Jury Chechi

Jury Dimitri Chechi Commendatore OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈjuːri ˈkeːki]; born 11 October 1969) is a retired Italian gymnast.

Jury Chechi
Jury Chechi in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Jury Dimitri Chechi
Nickname(s)	il Signore degli Anelli ("the Lord of the Rings")[1]
Country represented	Italy
Born	(1969-10-11) 11 October 1969 (age 55) Prato, Italy
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)[2]
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior
Club	SG Etruria Prato[2]
Head coach(es)	Bruno Franceschetti[3]
Retired	2004[2]
Medal record Representing  Italy Men's artistic gymnastics Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Rings 2004 Athens Rings World Championships 1993 Birmingham Rings 1994 Brisbane Rings 1995 Sabae Rings 1996 San Juan Rings 1997 Lausanne Rings 1989 Stuttgart Rings 1991 Indianapolis Rings European Championships 1990 Lausanne Rings 1992 Budapest Rings 1994 Praga Rings 1996 Copenhagen Rings 1990 Lausanne All-around 1992 Budapest Floor Universiade 1993 Buffalo Team 1993 Buffalo Rings 1997 Sicily Rings 1993 Buffalo All-around European Cup 1988 Firenze Rings 1991 Bruxelles All-around 1991 Bruxelles Rings 1991 Bruxelles Parallel bars 1995 Roma Rings 1988 Firenze Floor 1988 Firenze Parallel bars

Biography

Chechi was named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.^[2] He won the Olympics title in the rings at Atlanta 1996 and was third at Athens 2004. Chechi's bronze was the result of his attempted comeback into the sport at the age of 35, well above what is considered the average age of a male gymnast.

Chechi dominated his specialty, the rings, during the nineties, so he was nicknamed "the Lord of the Rings"; however, he could not participate in the Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000 Olympic games due to serious injuries. He has won five gold and two bronze medals at the World Gymnastics Championships and four gold and two bronze medals at the European Championships.^[2]

Chechi was the Italian flagbearer at the opening ceremony in the Athens Games in 2004. He also participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin.

Jury sparked some controversy at the 2004 Athens Olympic games when he shook the hand of silver medalist in the rings final, Yordan Yovchev and signaled that he should have won the gold medal, not Dimosthenis Tampakos (meaning that he won only because he was the local champion).

He is an atheist.^[4]

Honours of merit

3rd Class / Commander: Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana

— 27 September 2004. Initiative by President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.^[5]

See also

• Italian men gold medalist at the Olympics and World Championships

References

1. "A Obiettivo Londra il "Signore degli Anelli" Yuri Chechi" (in Italian). sky.it. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jury Chechi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
3. Jury Chechi, il ritorno del re. gazzetta.it. 7 April 2004
4. "6 vip italiani che non sapevi fossero atei".
5. Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana Sig. Jury CHECHI. quirinale.it

External links

• Jury Chechi at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Jury Chechi at Olympics.com
• Jury Chechi at Olympedia
• Jury Chechi at the Italian National Olympic Committee (in Italian)
• Jury Chechi at the CONI honored athlete website (in Italian)
• Official website (in Italian)

Summer Olympics
Preceded by Carlton Myers	Flagbearer for  Italy Athens 2004	Succeeded by Antonio Rossi