 Bhavsar in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Stephen Raj Bhavsar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1980-09-07)September 7, 1980 (age 45) Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relative | Akash Modi (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  United States(2001–2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Ohio State Buckeyes (2000–2003) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gym |
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| Head coach | Kevin Mazekia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach | Miles Avery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eponymous skills | Bhavsar (parallel bars) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | c. 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Stephen Raj Bhavsar (born September 7, 1980) is an Americanartistic gymnast. He was a member of theUnited States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed at the 2001 and 2003World Championships U.S. team. He earned a bronze medal as a member of the2008 U.S. Olympic Team. He was originally an alternate but was named to the team following the injury withdrawal ofPaul Hamm.[1] At the Games, Bhavsar earned a bronze medal with the U.S. team inArtistic Gymnastics with teammatesAlexander Artemev,Joey Hagerty,Jonathan Horton,Justin Spring, andKai Wen Tan. He was a contender for the 2004 Olympic Team and was named as an alternate.
Raj Bhavsar is aGujarati.[2] He is the son of Jyotindra and Surekha Bhavsar.[3] His father is fromVadodara,Gujarat, and his mother was born inKampala,Uganda but educated in Gujarat.[2] He was born inHouston.[4] He was raised inGreater Houston and attended Bear Creek Elementary, Wolfe Elementary, Mayde Creek Junior High, andMayde Creek High School. During this time he trained at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics under his coach Bill Foster.
Bhavsar was a member of the United States team at the2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and won a silver medal for the team all-around. He won a second silver medal for the team all-around at the2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
He attendedOhio State University and won the NCAA title with theOhio State Buckeyes men's gymnastics team. He won the All-Around at the 2002 NCAA Championships.
At the 2004 Olympic Trials, he was in contention for the U.S. Olympic Team. He was named as an alternate. In 2004 he was first in the rings in the trials, and fourth overall in the national championships, yet was passed over. In 2008 he was third in the Olympic trials and the Visa Championships and again wound up an alternate to the 6-man team. This was because his strongest events overlapped with those ofPaul Hamm andMorgan Hamm, and the team needed gymnasts who were stronger in other disciplines. After Paul Hamm was injured, Bhavsar was selected for the team and earned a bronze medal.[5]
Bhavsar was still training competitively in December 2009 to compete at the2010 Winter Cup, but he did not compete at the competition.[6][7] It was announced in 2010 that Bhavsar had retired.[8]
After achieving his goals as an Olympic gymnast, in 2010 Bhavsar started working forCirque du Soleil as an artist for their performance showIris which debuted in July 2011.[9][10] His cousin,Akash Modi, was also a member of theUnited States men's national artistic gymnastics team.
He coachedJeremy Bischoff at Waller's Gymjam Academy.[11]
Bhavsar currently has one named element on the parallel bars and one formerly named element on the rings.[12][13]
| Apparatus | Name | Description | Difficulty[a] | Added to Code of Points |
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| Parallel bars | Bhavsar | "Swing forward, straddle cut backward, and regrasp with straight body at horizontal." | E, 0.5 | 2009. Performed at the2009 Moscow World Stars[14] |
| Rings | Bhavsar | "Pull with straight body and arms through moment. front lever to swallow (2s.)." | Removed from CoP on December 31, 2021. | 2001 |
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