Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Australian autobiographers Category:Australian bloggers Category:Australian sailors Category:Australian people of New Zealand descent Category:People from Queensland Category:Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Category:Teenage single-handed circumnavigating sailors Category:Young Australian of the Year Award winners

de:Jessica Watson fr:Jessica Watson it:Jessica Watson lv:Džesika Votsone ms:Jessica Watson pl:Jessica Watson ru:Ватсон, Джессика simple:Jessica Watson sv:Jessica Watson vi:Jessica Watson

}} Total Total

Pyrros Dimas (), born on October 13, 1971) is a retired Greek weightlifter, considered as one of the greatest of all time, having been three times Olympic champion and three times World Champion.

Background

Dimas was born to ethnic Greek parents in Himara, Northern Epirus (Albania).

Victories with Albania

Dimas started the sport at 11 and competed at a junior's level at 14. At 18, in 1989, he became triple Champion of Albania for the 82.5 kg category and in 1990 he repeated himself. While in Albania, he was coached by Ferid Berberi.

In 1990 he was also accorded the title "Master of Sports" by the Albanian government and the title "European Master" by the European Weightlifting Federation.

He was part of the Albanian weightlifting team to which he made important con tributions: In 1989 in the 62nd World Championship of Weightlifting Dimas ranked 12th in the World and helped Albania rank 13th in the world.).

In the 69th European Weightlifting Championship (held in Aalborg, Denmark May 1990), Dimas ranked 4th in Europe and Albania ranked 3rd (after 1st placed USSR and 2nd placed Bulgaria), and in the European Cup for nations (in Antalya, Turkey, December 1990) Dimas, Luan Shabani and Fatmir Bushi helped Albania rank 2nd in Europe (after 1st placed Bulgaria).

Victories with Greece

Dimas emigrated to Greece in 1991, at age 20. He acquired Greek citizenship in 1992, and first competed under the Greek flag in the 1992 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in the 82.5 kg class.

During his 202.5 kg lift at the clean and jerk, he shouted "Για την Ελλάδα!" (transliterated "Yia tin Ellada!"; meaning "For Greece!"), thus dedicating his victory to Greece. This is the catchphrase with which he is most associated in Greece.

At a time when Greek success at the Olympics was limited, he and Voula Patoulidou (the surprise gold medalist at the 100m hurdles) became instant national heroes. They were greeted as such on their return to Greece at a grand ceremony attended by more than 100,000 people at the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens. His birthplace gave rise to his nickname "The Lion of Himara". His outstanding number of Olympic Gold Medals created another nickname "Midas".

Characteristic of his self-confidence was his tendency to keep the weights lifted after the buzzer had sounded so that the crowd could take photographs.

With the 1993 and 1995 World titles under his belt, Dimas was the favorite to win Olympic Gold in the 83 kg class at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was the flagbearer of the Greek Olympic team. He won the event with two new World Records.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won yet another gold medal, this time in the 85 kg class. This made him one of just three weightlifters at that time to have won three Olympic gold medals, the others being Naim Süleymanoğlu (Turkey, but born in Bulgaria) and Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Greece, but born in Georgia). Halil Mutlu (like Süleymanoğlu, a Bulgaria-born Turk) would become the fourth in 2004.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Dimas was again chosen as Greek flagbearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Dimas was recovering from knee surgery and a hurt wrist and was not expected to compete in these Olympics, but he came away with a bronze medal in the 85 kg class, becoming only the fourth weightlifter in history to win a medal at four different Olympic Games and only the third to win them successively four times, thus cementing his status as a national hero in Greece.

After earning the bronze medal he signalled his retirement by leaving his shoes on the platform, while the appreciative Greek crowd gave him a standing ovation.

In June 2008, Dimas became vice-president, and in October 2008 president of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation.

Personal life

Pyrros Dimas is married to Anastasia Sdougkou, a former Greek National Television (ERT) sports reporter. Together they have four children, Eleni (b. 1995), Victor (b. 1998), Maria (b. 2000), and Nickolas (b.2009).

Career bests

Snatch: 180.5 kg 1999 in Athens in the class to 85 kg.

Clean and jerk: 215.0 kg 2000 Summer Olympics in the class to 85 kg.

Total: 392.5 kg 1996 Summer Olympics in the class to 83 kg.

Front Squat: 290.0 kg

Back Squat: 330.0 kg

Clean Pull: 250.0 kg

Deadlift: 290.0 kg

Power Snatch: 155.0 kg

Notes and references

External links

Official Homepage of Pyrros Dimas

Pyrros Dimas at Lift Up

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Himarë Category:Greek weightlifters Category:Olympic weightlifters of Greece Category:Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists for Greece Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Greece Category:Northern Epirotes Category:Olympic medalists in weightlifting

ar:بيروس ديماس ca:Pyrros Dimas de:Pyrros Dimas el:Πύρρος Δήμας es:Pyrros Dimas la:Pyrrhus Demas no:Pyrros Dimas pl:Pyrros Dimas pt:Pyrros Dimas ru:Димас, Пиррос fi:Pirros Dimas uk:Піррос Дімас