Fabian Hambüchen (also spelled Hambuechen; ; born 25 October 1987) is a retired

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

who was an

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syst ...

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, World champion in Stuttgart 2007 on the same apparatus, as well as six times European champion on various other occasions and on different apparatus, including high bar, his most successful discipline. Apart from that, Fabian also won gold medals at

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

and at

2015 Summer Universiade The 2015 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXVIII Summer Universiade () and also known as Gwangju 2015 () was a multi-sport event for student and youth athletes sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), hel ...

. He has a full set of Olympics medals, one in each color, as he is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist on the individual

event. Since the end of his active career, he has appeared in various television productions and advertising partnerships.

Early life and education

Hambüchen was born on 25 October 1987 as the second child of Beate Hambüchen and the gymnastics coach in

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and abo ...

West-Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. His ancestors were the painters and while his cousin is the famous German publicist and lawyer . Shortly after his birth, his family moved to

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

. Fabian attended the Goetheschule Wetzlar until his

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 2007. Alongside his education he was coached by his father. In October 2012, he began studying sports management and communication at the

German Sport University Cologne The German Sport University Cologne (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln, DSHS) is a public university located in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Founded in 1947, it is the only higher education institution in Germany focused exclusively on ...

. After completing his basic studies, Hambüchen decided in 2015 to change his course of study to sport and performance, graduating in 2020.

Career

Athletic career

Hambüchen's first major senior competition was the

2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 37th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States, from 16 to 24 August 2003. Tie-breakers were not used at this competition. If two gymnasts received identical scores in the event finals, they were ...

in Anaheim. He competed 4 events in qualifications but the German team did not advance to the team final. Hambüchen was the youngest German athlete at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

where the German team placed 8th in the team event final. Individually, Hambüchen finished 23rd in the all-around and 7th in the horizontal bar individual event finals. in 2005, Hambüchen won the horizontal bar title at the 2005 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the

2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 38th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia from 21 to 27 November 2005. Only the individual all-around and event finals were contested at this meet. There was no team competition; nat ...

, Hambüchen competed 3 events in qualifications and placed 4th in the horizontal bar individual event finals.

2006

Hambüchen competed at the 2006 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where the German team placed 7th. Individually, 2005 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships placed 5th in the vault and 7th in the parallel bars individual event finals. At the

2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 39th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark, from October 13 to October 21, 2006. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, International Gymnastics Federation, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 20 ...

, Hambüchen won his first World Championship medal at the age of 18 with bronze in the all-around individual event final. He also won a bronze on vault despite having the lowest combined difficulty in the individual event final. The German team placed 7th in the team event final, with Hambüchen contributing scores on 5 events. However, Hambüchen did not qualify for the horizontal bar individual event final.

2007

In 2007, Hambüchen competed at the

2007 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2nd Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both men and women took place in Amsterdam in April 2007. Nations Participating nations included: * Albania * Belarus * Belgium * Bulgaria * Cze ...

where he won the silver medal in the all-around and won the horizontal bar individual event title, the latter for the second time. The

2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 40th World Gymnastics Championships#Artistic, World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007. Medal summary Men's results Qualification Oldest and ...

was held in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and the German team won the bronze medal in front of the home crowd, with Hambüchen contributing on 4 events. Individually, Hambüchen won the silver medal in the all-around individual event behind reigning world champion Yang Wei. He then won the gold medal in the horizontal bar individual event final, becoming world champion on that event. In the vault individual event final, he placed 5th. In 2007, he was named the

German Sportspersonality of the Year The German Sportspersonality of the Year () has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, a ...

2008

At the 2008 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German team won the silver medal, with Hambüchen contributing on 5 events. He qualified for 4 individual event finals, winning the bronze medal on floor, placing 5th on both vault and parallel bars, and defending his European title on the horizontal bar, making it his second consecutive European title on that event and third overall. Going into 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 ...

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 ...

, Hambüchen was considered the favourite for the horizontal bar title and a strong contender for an all-around medal. He qualified to 4 individual event finals including second into the all-around and was the top qualifier for the horizontal bar. The German team placed 4th in the team event final, with Hambüchen contributing scores on 5 events. However in the all-around individual event final, Hambüchen fell on the horizontal bar and placed 7th. He then placed 4th in the floor and parallel bars individual event finals. He then won his first Olympic Medal with a bronze in the horizontal bar individual event final.

2009

At the

2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 3rd Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, men and European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, women were held in Milan, Italy, on 29 March to 5 April 2009. ...

, Hambüchen won the individual all-around title and the floor title. He also placed 7th in the vault and won the bronze medal in parallel bars individual event finals. He did not qualify for the high bar individual event final. Hambüchen had to pull out of the

2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 Arena in London from 12 to 18 October 2009. Similar to the 2005 World Championships, there were no team competitions. Individual all-around and event finals were contested. C ...

due to an injury to his foot. He was considered a frontrunner for the all-around and horizontal bar titles.Injury knocks all-around favorite from gym worlds
Associated Press, 2009-10-12

2010

At the 2010 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen contributed scores on 5 events towards the German team winning the European title. Individually, he placed 8th in the rings individual event final, and tied for the bronze medal with his teammate

Philipp Boy Philipp Boy (born 23 July 1987 in Schwedt, East Germany) is a former Germany, German gymnast. He was a member of the 2007 and 2010 World bronze medal winning teams. In addition, he won back-to-back silver medals in the World All Around competit ...

in the horizontal bar individual event final. At the

2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnast ...

, Hambüchen did not compete in the all-around due to an injured Achilles tendon, but he contributed scores on 3 events to the German team's bronze medal. He also qualified to the parallel bars individual event final, placing 4th, and the horizontal bar individual event fina where he won the bronze medal.

2011

In January 2011, Hambüchen tore his Achilles tendon, which kept him out of competition at the

2011 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 4th Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both Men and Women was held in Berlin, Germany from 4 April 2011 until 10 April 2011. The event was held at the Max-Schmeling-Halle. 157 male gymnasts from 39 countries with and ...

in Berlin. He recovered in time for the

2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Féd� ...

where he once again contributed scores on 5 events in the team event final, and Germany finished 5th. He competed all 6 events in qualifications but did not advance to the all-around individual event final due to the rule that only 2 gymnasts from each country can advance to an individual event final, as

and

Marcel Nguyen Marcel Van Minh Phuc Long Nguyen (born 8 September 1987) is a retired German artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian, having represented Germany at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic Games. He is the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the all-aro ...

both qualified ahead of Hambüchen. He qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final where he placed 4th.

2012

In 2012, Hambüchen once again missed the European Championships, as he wanted to focus on preparation for the Olympics. 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he qualified 3rd into the all-round and 4th into the horizontal bar individual event final. He contributed scores on 5 events to the German team's 7th place finish. However, he had multiple large mistakes in the all-around individual event final, once again including a fall from the horizontal bar, finishing in 15th place. In the horizontal bar individual event final, he won his second Olympic medal, winning the silver behind

Epke Zonderland Epke Jan Zonderland (born 16 April 1986) is a Dutch artistic gymnast and the 2012 Olympic gold medallist on high bar. He is a 4-time Olympian (2008–20) and has also taken 3 World Championships golds on high bar at the 2013, 2014 and 2018 Wo ...

of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

2013

At the

2013 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 5th Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both men and women were held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, from 17 to 21 April 2013. Medal winners Men's results Individual all-around Floor exercise ...

, Hambüchen qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final but placed 6th after a fall. In July, he compete at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (; ), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated ...

where the German team placed 4th. Hambüchen won the silver medal in the all-around behind Russian

Nikolai Kuksenkov Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov (, ; born 2 June 1989) is a retired Russian gymnast who won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed for Ukraine for many years and moved to Russia after the 2012 Summer Olympics in Lo ...

, beating 2013 European Champion

David Belyavskiy David Sagitovich Belyavskiy ( rus, Давид Сагитович Белявский, , dɐˈvʲid bʲɪˈlʲafskʲɪɪ̯; born 23 February 1992) is a Russian artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian, representing Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympi ...

. He also won silver in the floor individual event final behind Japan's Ryohei Kato. He competed at the

2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 6 October 2013 at Antwerp's Sports Palace. Kōhei Uchimura won the men's individual all-around gold medal, and finished the competition with fou ...

where he won the bronze medal in the all-around individual event final. He also finished in 7th place in the floor and won a silver medal in the horizontal bar individual event finals, once again in a close battle behind Zonderland.

2014

At the 2014 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German team finished in 4th, with Hambüchen once again contributing scores on 5 events to the team total. He qualified in second to the horizontal bar individual event final, but had a bad fall during the final and did not finish his routine, ending up in 8th place. At the

2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Nanning, China at the Guangxi Gymnasium from 3–12 October 2014. The competition was the fourth time a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships has been held in the continent of Asia. ...

, the German team finished in 8th place. Hambüchen also finished in 8th place in the all-around individual event final but did not qualify to the horizontal bar individual event final after falling in qualifications.

2015

Hambüchen did not compete in the

2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 6th European European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Men's and European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships was held from 15 to 19 April 2015 at the Park&Suites Arena in M ...

. In June, he competed at the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

where he finished 5th in the all-around and won the gold medal on the horizontal bar individual event finals. In July, he competed at the

where he won the gold medal on the horizontal bar individual event final. At the

2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the 46th edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from 23 October – 1 November 2015 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and is the first time ...

the German team did not qualify for the team final, and therefore missed automatic qualification for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Hambüchen qualified to the all-around individual event final in 27th place but withdrew due to illness. He also qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final in 4th place, but finished in 7th after executing a poor routine.

2016

Hambüchen was unable to compete for the first half of 2016 due to a shoulder injury. He was unable to compete in the Olympic test event where the German team secured their place for the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Hambüchen returned to competition on three events (floor, vault and the horizontal bar) at the German Olympic trials. At the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, the German team placed seventh in the team final, with Hambüchen contributing on 3 events. He qualified in 1st place for the horizontal bar individual event final where he won his third Olympic medal and first Olympic gold, becoming the Olympic horizontal bar champion. With an Olympic gold medal in 2016, Hambüchen has completed the full collection set of horizontal bar medals in each colour at separate Olympics, improving his standings every subsequent four years from a bronze medal at the

2008 Beijing 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 ...

, then a silver medal at the

2012 London 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 ...

, and finally to the gold medal at the

. Hambüchen retired after the

, stating that his Olympic title was "a dream come true". He was inducted into the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IG ...

in 2022.

Remaining career

In 2010 he published his autobiography ''Fabian Hambüchen – Die Autobiografie''. Outside of his active career, Hambüchen has appeared in various

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s and as a expert in

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

s. Since the end of his active career, he has worked as a gymnastics expert for the ARD. He accompanied the coverage of the

Pyeongchang 2018 The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

and

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

as well as the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

as an expert, reporter and presenter for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

. In addition, he actively tried out numerous Olympic sports himself, such as

canoe slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a Spraydeck, decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on Whitewater, river rapids in the fastest time pos ...

, in the TV series ''Hambüchen Challenge''. He collaboreates together with the Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs as an advocate for adult literacy education and is called the "Hessen's

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

for literacy".

Personal life

In July 2022, he married fitness trainer Viktoria Diesterbeck, whom he met in 2020. He currently lives in

. Because of his short height he has been nicknamed "Turnfloh" (meaning "gymnastics flea").

Competitive History

Works

Books

* 2010: ''Fabian Hambüchen – Die Autobiografie'' (ISBN 978-3-89602-948-5)

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambuchen, Fabian 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Bergisch Gladbach German male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic gymnasts for Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in gymnastics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in gymnastics European Games gold medalists for Germany European Games silver medalists for Germany Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Germany FISU World University Games silver medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade European champions in gymnastics 21st-century German sportsmen