Igor Cassina (; born 15 August 1977) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

gymnast. He is a three-time Olympian and won gold in the men's horizontal bar 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 ...

Biography

At the

, his competition saw a crowd protest over a low score for a routine by

Alexei Nemov Alexei Yuryevich Nemov (; born 28 May 1976) is a Russian retired artistic gymnast. During his career, he won five world championships, three European championships and twelve Olympic medals. Early life Born in Barashevo, Mordovia, Alexei Nem ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, which lasted for fifteen minutes until the score was raised. Despite this atmosphere, Cassina performed his exercise without major error, and he took the gold medal over Paul Hamm of the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, even though they tied. This gold was also the 500th Italian medal at the Summer Olympics. At 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 ...

he was 4th in the man's horizontal bar. At the World Gymnastics Championships, he won the silver medal in Anaheim 2003 and the bronze in London 2009. At the European Gymnastics Championships, he won silver in Patras 2002 and Debrecen 2005 and bronze in Amsterdam 2007, always on the horizontal bar. Before winning the Olympic gold, Cassina had already made

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

history as the first to perform a giant Kovacs straight with 1/1 turn (also known as a Kõlman in the straight position), which the

International Gymnastics Federation The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...

named Cassina after him as of 2002.

Eponymous skills

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people People from Seregno Italian male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore alumni Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Sportspeople from the Province of Monza e Brianza 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-Olympic-medalist-stub