Carlos Mauricio "Camau" Espínola (born 5 October 1971) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

windsurf Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

er and politician. He served as Mayor of

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

from 2009 to 2013 and is a National Senator since 2015.

Sailing career

Nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d ''Camau'', Espínola was born in

and started training at the ''Club Náutico de La Totora'' in his home province. He obtained his first important award, a silver medal, during the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

held in 1991 in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

in 1995, Espínola obtained the gold medal. A year later he won the silver medal at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

; he would win a silver medal at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 1998, he won the gold medal in the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an windsurf Championship held in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Espínola then decided to change category, from Mistral (windsurf) to

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

, with

Santiago Lange Santiago Raúl Lange Roberti (born September 22, 1961 in San Isidro, Argentina) is an Argentine Olympic sailor and a naval architect. Sailing career He studied Naval Architecture at Southampton College of Higher Education (now known as Solent U ...

he got a bronze medal 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 ...

, and then again 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 ...

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 ...

, becoming the Argentine sportsman with most Olympic medals (this record of four medals was equalled in 2012 by

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player

Luciana Aymar Luciana Paula Aymar (; born 10 August 1977) is an Argentine retired field hockey player. She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times, and is considered the best female hockey player of all time. In ...

). He is also the only sportsperson who had the honor of being the flag bearer for Argentina in two

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

(

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

in Sydney and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

in Athens). In 1996, Carlos received the Gold Olimpia Award as the best athlete of the year from his country. He won the Platinum

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The p ...

two times, in 2000 and 2010, as the best sailor from the each decade in Argentina.

Political career

In April 2009, Espínola announced he was a candidate for the office of Mayor of Corrientes, on the ticket of Fabián Ríos,

Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...

candidate for Governor of

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

. He was elected as mayor of his native city on 13 September, and on 10 December he took office. He is a member of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

(

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

) and of the

(

Kirchnerist Kirchnerism ( ) is an Argentine political movement based on ideals formed by the supporters of spouses Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Although considered a branch of Peron ...

), the Peronist faction and alliance led by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

. Espínola was nominated as the Front for Victory candidate for governor ahead of the September 2013 elections in Corrientes. He was defeated by incumbent Governor

Ricardo Colombi Ricardo Colombi (born August 30, 1957) is an Argentine lawyer and politician elected Governor of Corrientes Province in 2009. Life and times Ricardo Horacio Colombi was born in Mercedes, a Corrientes Province agricultural and cattle ranching hub ...

of the centrist UCR, however, by a 51-to-46% margin; Espínola was succeeded as mayor by fellow Front for Victory lawmaker Fabián Ríos. In 2015, Espínola was elected Senator.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinola, Carlos 1971 births Living people Argentine windsurfers Argentine male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Argentina Olympic silver medalists for Argentina Olympic bronze medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Lechner A-390 Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Mistral One Design Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Mistral One Design Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Tornado Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Tornado Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games gold medalists in sailing Pan American Games silver medalists in sailing Sailors at the 1991 Pan American Games Sailors at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Tornado class world champions World champions in sailing for Argentina Argentine sportsperson-politicians People from Corrientes Mayors of Corrientes Justicialist Party politicians Members of the Argentine Senate for Corrientes 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen