Cristiana Corsi (23 April 1976, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

– 22 February 2016) was an Italian taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the women's featherweight category. Considered one of Italy's top taekwondo players of her decade, Corsi obtained a total of nine medals in her sporting career, including a gold at the 2002 European Championships in

Samsun, Turkey Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...

, and a silver in the 59-kg division at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

Daegu, South Korea Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

. Corsi was also selected to compete for the Italian taekwondo squad in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), where she obtained a fifth-place finish in the women's featherweight category (57 kg) on each edition. Throughout her sporting career, Corsi trained for Rome Taekwondo Centre ( it, Centro TDK Roma) in her native

under Korean-born head coach and master Park Young-Gil. Corsi made her official debut 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 she competed in the women's 57-kg class. She opened her match with a more satisfactory victory over Brazil's Carmen Silva 5–2, before falling behind 1–8 on points to South Korean fighter Jung Jae-eun. Corsi granted herself a chance to compete for the Olympic bronze medal in the repechage, but she narrowly missed it in a 5–6 defeat to the Netherlands' Virginia Lourens, relegating her to fifth position. Two years later, Corsi became a European champion in

under the women's featherweight division (59 kg), after brushing aside her Russian opponent Margarita Mkrtchyan in the final. When

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

hosted the

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, Corsi chased the local favorite Kim Sae-rom for the gold, but her feat was only enough to take the silver medal. 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 ...

, Corsi qualified for her second Italian squad in the women's featherweight class (57 kg) by placing second behind South Korea's Jang Ji-won and granting a berth from the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in

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. Seeded second and one of the athletes predicted to reach the final, Corsi started her fight with a smooth 2–0 triumph over France's

Gwladys Épangue Gwladys Patience Épangue (born 15 August 1983 in Clichy-la-Garenne, France) is a French taekwondo athlete. Representing France at the 2005 World Taekwondo Championships in Madrid, she won the silver medal in the welter ...

until she was stunned in a narrow 2–3 defeat to 20-year-old American neophyte

Nia Abdallah Nia Nicole Abdallah (born January 24, 1984) is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and the first U.S. woman to officially medal in Taekwondo at the Olympic Games. In 2007, Abdallah was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame. Early life Abdall ...

during their quarterfinal match. In the repechage, Corsi secured a 5–2 lead over Russia's Margarita Mkrtchyan for another Olympic medal chance in the repechage, but ended again in fifth to match her placement from Sydney, following a 2–3 deficit to Mexico's

Iridia Salazar Iridia Salazar Blanco (born June 14, 1982) is a Mexican taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she received a bronze medal in the 57 kg class.

. She died in Rome on 22 February 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corsi, Cristiana 1976 births 2016 deaths Italian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Italy Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Rome Summer World University Games medalists in taekwondo FISU World University Games silver medalists for Italy European Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade