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

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 aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing g ...

er and politician. He served as Mayor of

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, 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 ha ...

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

Sailing career

Nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

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 held in 1991 in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. In the following games, held in Mar del Plata in 1995, Espínola obtained the gold medal. A year later he won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

; he would win a silver medal at the

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 ...

in Sydney. In 1998, he won the gold medal in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an windsurf Championship held in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. Espínola then decided to change category, from

Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...

(windsurf) to

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the 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, altho ...

, with Santiago Lange he got a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

, and then again in the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

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

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

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 she is considered as the best female hockey player of all ti ...

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

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

in Sydney and 2004 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 pur ...

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 ( es, Frente para la Victoria, 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 we ...

candidate for Governor of

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

. 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 ( Peronist) and of the

( Kirchnerist), 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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

. 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 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.

External Links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinola, Carlos 1971 births Living people Argentine windsurfers Argentine male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors of Argentina Olympic silver medalists for Argentina Olympic bronze medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics 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 Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Argentine sportsperson-politicians Mayors of Corrientes Justicialist Party politicians People from Corrientes Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Members of the Argentine Senate for Corrientes Pan American Games medalists in sailing Tornado class world champions World champions in sailing for Argentina Sailors at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games