Enter Gerd Kanter's crazy world

He is has had a postage stamp made in his honour, he would love to be a singer and would like nothing more than his car pimped. spikesmag.com introduces you to the crazy world of Estonia’s Olympic discus champion Gerd Kanter.

So who do you think had the most memorable victory celebration at the Beijing Olympics?

Usain Bolt, sure, Yelena Isinbayeva, maybe, but here at spikesmag.com our favourite was Olympic discus champion Gerd Kanter cheekily crouching in the starting blocks and powering his giant 278-pound frame down the 100m straight on his victory lap of honour with the Estonian flag draped over his shoulders.

Kanter, as you imagine from such a quick-witted celebration, is a man at ease in the limelight.

Since his Olympic triumph he has faced a barrage of engagements in his homeland of 1.3 million people. He has met the Prime Minister, appeared regularly on TV, visited a host of schools and even had a postage stamp – ‘Gerd Kanter – Olympic champion’ with a face value of 5.50 Estonia Kroons – designed in his honour.

But there is no hint from Kanter – who happily chatted to spikesmag.com for almost an hour – that the huge demands were becoming a bore for the larger-than-life discus champion.

 “Yes, it [Estonia] is a small country and everyone is getting excited, even people who do not normally follow the sports,” says Kanter on the huge attention he has received since Beijing. “It is a very positive thing for all the nation. During such a wave of feeling you have to enjoy it. To not communicate with the media, the fans, the nation would be pointless.”

But among the hysteria surrounding his success in Beijing the 6ft 5ins Estonian picks out one stand out highlight.

“For the different [Estonian] medallists we have an old square [in Tallinn] where people carry the medal winners on their shoulders,” he said. “There are national songs [sung] it is like a really good feeling and something good for the nation.”

The awards and the accolades since Beijing have naturally followed. He was given 100,000 Euros ($130,000 USD) by his Government for winning Olympic gold and he won so many trophies he jokes “I’ll need a new house” to store all the awards.

But what has he spent his recently acquired riches on?

“The first thing I did was pay off the loan on my house and now I’m the owner of the house,” he adds proudly.
 
And should greater wealth come his way – as it inevitably will as a reigning Olympic and World champion – there is little doubt he will splash the cash on his great passion for cars.

Sponsored by BMW – he owns a BMW X5 – he explained his interest in cars began as a child where he was an avid reader of car magazines and he has retained his interest.

“I follow everything in the car industry, it is probably one of my biggest hobbies,” he explains to spikesmag.com. “I like to keep informed about new models coming out and I have a couple of dreams to buy some old cars from the 60s and 70s, like a Ford Mustang or a Chevrolet Corvette.

"But I would probably need a bigger house and a bigger garage for it. It is only a couple of centimetres from the back to fit the cars. I have bumped the back wall a couple of times when I’ve been on the phone,” he says while laughing.

So when he retires could Kanter see a future in the car industry?

“In the future I would maybe like to have a tuning shop to pimp cars,” he admits. “I am a big fan of the US version of the show [Pimp my Ride].”

But the discus champion’s natural showmanship reveals itself in many different areas.

He is currently working with Nike to have his own specially designed shoe and for a New York Times article in the wake of his Olympic success he happily chucked everything from canned sardines to cookies and compact disc players to paper planes in a Beijing park.

Yet perhaps the most revealing admission of Kanter’s colourful personality is his desire to be a singer.

“Yes, I was always dreaming of being a singer, [although] I can’t say that I’m a really good singer,” he confesses to spikesmag.com. “If I had the talent for it I would really like to be a singer. It would be something really, really different from sports. For me to hear a good voice with good soul is really touching.”

Yes, this is one discus thrower not prepared to settle for second best behind the sprinters. Gerd Kanter is one man not to be ignored.