Andrea Minguzzi (born 1 February 1982) is an Italian

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

wrestler. He won a gold medal in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Biography

Minguzzi was born on 1 February 1982 in

Castel San Pietro Terme Castel San Pietro Terme ( Eastern Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with about 21,000 inhabitants. It is located along the Roman '' Via Emilia'', at the foot o ...

. His father was also a wrestler in the 1970s. He began his club career in the US Placci Bubano of Mordano. After moving to the Club Atletico CISA of

Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...

, he was coached by Olympic champion Vincenzo Maenza. Since 2004 he competed under the

Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro The Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro is the sport section of the Italian police force Polizia di Stato. The color of the competition jerseys of the athletes of the Fiamme Oro is crimson, therefore the athletes of the sports group are sometimes called ...

, the sports group of the ''

Polizia di Stato The (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national Law enforcement in Italy, police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agen ...

''. He won a team title in 2006 and 10 individual titles from 2000 to 2013 at the Italian Championships. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Minguzzi won a bronze medal at the

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

. At the

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Minguzzi defeated

Mélonin Noumonvi Mélonin Noumonvi (born 10 October 1982 in Paris) is a French Greco-Roman (under 84 kg) wrestler. At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, he lost to the eventual champion Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in the round of 16 and lost the bronze medal bout t ...

(France) in the first turn, the former Olympic Champion and current World Champion Aleksey Mishin (Russia) in the quarterfinals,

Ara Abrahamian Ara Abrahamian (; born 27 July 1975) is an Armenian- Swedish wrestler in Greco-Roman wrestling. He has won two World Championships in the 76 kg and 84 kg weight classes and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 84 kg w ...

(Sweden) by controversial judging in the semifinals, and Zoltán Fodor (Hungary) in the final match. He won the gold medal and became the first Italian Olympic Champion in wrestling in 20 years after his teacher Maenza. Abrahamian and the Swedish coach Leo Mylläri disputed the judges' ruling. Mylläri accused the judges of corruption because they initially awarded Abrahamian a point, but after the round they assigned the point and the match to Minguzzi because Abrahamian had his hand in the blue zone. Normally, having a hand in the blue zone is not penalized. Minguzzi had almost his whole body in the blue zone earlier in this match. Therefore, the Swedes demanded a video review of the match, but the referees refused to review the recording of the incidents nor consider the written Swedish protest. During the medal ceremony, Abrahamian, who won a bronze medal in the repechage, stepped off the podium and placed the medal in the center of the wrestling mat and left. Abrahamian later stated the corrupt judges had been bribed, and pointed out that the judge through marriage is related to

Raphaël Martinetti Raphaël Martinetti is a Swiss businessman and was the president of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) from 2002 to 2013. He was elected to this position in 2002, succeeding Milan Ercegan from Yugoslavia. Previous ...

, the President of

FILA Fila (; ) is a South Korean-owned athleisure brand headquartered in Seoul. The company was originally founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Italy. Fila Korea acquired the brand in 2007 and launched its initial p ...

, the governing body of wrestling. The next year Minguzzi won a silver medal at the June 26, 2009 at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the International Committee of Mediterran ...

. He was unable to qualify to participate at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Awards

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(1 September 2008, Rome) * Golden Collar for Sporting Merit

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minguzzi, Andrea 1982 births Living people Italian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Italy Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers of Fiamme Oro European Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from Castel San Pietro Terme 21st-century Italian sportsmen