Jury Chechi

Jury Chechi
 Gymnast 

Jury Chechi in 2012
Personal information
Full name Jury Dimitri Chechi
Nickname(s) Lord of Rings [1]
Country represented  Italy
Born (1969-10-11) 11 October 1969
Prato, Italy
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Weight 60 kg (130 lb)[2]
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior
Club SG Etruria Prato[2]
Head coach(es) Bruno Franceschetti[3]
Retired 2004[2]

Jury Dimitri Chechi Commendatore OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈjuːri ˈkeːki]; born 11 October 1969) is a retired Italian gymnast.

Biography

Chechi was named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.[2] He won the Olympics title in the rings at Atlanta 1996 and was third at Athens 2004. Chechi's bronze was the result of his attempted comeback into the sport at the age of 35, well above what is considered the average age of a male gymnast.

Jury Chechi dominated his specialty, the rings, during the nineties, so he was named "The Lord of the Rings", however he could not participate in the Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000 Olympic games due to serious injuries. He has won five gold and two bronze medals at the World Gymnastics Championships and four gold and two bronze medals at the European Championships.[2]

Chechi was the Italian flagbearer at the opening ceremony in the Athens Games in 2004. He also participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin.

Jury sparked some controversy at the 2004 Athens Olympic games when he shook the hand of Silver medalist in the rings final, Yordan Yovchev and signaled that he should have won the gold medal, not Dimosthenis Tampakos (meaning that he won only because he was the local champion).

Honours of merit

3rd Class / Commander: Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana

— 27 September 2004. Initiative by President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.[4]

See also

References

Summer Olympics
Preceded by
Carlton Myers
Italy Flag bearer for Italy
2004 Athens
Succeeded by
Antonio Rossi
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