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Ruiz, Mark
- 2000 Olympic Games seventh place in the 3-meter, sixth place in the platform, and seventh place in platform synchronized with teammate David Pichler
- 3-meter gold medalist at the 2002 World Cup Trials, platform third place finisher
- U.S. Diving Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999
- The most decorated athlete at any U.S. nationals in history – at the 1999 U.S. Spring National Diving Championships he took first place in all three events (1-meter, 3-meter, platform), as well as the synchronized platform with Justin Dumais
- 2000 U.S. Olympic Committee Diver of the Year
- Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis said in ESPN Magazine that “Mark is a better diver technically than I was.”
- Ruiz admits to being afraid of heights and says he never intends to cliff dive despite his ease at diving off of 10-meter platforms.
- Is hypoglycemic and must eat throughout the day to keep his blood sugar levels normal.
- One of his favorite hobbies is playing golf, and he hopes to own his own golf shop one day.
- When he joined a swimming club at age nine he bought a Greg Louganis diving video and started taking ballet lessons because his coach told him that Louganis had.
Ruiz taught himself to dive by flinging himself off of tree branches and ropes in his hometown of Toa Alta in Puerto Rico. His mother, Lydia Torres, used to sneak him into hotel pools, and he first dove off of a 10-meter platform at the age of four. At just 10 years old, he made the Puerto Rico National Team for the Central America Games, and won the event two years later at age 12. That same year he moved to Orlando with his mother to train with Coach Jeff Schaffer and move forward in his dreams for Olympic gold.
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Height: 5' 9
Born: 4/9/1979
Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Resides: Orlando, Fla.
Sport: Diving
Event: 3-meter, platform
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