Vincenzo Maenza (born 2 May 1962) is an

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

Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two gold medals and a silver medal at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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, and 1992

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Career

Nicknamed "Pollicino" (Thumbelin) for his small size, Vincenzo Maenza is considered the best wrestler in the Italian history. In fact, he is the first and only Italian wrestler who has won three Olympic medals, and he was also the first and only who was able to win two gold medals. When was a child, Vincenzo weighed only 60 lbs and was affected by scoliosis. He started to wrestle at 12 years old at the CISA AUDAX wrestling club in Faenza. He began to compete in 1976. Soon he became National Champion several times and in 1979 won the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games in

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. The next year he competed in the Summer Olympics in Moscow and placed 7th. After he won the bronze medal at Junior European Championship and the gold medal at the Junior World Championship, in 1984 Vincenzo became Olympic champion for the first time at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

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. In the final, he defeated German wrestler Markus Scherer in 1:59 with an awesome 12-0 score. The 1987 was a golden year for the Italian wrestler. He became European Champion and silver medalist at World Championship. A year later, at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

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, Vincenzo won the gold medal for the second time, after defeated the strong Bulgarian wrestler Bratan Tsenov in the semifinal match and Andrzej Głąb of Poland in the final match. In 1992, at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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, he arrived at the final match and won the silver medal, after was defeated by the Soviet wrestler Oleg Kutscherenko, who was ten years younger than he. At the end of his career, Vincenzo Maenza's awards included: 3 Olympic Medals (two golds and one silver), 1 time European champion and 2 times bronze medalist, 1 time silver medalist and 2 times bronze medalist at the World Championships, 2 times gold medalist and 1 time bronze medalist at the Mediterranean Games. In 2005, Vincenzo Maenza was inducted in the FILA International Wrestling Hall Of Fame. Today, Vincenzo lives in Faenza with his family.

Athletic achievements

* 1978 - 2nd at MEC Tournament in the Netherlands * 1979 - Mediterranean Games (Split) silver medalist * 1981 - European Championship (Bursa) bronze medalist * 1982 - World Championship (Caracas) gold medalist * 1983 - Mediterranean Games (Casablanca) gold medalist * 1984 - Summer Olympic Games (Los Angeles) gold medalist * 1984 - 1st at CEE Athens Cup * 1984 - European Championship (Sweden) bronze medalist * 1985 - World Super Championship (Tokyo) gold medalist * 1986 - European Championship (Athens) bronze medalist * 1987 - European Championship (Tampere) gold medalist * 1987 - Mediterranean Games (Syria) gold medalist * 1987 - World Championship (France) silver medalist * 1988 - Summer Olympic Games (Seoul) gold medalist * 1989 - 2nd at World Festival (Colorado) * 1991 - Mediterranean Games bronze medalist * 1992 - Summer Olympic Games (Barcelona) silver medalist Medal of Honor and Sport Merit

Quotes

He said about wrestling:

Trivia

* Vincenzo loves

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

; his favourite singers are

Edoardo Bennato Edoardo Bennato (born 23 July 1946, Naples, Campania, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is the brother of the singer-songwriter Eugenio Bennato. He is considered one of the greatest Italian rockers, a genre that he has often combined wi ...

and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

. * He likes Sylvester Stallone's films. * His favourite football team is

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnell ...

* He likes to read comic books.

External links

*
Profile
in the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Maenza, Vincenzo 1962 births Living people People from Imola Italian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Italy Wrestlers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists World Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Bologna