Vanessa Ferrari

Vanessa Ferrari (born 10 November 1990) is an Italian artistic gymnast. She was the 2006 World All-Around Champion and competed for Italy at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Vanessa Ferrari
Ferrari in 2013
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Tiny Dynamo; The Cannibal[1]
Country represented	Italy
Born	November 10, 1990 Orzinuovi, Brescia
Hometown	Genivolta, Cremona
Height	146 cm (4 ft 9 in)
Weight	44 kg (97 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international elite
Years on national team	2002–Present (ITA)
Club	Brixia Brescia & Centro Sportivo Esercito
Head coach(es)	Enrico Casella
Music	Nessun Dorma (2006–2009, 2016) Asi Se Baila El Tango (2010) Triangle Tango (2011–2012) Angel and Devil (2012) Tangled Up (2013-2014)
Eponymous skills	Floor Exercise
Medal record Representing  Italy Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 1 1 3 European Championships 4 2 1 Mediterranean Games 8 1 1 FIG All-Around World Cup 1 0 2 FIG World Cup 1 0 2 FIG World Challenge Cup 3 0 1 Total 18 4 10 World Championships 2006 Aarhus All-around 2013 Antwerp Floor exercise 2006 Aarhus Uneven bars 2006 Aarhus Floor exercise 2007 Stuttgart All-around European Championships 2006 Volos Team 2007 Amsterdam All-around 2007 Amsterdam Floor exercise 2014 Sofia Floor exercise 2006 Volos Floor exercise 2009 Milan Floor exercise 2012 Brussels Team Mediterranean Games 2005 Almería Team 2005 Almería All-around 2005 Almería Vault 2005 Almería Balance beam 2005 Almería Floor exercise 2013 Mersin Team 2013 Mersin All-around 2013 Mersin Floor exercise 2005 Almería Uneven bars 2013 Mersin Balance beam

Personal information

Ferrari was born on 10 November 1990 in Orzinuovi. Her mother, Galya, is Bulgarian,[2] and her father, Giovanni, is Italian.[1] In 2006, she received the Golden Collar for sporting merit from the Italian National Olympic Committee.[3]

Junior career

2004

Ferrari first rose to prominence as a 13-year-old at the 2004 Junior European Championships where she won the silver medal in the all around competition with a score of 36.525. She also won two bronze medals with the Italian team and on the balance beam with a score of 9.175.[4]

2005

Still in the junior ranks for 2005, Ferrari turned in more fine performances at the European Youth Olympics in Italy and the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería, Spain, winning the all around gold medal at both competitions as well.[5] She also won vault, beam and floor at the latter as well as the silver medal on the uneven bars.[6]

Senior career

2006

In April, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Volos, Greece. She led the Italian team to win gold with an all around score of 60.750. In event finals, she placed seventh on uneven bars, scoring 14.300, seventh on balance beam, scoring 14.875, and second on floor, scoring 15.450.[7]

In October, Ferrari competed at the World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. She won the all around final with a score of 61.025. In event finals, she placed third on uneven bars, scoring 15.775, sixth on balance beam, scoring 14.675, and third on floor, scoring 15.450.[8]

2007

In April, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She won the all around final with a score of 61.075. In event finals, she placed sixth on uneven bars scoring 14.375, eighth on balance beam scoring 13.550, and first on floor scoring 15.400.[9]

In September, Ferrari competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. She contributed scores of 15.100 on vault and 14.775 on uneven bars toward the Italian team's fourth-place finish. Individually, she won the bronze medal in the all around final with a score of 60.550. In event finals, she placed eighth on uneven bars scoring 14.700 and sixth on floor scoring 15.050.[10]

2008

In April, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France. She contributed an all around score of 59.400 toward the Italian team's fourth-place finish.[11]

Ferrari at the 2008 Mediterraneo Gym Cup

Beijing Olympics

In August, Ferrari competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. In qualifications, she contributed an all around score of 58.300 to the Italian team's tenth-place finish. Individually she qualified to the all around final in twenty-first place.[12] In the all around final, she placed eleventh with a score of 59.450.[13]

2009–2011

In April 2009, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Milan, Italy. She placed ninth in the all around final with a score of 55.175 and second in the floor final with a score of 14.675.[14] In June Ferrari underwent a bursectomy to remove excess fluid from behind her Achilles tendon and would likely miss the 2009 World Championships.[15]

Towards the end of April 2010, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She contributed an all around score of 55.525 toward the Italian team's fifth-place finish. In event finals, she placed seventh on uneven bars scoring 14.150 and fourth on floor scoring 13.850.[16]

In October 2010, Ferrari competed at the World Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She contributed scores of 13.966 on vault, 14.066 on uneven bars, and 14.333 on floor toward the Italian team's eighth-place finish. Individually, she placed eleventh in the all around final with a score of 56.165 and sixth in the floor final with a score of 14.600.[17]

In April 2011, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Berlin, Germany. She placed sixth in the all around final with a score of 55.475 and eighth in the uneven bars final with a score of 12.850.[18]

In October 2011, Ferrari competed at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She contributed an all around score of 56.198 toward the Italian team's ninth-place finish. Individually, she placed twelfth in the all around final with a score of 55.532. She also qualified in sixth place with a score of 14.466 to the floor final but was injured and could not compete.[19]

2012

In January, Ferrari competed at the London Prepares series in London, United Kingdom. She contributed an all around score of 56.532 toward the Italian team's first-place finish, which meant that they would qualify a full team to the Olympics.[20] In event finals, she placed first on floor scoring 14.400.[21]

In May, Ferrari competed at the European Championships in Brussels, Belgium. She contributed scores of 14.266 on vault, 14.466 on uneven bars, and 14.400 on floor toward the Italian team's third-place finish. In event finals, she placed fourth on floor scoring 14.400.[22]

London Olympics

At the end of July, Ferrari competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom with Erika Fasana, Giorgia Campana, Elisabetta Preziosa and Carlotta Ferlito. In qualifications, she qualified to the all around final in seventh place with a score of 57.932 and the floor final in third place with a score of 14.900. In the team final, she contributed an all around score of 56.865 toward the Italian team's seventh-place finish. In the all around final, Ferrari placed eighth with a score of 57.999. In the floor final, she tied for third place with Aliya Mustafina. Both gymnasts scored 14.900 but Mustafina was awarded the bronze medal after tie breaking procedures prioritized execution score.[23]

2013–2015

Ferrari on the uneven bars in 2013.

In June 2013 Ferrari, with Elisabetta Preziosa, Giulia Leni, Giorgia Campana and Chiara Gandolfi, competed at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin. She contributed toward the Italian team's first-place finish; in event finals, she placed first on all-around scoring 56.132, first on floor scoring 13.900 and third on balance beam scoring 14.166. Ferrari is the most decorated Italian athlete at the Mediterranean Games with eight gold medals.

At the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Ferrari finished sixth in the all-around and fourth on balance beam.[24][25] On floor exercise, she scored 14.633 to win the silver medal.[26] She used an instrumental version of Caro Emerald's Tangled Up as her floor exercise music.

Ferrari began 2014 competing at the first Italian Serie A where she helped Brixia win the team gold.[27] In March she competed at the American Cup where she finished in fifth place.[28] In April she competed at the Tokyo World Cup where she finished in first place.[29] At the European Championships in May, Ferrari won the gold medal on floor exercise.[30] At the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China, Ferrari helped Italy finish fifth in the team final.[31] Individually, Ferrari finished sixth in the all-around[32] and fifth on floor exercise.[33] After World Championships, Ferrari continued competing at the World Cup circuit. She next competed at the Stuttgart World Cup where she finished fourth despite having the flu.[34] She finished the year off at the Glasgow World Cup where she finished sixth.[35]

In 2015 Ferrari competed at the first two Italian Serie A competitions. In March she competed at the 2015 AT&T American Cup where she finished sixth.[36] In April she competed at the 2015 European Championships where she qualified to the all-around final in tenth place. However, she opted to withdraw from the final and allow teammate Martina Rizzelli to compete, due to the fact she was still overcoming mononucleosis.[37] In October Ferrari competed at the Novara Cup where Italy finished second in the team final and Ferrari finished eleventh in the all-around.[38] Later that month Ferrari competed at the 2015 World Championships. She helped Italy qualify to the team finals and individually she qualified to the all-around final but withdrew, which allowed teammate Tea Ugrin to compete.[39]

2016

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Ferrari qualified for the individual all-around and floor finals. She finished in sixteenth place in the all-around final and fourth in the floor final, just missing the podium in the latter, as she had at the 2012 Olympics.[30]

In September, she had surgery on her Achilles' tendons, but said she plans to continue training for more competition after a six-month rehabilitation.[40]

2017–2018

Ferrari spent the majority of 2017 recovering from tendon pain.[41] She competed at the final Italian Serie A in September where she scored second highest on floor for the senior field and was named to the team to compete at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal.[42] During qualifications Ferrari finished 25th on beam but qualified to the floor exercise final in seventh place.[43] During the final Ferrari tore her Achilles tendon while performing a whip to full twisting double back.[44] Ferrari was one of many gymnasts who were injured while warming up or competing at the 2017 World Championships, following Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, Larisa Iordache of Romania, Ragan Smith of the United States, and Kohei Uchimura of Japan.[45]

Ferrari spent 2018 recovering from her injury sustained at the 2017 World Championships. She announced that she would try to qualify for the 2020 Olympics through the apparatus world cup circuit.[46]

2019

Ferrari returned to competition in February 2019 at the Melbourne World Cup.[47] She only competed on balance beam and floor exercise; she qualified to the floor final in first place.[48] She later won gold on floor exercise, finishing over a point ahead of second place finisher Paula Mejias of Puerto Rico.[49] At the Baku World Cup Ferrari qualified to the floor exercise final in third place, behind compatriot Lara Mori and American Jade Carey.[50] In the final she once again finished third behind Carey and Mori.[51] Directly after the Baku World Cup, Ferrari traveled to Doha for the Doha World Cup[52] where she qualified to the floor exercise final in seventh place.[53] In finals she once again won bronze behind Carey and Mori.[54]

2020

In late January Ferrari was listed on a nominative roster that was released for the Melbourne World Cup, taking place on February 20–22. She qualified in second place to the floor exercise event finals behind Jade Carey.[55] During event finals she once again placed second behind Carey.[56] In March she competed at the Baku World Cup and finished second on floor exercise behind Lara Mori during qualifications and advanced to the event final.[57] However event finals were canceled due to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak in Azerbaijan.[58]

Competitive history

Ferrari on the balance beam in 2013.

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2004	European Championships (Junior)				6
2005	European Youth Olympics Festival					4
	Mediterranean Games
2006
	European Championships				7	7
	World Championships					6
	Arthur Gander Memorial
2007	Paris World Cup
	European Championships				6	8
	World Championships	4			8		6
2008
	European Championships	4				5
	Olympic Games		11
2009
	European Championships		9
2010
	European Championships	5			7		4
	World Championships	8	11				6
	Arthur Gander Memorial
	Swiss Cup
2011	Paris World Cup						4
	European Championships		6		8
	World Championships		12
2012	London Test Event
	Italian National Championships
	European Championships						4
	Romanian International Friendly
	Olympic Games	7	8				4
	Stuttgart World Cup		5
Glasgow World Cup		4
2013	American Cup		5
	La Roche-sur-Yon World Cup
	City of Jesolo Trophy
	Mediterranean Games
	Germany-Italy Friendly Meet
	World Championships		6			4
	Stuttgart World Cup
	Glasgow World Cup
2014	American Cup		5
	Tokyo World Cup
	European Championships	5				5
	Novara Cup
	Golden League
	World Championships	5	6				5
	Stuttgart World Cup		4
Glasgow World Cup		6
2015	American Cup		6
	European Championships		WD
	Novara Cup		11
	World Championships	7	WD
2016	4th Italian Serie A
	Anadia World Challenge Cup					5
	Italian Championships					4
	Olympic Games		16				4
2017	4th Italian Serie A
	World Championships						8
2018	did not compete
2019	Melbourne World Cup
	Baku World Cup
	Doha World Cup
2020	Melbourne World Cup
	Baku World Cup						[lower-alpha 1]

1. Ferrari qualified to the FX final in second place; however event finals were cancelled

Eponymous skills

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty	Added to Code
Floor Exercise	Ferrari	Split leap with full turn to ring	D	2012 Olympic Games

References

1. Vera Atkinson (2006). "Interview with FERRARI Vanessa, Italie, by Vera Atkinson". Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
2. Turner, Amanda (15 May 2014). "British Women, Iordache Impress in Sofia". International Gymnast Magazine Online. International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
3. "Iveco sponsors the Women's Artistic Gymnastics World Champion, Vanessa Ferrari". Iveco. April 26, 2007.
4. "European Championships Junior Women 2004". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
5. "8th European Youth Olympic Festival". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
6. "XVth Mediterranean Games 2005: Artistic gymnastics events finished with Italian and Spanish domination". Gym Media. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
7. "26th Women's Artistic Gymnastics European Championships Results" (PDF). Volos, Greece: European Union of Gymnastics. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
8. "39th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Results" (PDF). Aarhus, Denmark: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
9. "2nd European Artistic Gymnastics European Championships Results" (PDF). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: European Union of Gymnastics. 29 April 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
10. "40th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships" (PDF). Stuttgart, Germany: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
11. "27th Women's Artistic Gymnastics European Championships Results" (PDF). Clermont-Ferrand, France: European Union of Gymnastics. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
12. "Beijing 2008 Gymnastics Artistic Women's Qualification Results" (PDF). Beijing, China: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 10 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
13. "Beijing 2008 Gymnatics Artistic Women's All Around Final Results" (PDF). Beijing, China: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
14. "3rd European Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Results" (PDF). Milan, Italy: European Union of Gymnastics. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
15. "Ferrari Recovering After Ankle Surgery". Intl Gymnast. June 18, 2009.
16. "28th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships Results" (PDF). Birmingham, United Kingdom: European Union of Gymnastics. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
17. "42nd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships" (PDF). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
18. "4th European Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Results" (PDF). Berlin, Germany: European Union of Gymnastics. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
19. "43rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Results" (PDF). Tokyo, Japan: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 16 October 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
20. "London Prepares Series Gymnastics Artistic Women's Results" (PDF). London, United Kingdom: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
21. "London Prepares Series Gymnastics Artistic Women's Apparatus Finals Results" (PDF). London, United Kingdom: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
22. "29th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships" (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: European Union of Gymnastics. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
23. "London 2012 Gymnastics Artistic Results Book" (PDF). London, United Kingdom: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 7 August 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
24. "All-Around Results" Archived October 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. fedintgym.com. October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
25. "Balance Beam Results" Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. fedintgym.com. October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
26. "Floor Exercise Results" Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. fedintgym.com. October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
27. "2014 1st Italian Serie A Nationale Results". The Gymternet. February 8, 2014.
28. "2014 American Cup Results". The Gymternet. March 1, 2014.
29. "2014 Tokyo World Cup Results". The Gymternet. April 6, 2014.
30. "Results" Archived 2014-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. longinestiming.com. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
31. "2014 World Championships Team Final Results". The Gymternet. October 8, 2014.
32. "2014 World Championships All-Around Results". The Gymternet. October 10, 2014.
33. "2014 World Championships Floor Final Results". The Gymternet. October 12, 2014.
34. "Larisa Iordache Wins World Cup in Stuttgart". The Gymternet. November 29, 2014.
35. "Larisa Iordache is All-Around Champion in Glasgow". The Gymternet. December 6, 2014.
36. "2015 American Cup Results". The Gymternet. March 8, 2015.
37. "In-Depth Analysis of Italy at European Championships". The Gymternet. May 8, 2015.
38. "2015 Novara Cup Results". The Gymternet. October 10, 2015.
39. "Tea Ugrin To Replace Vanessa Ferrari In AA Finals, 2015 World Championships". FloGymnastics. October 25, 2015.
40. Turner, Amanda (23 September 2016). "Ferrari Undergoes Double Achilles Tendon Surgery". International Gymnast. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
41. "Ferrari Returns at Final Serie A". The Gymternet. September 16, 2017.
42. "Ferrari's Last-Minute Push Gets Her to Montreal". The Gymternet. September 24, 2017.
43. "2017 World Championships Women's Results". The Gymternet. October 12, 2017.
44. "Vanessa Ferrari Injured, Tears Achilles In Floor Final At Gymnastics Worlds". FloGymnastics. October 8, 2017.
45. "Highs And Lows Of The 2017 Gymnastics World Championships". FloGymnastics. October 13, 2017.
46. "Ginnastica, Vanessa Ferrari infinita: ci prova verso le Olimpiadi! Torna ad allenarsi. Enrico Casella: "Ha deciso di continuare, per la qualificazione…"". OA Sport (in Italian). July 7, 2018.
47. "Ginnastica artistica, Coppa del Mondo Melbourne 2019: il ritorno di Vanessa Ferrari tra trave e corpo libero. Le condizioni di forma della bresciana". OA Sport (in Italian). February 20, 2019.
48. "Ginnastica, la Regina è tornata! Vanessa Ferrari prima al corpo libero in Coppa del Mondo: domenica la finale". OA Sport (in Italian). February 22, 2019.
49. "Ferrari Golden in Comeback Performance". The Gymternet. February 24, 2019.
50. "Baku World Cup – Balance Beam and Floor Exercise Qualification Results" (PDF). Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation. March 15, 2019.
51. "Ginnastica, Coppa del Mondo. Vanessa Ferrari: "Punti importanti per le Olimpiadi". Mori: "Dimostrato il mio valore"". OA Sport (in Italian). March 17, 2019.
52. "Ginnastica, Coppa del Mondo: Vanessa Ferrari e Lara Mori a caccia del podio a Doha, Marco Lodadio ci riprova". OA Sport (in Italian). March 19, 2019.
53. "Ginnastica, Coppa del Mondo: Vanessa Ferrari e Lara Mori non sbagliano, finale al corpo libero! Bis azzurro a Doha". OA Sport (in Italian). March 21, 2019.
54. "Ginnastica, Vanessa Ferrari e Lara Mori: corsa lanciata verso le Olimpiadi 2020. L'Italia brilla in Coppa del Mondo, passi verso Tokyo". OA Sport (in Italian). March 23, 2019.
55. "2020 World Cup Gymnastics Qual Day 2 Event Results - Floor" (PDF). Australia Gymanstics. February 21, 2020.
56. https://gymnasticsworldcup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WAG_Floor_F_signed.pdf
57. "2020 Baku World Cup Results". The Gymternet. March 13, 2020.
58. "Finals of Baku World Cup cancelled". International Gymnastics Federation. March 13, 2020.

External links

• Vanessa Ferrari at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Vanessa Ferrari at the International Olympic Committee
• Vanessa Ferrari at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Vanessa Ferrari on Twitter
• Official website
• Media related to Vanessa Ferrari at Wikimedia Commons