Girolamo Giovinazzo

Girolamo Giovinazzo at the reception of the Italian President for the successful 2000 Olympic team

Girolamo Giovinazzo (born September 10, 1968 in Rome ) is a former Italian judoka . He won two Olympic medals and was European champion in 1994.

Athletic career

The 1.70 m tall Giovinazzo competed in the super light weight category up to 60 kilograms until 1997. In 1986 he was fifth in the European Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships. In 1987 he won a bronze medal at the Mediterranean Games , in 1988 he was European Junior Champion. In 1989 Giovinazzo won his first Italian championship title. At the military world championships in 1989 he won a bronze medal. In 1991 he won his first world cup tournament in Prague and won the Mediterranean Games. In 1992 he won the Tournoi de Paris and the World Military Championships, followed by his second victory at the Mediterranean Games in 1993. At the European Championships in 1994 he reached the final with four wins and then won against Nazim Hüseynov from Azerbaijan. A month later, the Guardia di Finanza won the military world championships. At the European Championships in 1995 Giovinazzo lost in the semifinals to Georgi Wasagaschwilli from Georgia , but won the battle for the bronze medal against Arnit Lang from Israel. A year later he was already defeated by Wasagaschwilli in the quarterfinals, but again won the bronze medal.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , he won in the first round against Wasagaschwilli by Waza-ari. With Ippon victories over the Frenchman Franck Chambilly , the Mexican Ricardo Acuna and the German Richard Trautmann , Giovinazzo reached the final, in which he lost to the Japanese Tadahiro Nomura after 27 seconds. In 1997 the Italian lost in the semi-finals of the European Championships against the French Yacine Douma , but won the battle for bronze. A month and a half later, he won the Mediterranean Games.

In 1998 Girolamo Giovinazzo switched to half-light weight, the weight class up to 66 kilograms. In 1999 he reached the final of the European Championships , but was defeated by the French Larbi Benboudaoud . In August 1999 he won the World Military Games. At the European Championships in 2000 he was defeated in the first round against Jarosław Lewak from Poland , but won a bronze medal with four wins in the round of hope. In his last big competition at the Olympic Games in Sydney he lost in the semifinals to Larbi Benboudaoud, in the battle for the bronze medal he defeated the Iranian Ārash Miresmāeli .

Italian championship title

Super light weight: 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
Half light weight: 1999

Web links

Girolamo Giovinazzo at JudoInside.com
Girolamo Giovinazzo in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-328-00830-6 . P. 753f4
↑ According to the Olympic database sportsreference.com, the Japanese Yukimasa Nakamura was Giovinazzo's opponent in the battle for bronze. According to the same database, however, Nakamura was in seventh place, so he had lost the fight against the Iranian Ārash Miresmāeli, who later came fifth.

personal data
SURNAME	Giovinazzo, Girolamo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian judoka
DATE OF BIRTH	September 10, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rome

[1] Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-328-00830-6 . P. 753f4

[2] According to the Olympic database sportsreference.com, the Japanese Yukimasa Nakamura was Giovinazzo's opponent in the battle for bronze. According to the same database, however, Nakamura was in seventh place, so he had lost the fight against the Iranian Ārash Miresmāeli, who later came fifth.