Carlo Massimino (born 14 May 1976 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) is an Australian taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the men's featherweight category. He captured a bronze medal in the 67-kg division at the

2002 Asian Taekwondo Championships The 2002 Asian Taekwondo Championships are the 15th edition of the Asian Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Amman, Jordan from April 26 to April 28, 2002. South Korea dominated the competition, winning twelve gold medals. Medal summary ...

Amman, Jordan Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

, and represented his nation

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Before his sporting career ended in late 2004, Massimino trained full-time for Hall's Taekwondo Academy in

, under head coach and master Martin Hall. Massimino made his official debut, as part of the home nation squad, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he competed in the men's featherweight class (68 kg). He handily defeated Spain's Francisco Zas by a marginal judging decision in his opening match, before bowing out in a 1–1 draw to U.S. taekwondo jin and eventual Olympic champion

Steven López Steven López (born November 9, 1978) is an American taekwondo competitor, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist (in the -68 and -80 kg divisions, respectively) and a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist (again in the -80 kg division) and 4th ...

. Spurred on by the noise of his Aussie fans, Massimino redeemed himself from a premature exit to edge past Italy's Claudio Nolano 9–7, but came to a dramatic halt with a narrow 5–6 defeat to Iran's

Hadi Saei Hadi Saei ( fa, هادی ساعی, born June 10, 1976) is an Iranian councilor and former taekwondo athlete who became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history and the most titled champion in this sport by winning 9 world class titl ...

in the repechage round, relegating Massimino to fifth. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Massimino qualified for his second Aussie team in the men's featherweight class (68 kg), by placing second behind Iran's

and granting a berth from the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...

. Massimino opened his match with a more satisfying 7–2 victory over Tunisia's Mohamed Omrani in the prelims, before he was dangerously beaten by Guatemalan fighter and two-time Olympian

Gabriel Sagastume José Gabriel Sagastume Ríos (born January 5, 1982, in Guatemala City) is a Guatemalan taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the men's featherweight category. He picked up a gold medal in Panam taekwondo championships in Oranjsted, Aruba in 2 ...

in the quarterfinal match 4–5. With Sagastume losing the semifinal to Chinese Taipei's

Huang Chih-hsiung Huang Chih-hsiung (; born 16 October 1976 in Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan) is a Taiwanese athlete. Representing the Republic of China (as Chinese Taipei) in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal at the Men's 68 kg Tae ...

, Massimino denied his opportunity to compete in the repechage rounds. Shortly after his second Olympics, Massimino firmly made his decision to retire from competitive taekwondo, and focus instead on fulfilling his dream of opening up a taekwondo centre in honor of his name, which progressively became one of Australia's fastest growing sport academies.

References

External links

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Australian Olympic Team Bio
1976 births Living people Australian male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Australia Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Brisbane People from Essendon, Victoria Asian Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Australian people {{Taekwondo-bio-stub