Vanessa Ferrari

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Vanessa Ferrari with her Gold Medal from the 2006 Gymnastics World Championships.

Vanessa Ferrari (born November 10, 1990 in Orzinuovi, Brescia), is a World Champion Gymnast from Italy.

Vanessa first rose to prominence as a thirteen 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.

Still in the Junior ranks for 2005, Vanessa 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. She also won Vault, Beam and Floor at the latter as well as the Silver Medal on the Uneven Bars.

In 2006, Vanessa qualified as a Senior Gymnast. She anchored the Italian team a surprise Gold Medal at the Senior European Championships, edging out defending champions Romania by just one tenth of a point. Although no All Around comeptition was held, Vanessa's combined score was the highest of any gymnast at the competition. Vanessa also won a Silver Medal on the Floor, scoring 15.450 to finish ahead of Olympic Champion Catalina Ponor. Falls from bars and beam prevented further success there.

Vanessa won the Gold Medal in the All Around competition at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a combined score of 61.025. This win was highly controversial as Ferrari fell from the balance beam while attempting a difficult full twisting back somersault in the third of four rotations. This placed her out of the medals after the third rotation, but Ferrari fought back on the floor, sticking her tumbling passes and clinching the gold medal. She finished ahead of several athletes who, unlike her, did not fall, notably the rest of the top 5: Jana Bieger, Sandra Izbasa, Steliana Nistor and Daria Joura. Still, to the evident delight of FIG president and fellow Italian Bruno Grandi, Vanessa did take the title.

She was the first woman ever to win a world championship with a fall under the 'new life' system (prior to 1989, scores from the team competition counted towards the all-around title, therefore gymnasts were assessed on twelve routines rather than four, making the deduction for a fall easier to absorb). Nicolae Forminte, the coach of the Romanian athletes in third and fourth, lashed out at the result, declaring Bieger the rightful winner and presumably his own athletes the silver and bronze medallists. Consequently, the new code came under fire from experts and fans alike. However, Grandi has said the new code needs no changes.

Vanessa went on to win two more medals at the Championships - a bronze on the uneven bars and bronze on the floor exercise. Another beam fall lost her a chance to medal there too, and a disappointing showing from Italy in the qualification round meant they were unable to repeat their triumph at Europeans.

Links

Forminte angry at all around result: http://au.sports.yahoo.com/061019/3/xsk3.html