Fabian Hambüchen (also spelled Hambuechen; ; born 25 October 1987) is a retired German

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

who was a four-time Olympian (

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 6 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) and was Olympic, World, and European champion. Fabian also won gold medals at

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...

and at

2015 Summer Universiade ) , Nations participating = 143 , Athletes participating = 12,885 , Events = 272 in 21 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Park Geun-hye , Athlete's Oath = Kim Seong-yeon and Kim Kuk-young , Judge's Oath = K ...

. He has a full set of Olympics medals, one in each colour, as he is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist on the individual

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

event. He became World champion on horizontal bar in 2007 Stuttgart.

Personal life

Hambüchen was born 25 October 1987 in

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx. 10 kilometers east of ...

. He lives in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

. His was coached by his father Wolfgang Hambüchen. His ancestors were painters Georg Hambüchen and his father Wilhelm Hambüchen while his cousin is famous German publicist and lawyer Ulrich Hambüchen.

Career

Hambüchen's first major senior competition was the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim. He competed 4 events in qualifications but the German team did not advance to the team final. Hambüchen was the youngest German athlete 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 ...

where the German team placed 8th in the team event final. Individually, Hambüchen finished 23rd in the all-around and 7th in the horizontal bar individual event finals. in 2005, Hambüchen won the horizontal bar title at the 2005 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the

2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 38th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia from 21 to 27 November 2005. Only the all-around and event finals were contested at this meet. There was no team competition; nations were p ...

, Hambüchen competed 3 events in qualifications and placed 4th in the horizontal bar individual event finals.

2006

Hambüchen competed at the 2006 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where the German team placed 7th. Individually, 2005 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships placed 5th in the vault and 7th in the parallel bars individual event finals. At the

2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 39th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark, from October 13 to October 21, 2006. The International Gymnastics Federation, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006, introduced a new Code of Points at the ...

, Hambüchen won his first World Championship medal at the age of 18 with bronze in the all-around individual event final. He also won a bronze on vault despite having the lowest combined difficulty in the individual event final. The German team placed 7th in the team event final, with Hambüchen contributing scores on 5 events. However, Hambüchen did not qualify for the horizontal bar individual event final.

2007

In 2007, Hambüchen competed at the

2007 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2nd Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both men and women took place in Amsterdam in April 2007. Nations Participating nations included: * Albania * Belarus * Belgium * Bulgaria * Cze ...

where he won the silver medal in the all-around and won the horizontal bar individual event title, the latter for the second time. The

2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar r ...

was held in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and the German team won the bronze medal in front of the home crowd, with Hambüchen contributing on 4 events. Individually, Hambüchen won the silver medal in the all-around individual event behind reigning world champion Yang Wei. He then won the gold medal in the horizontal bar individual event final, becoming world champion on that event. In the vault individual event final, he placed 5th. In 2007, he was named the

German Sportspersonality of the Year The German Sportspersonality of the Year has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, a ...

2008

At the 2008 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German team won the silver medal, with Hambüchen contributing on 5 events. He qualified for 4 individual event finals, winning the bronze medal on floor, placing 5th on both vault and parallel bars, and defending his European title on the horizontal bar, making it his second consecutive European title on that event and third overall. Going into the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

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 ...

, Hambüchen was considered the favourite for the horizontal bar title and a strong contender for an all-around medal. He qualified to 4 individual event finals including second into the all-around and was the top qualifier for the horizontal bar. The German team placed 4th in the team event final, with Hambüchen contributing scores on 5 events. However in the all-around individual event final, Hambüchen fell on the horizontal bar and placed 7th. He then placed 4th in the floor and parallel bars individual event finals. He then won his first Olympic Medal with a bronze in the horizontal bar individual event final.

2009

At the

2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 3rd Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both men and women were held in Milan, Italy, on 29 March to 5 April 2009. Medal winners Men's Individual all-around Finals Floor Pommel horse Rings Vault ...

, Hambüchen won the individual all-around title and the floor title. He also placed 7th in the vault and won the bronze medal in parallel bars individual event finals. He did not qualify for the high bar individual event final. Hambüchen had to pull out of the

2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 Arena in London from 12 to 18 October 2009. Similar to the 2005 World Championships, there were no team competitions. Individual all-around and event finals were contested. C ...

due to an injury to his foot. He was considered a frontrunner for the all-around and horizontal bar titles.

2010

At the 2010 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen contributed scores on 5 events towards the German team winning the European title. Individually, he placed 8th in the rings individual event final, and tied for the bronze medal with his teammate

Philipp Boy Philipp Boy (born 23 July 1987 in Schwedt, East Germany) is a former German gymnast. He was a member of the 2007 and 2010 World bronze medal winning teams. In addition, he won back-to-back silver medals in the World All Around competition (20 ...

in the horizontal bar individual event final. At the

2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts ...

, Hambüchen did not compete in the all-around due to an injured Achilles tendon, but he contributed scores on 3 events to the German team's bronze medal. He also qualified to the parallel bars individual event final, placing 4th, and the horizontal bar individual event fina where he won the bronze medal.

2011

In January 2011, Hambüchen tore his Achilles tendon, which kept him out of competition at the

2011 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 4th Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both Men and Women was held in Berlin, Germany from 4 April 2011 until 10 April 2011. The event was held at the Max-Schmeling-Halle. 157 male gymnasts from 39 countries with and 86 ...

in Berlin. He recovered in time for the

2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Inte ...

where he once again contributed scores on 5 events in the team event final, and Germany finished 5th. He competed all 6 events in qualifications but did not advance to the all-around individual event final due to the rule that only 2 gymnasts from each country can advance to an individual event final, as

and

Marcel Nguyen Marcel Van Minh Phuc Long Nguyen (born 8 September 1987) is a German artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian, having represented Germany at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic Games. He is the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and on ...

both qualified ahead of Hambüchen. He qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final where he placed 4th.

2012

In 2012, Hambüchen once again missed the European Championships, as he wanted to focus on preparation for the Olympics. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, he qualified 3rd into the all-round and 4th into the horizontal bar individual event final. He contributed scores on 5 events to the German team's 7th place finish. However, he had multiple large mistakes in the all-around individual event final, once again including a fall from the horizontal bar, finishing in 15th place. In the horizontal bar individual event final, he won his second Olympic medal, winning the silver behind

Epke Zonderland Epke Jan Zonderland (born 16 April 1986) is a Dutch artistic gymnast and the 2012 Olympic gold medallist on high bar. He is a 4-time Olympian (2008–20) and has also taken 3 World Championships golds on high bar at the 2013, 2014 and 2018 W ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2013

At the

2013 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 5th Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for both men and women were held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, from 17 to 21 April 2013. Medal winners Men's results Individual all-around Floor exercise Po ...

, Hambüchen qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final but placed 6th after a fall. In July, he compete at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

where the German team placed 4th. Hambüchen won the silver medal in the all-around behind Russian

Nikolai Kuksenkov Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov (russian: Николай Юльевич Куксенков, uk, Микола Юлійович Куксенков; born 2 June 1989) is a retired Russian gymnast who won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Su ...

, beating 2013 European Champion

David Belyavskiy David Sagitovich Belyavskiy ( rus, Давид Сагитович Белявский, , dɐˈvʲid bʲɪˈlʲafskʲɪɪ̯; born 23 February 1992) is a Russian artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian, representing Russia in 2012 and 2016 and RO ...

. He also won silver in the floor individual event final behind Japan's Ryohei Kato. He competed at the

2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 6 October 2013 at Antwerp's Sports Palace. Kōhei Uchimura won the men's all-around gold medal and finished the competition with four total med ...

where he won the bronze medal in the all-around individual event final. He also finished in 7th place in the floor and won a silver medal in the horizontal bar individual event finals, once again in a close battle behind Zonderland.

2014

At the 2014 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German team finished in 4th, with Hambüchen once again contributing scores on 5 events to the team total. He qualified in second to the horizontal bar individual event final, but had a bad fall during the final and did not finish his routine, ending up in 8th place. At the

2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Nanning, China at the Guangxi Gymnasium from 3–12 October 2014. The competition was the fourth time a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships has been held in the continent of Asia. ...

, the German team finished in 8th place. Hambüchen also finished in 8th place in the all-around individual event final but did not qualify to the horizontal bar individual event final after falling in qualifications.

2015

Hambüchen did not compete in the

2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 6th European European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Men's and European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships was held from 15 to 19 April 2015 at the Park&Suites Arena in Mon ...

. In June, he competed at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

where he finished 5th in the all-around and won the gold medal on the horizontal bar individual event finals. In July, he competed at the

where he won the gold medal on the horizontal bar individual event final. At the

2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the forty-sixth edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from 23 October – 1 November 2015 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and is the fir ...

the German team did not qualify for the team final, and therefore missed automatic qualification for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Hambüchen qualified to the all-around individual event final in 27th place but withdrew due to illness. He also qualified to the horizontal bar individual event final in 4th place, but finished in 7th after executing a poor routine.

2016

Hambüchen was unable to compete for the first half of 2016 due to a shoulder injury. He was unable to compete in the Olympic test event where the German team secured their place for the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. Hambüchen returned to competition on three events (floor, vault and the horizontal bar) at the German Olympic trials. At the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, the German team placed seventh in the team final, with Hambüchen contributing on 3 events. He qualified in 1st place for the horizontal bar individual event final where he won his third Olympic medal and first Olympic gold, becoming the Olympic horizontal bar champion. With an Olympic gold medal in 2016, Hambüchen has completed the full collection set of horizontal bar medals in each colour at separate Olympics, improving his standings every subsequent four years from a bronze medal at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, then a silver medal at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and finally to the gold medal at the

. Hambüchen retired after the

, stating that his Olympic title was "a dream come true". He was inducted into the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IGHO ...

in 2022.

Competitive History

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambuchen, Fabian 1987 births Living people People from Bergisch Gladbach Sportspeople from Cologne (region) German male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic gymnasts of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in gymnastics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in gymnastics European Games gold medalists for Germany European Games silver medalists for Germany Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade gold medalists for Germany Universiade silver medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade European champions in gymnastics