Olympic Dictionary C
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The Olympic Dictionary C CAMBER IRENE (fencing, Italy, b. Trieste 12/2/1926). Four appearances (1948, 1952, 1960, 1964), one gold, (individual foils 1952), one bronze medal (team foils 1960). 1952 1-0-0, 1960 0-0- 1. She started to concentrate on foils at 8 years old when, in Trieste, she accidentally entered the fencing hall instead of the hall where she was in the habit of practising gymnastics. In 1948, after graduating in industrial chemistry, she made her debut at the London Games, where she was eliminated in the semi-finals. 4 years later in Helsinki she won the gold medal, beating the 45 year- old Hungarian Ilona Elek in the deciding match 4-3, the Olympic champion at Berlin and London. She skipped the Melbourne Games because pregnant after having married Giangiacomo Corno, and in Rome in 1960 she won the bronze team medal. She continued until the Tokyo Games, then in 1972 at the Munich Olympics she was head coach for the national team, which included Antonella Ragno (q.v.), who won the individual gold medal. Without ever giving up work at Montedison, during her career she also won 2 world titles (individual 1953 and team 1957), one silver medal, and 5 bronze medals; and 2 Italian individual titles. CAMBODIA (Kingdom of Cambodia, Asia, capital Phnom Penh, area 181.035 km2, 14.443.678 inhabitants). After competing at the Games in 1956 (not in Melbourne, but only at Stockholm in the equestrian event), 1964, and 1972, the Olympic Committee was officially founded in 1983 and was recognised in 1994 by the IOC. Cambodia competed in the Games in 2000 and 2004, without winning any medals. CAMEROON (Republic of Cameroon, Africa, capital Yaoundé, area 475.442 km2, 18.549.179 inhabitants). 4 medals: 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze. Best Olympics: Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, with a gold in men’s football and with Françoise Mbango Etone in the women’s triple jump. The Olympic Committee was formed in 1963 and recognised the same year by the IOC. Cameroon has competed in all the Olympics since 1964. CANADA (Federal State of Canada, North America, capital Ottawa, area 9.984.670 km2, 32.876.045 inhabitants). 242 medals: 55 gold, 86 silver, 101 bronze. Best Olympics: Los Angeles 1984 with 10 golds, 18 silvers and 16 bronze medals. Best sport: track & field with 14 golds, 15 silvers and 23 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Kathleen Heddle and Marnie Elizabeth McBean, rowing, with 3 golds and one bronze each (coxless pairs 1992, eight 1992, pair 1996, victories for both, which they obtained together, also the bronze in the coxed four in 1996). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1904, was recognised in 1907 by the IOC. After the participation of two Canadians in the 1900 Games in the American team (and one of them, George Orton, won the gold in the hurdles), Canada has only missed one edition of the Games in 1980 due to the boycott, since 1904. Canada hosted the 1976 Montreal Games; Toronto has been nominated 3 times without success. CANOEING AND KAYAK The sport made is debut in 1936 at Berlin, even though in 1906 in Athens there was a ‘French canoeing’ race held under the rowing category. Canoeing and kayaking are regulated by the ICF, International Canoe Federation (www.canoeicf.com). See section IV, Sports. 25 The Olympic Dictionary CAPE VERDE (Republic of Cape Verde, Africa, capital Praia, area 4.033 km2, 530.438 inhabitants). The Olympic Committee was founded in 1989 and was recognised in 1993 by the IOC. Cape Verde has competed in the Games since 1996, without winning any medals. CARROLL DANIEL BRENDAN “DAN” (rugby, Australia/USA, b. Melbourne, Australia, 17/11/1888 – or according to other sources 1889 or 1892 – d. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 5/8/1956). Two appearances (1908, 1920) and 2 golds (1908 for Australia, 1920 for the USA). 1908 1-0-0, 1920 1-0-0. At just under 19 years old he was the youngest (as well as the fastest) player of the first Wallabies, and during the tournament in Europe he scored 15 tries, 2 of them in the 32-3 match against Great Britain, the only Olympic tournament of London, where he won the gold. After the 1911/12 tournament in the USA, he registered at Stanford and took American citizenship. He fought in the American army during the First World War, then went back to Australia but in 1920 he was back at Stanford as a coach. That year, as the player/coach, he won the second gold at the Games, beating France 8-0 (also in that case there were only two participants). The French took it badly and called for a re-match, managing 14-5 a month later. In the meantime the American selection had won three matches against other transalpine representatives. But they took it even worse 4 years later, losing the Olympic final again (this time 17-3) against the USA, and at home in Colombes in front of 40.000 screaming spectators. This time Carroll was ‘only’ the coach. Charles Doe, one of his players said sixty years later: “Our victory in 1924 became like the one against the USSR in ice hockey in 1980, an everyday thing. If we’d had the same TV and media coverage, rugby would now be a true national American pass-time”. CASARTELLI FABIO (cycling, Italy, b. Como 16/8/1970, d. Tarbes, France 18/7/1995). One appearance (1992) and one gold (road race). As a child he had glandular fever, and in 1990, he fractured his 12th vertebrae after being knocked down by a car. However, two years later he managed to win the gold in Barcelona. A winning sprint 250 m from the finish, with a one-second advantage over the Dutchman, Erik Dekker. “Do I fear the disasters which almost readily hit the winners of the World Championships or the Olympics? I didn’t have time to think about it. And I couldn’t really brake during a sprint, could I?” A spine-chilling statement reading it later, because Casartelli died at 24 years of age, due to a fall during the 15th stage of the Tour de France, the Saint Girons-Cauterets. At the 34th km he hit his head violently against a block of cement on the descent at Col de Portet d’Aspet. The immediate transfer by helicopter to the local hospital was futile. His death was caused by a cerebral haemorrhage, and fractures to the cranial bones, after 4 cardiac arrests. His son Marco was only 2 months old. Usually Casartelli wore a helmet when descending, but he didn’t bother that day because the lap was only 3-4 km. “However, a helmet wouldn’t have saved him” (Massimo Testa, Motorola doctor). A stone was erected at the location of the tragedy in 1997. ČASLÁVSKÁ VERA (gymnastics, Czechoslovakia, b. Prague 3/5/1942). Three appearances (1960, 1964, 1968), 7 golds (individual competition 1964 and 1968, vault 1964 and 1968, beam 1964, floor exercise 1968, parallel bars 1968) and 4 silvers (team competition 1960, 1964 and 1968, beam 1968). 1960 0-1-0, 1964 3-1-0, 1968 4-2-0. She was one of the last female gymnasts, before the advent of Olga Korbut (q.v.) and the child gymnasts. “By lowering the age limit, womanhood has been removed from gymnastics”, she said. “Now women are represented by children, who are too immature to express deep aesthetic sentiments. One must be a woman, to have loved and suffered. Now they have replaced art with technique and risk”. Her career started at 15 years old, when she gave up skating to concentrate on gymnastics, under the guidance of Eva Bosakovà. Within a few months she was in the national team, with whom she started in 1957 against Belgium. A year later she made the Moscow World Championships, where she came eight in the beam and second in the team event. It was the first of 10 medals: 4 golds (vault 1962, all-round, vault and team 1966), 5 silvers, and one bronze medal. In 1959 she won her first international victory, the 26 The Olympic Dictionary European title for the beam. She had 14 medals at the end of her career: 11 golds (beam 1959-65- 67, all-round, floor exercise, parallel bars and vault 1965-67), one silver (vault 1959), and 2 bronze medals (all-round and floor exercise 1961). She made her debut at the 1960 Games; she was sixth in the beam, which her mentor Eva Bosakovà won, and eight in the all-round event, while in the team event she won the silver medal. Four years later she dominated Tokyo (3 gold medals), but it was the 1968 Games which marked out her career. Some months before going to Mexico, she signed, along with other sportsmen and women (amongst them Zátopek q.v.), and academics, the 2000 Words Manifesto, declaring support for the renewal and liberation process set in motion by Alexander Dubcek, the new secretary of the Communist Party. It was at the start of spring in Prague when on 21 August the Soviet Union invaded the Czechoslovakian capital with armed tanks. Časlávská was forced to flee, and left the training camp in Moravia and went to Sumperk, a small town near Ostrava, where she continued to prepare for the Games as much as possible, whereas her brother ended up in the hands of the police for anti-Soviet propaganda. Two months later she left for Mexico, where she won 4 gold and 2 silver medals, which she dedicated to Dubcek and other leaders defeated by the Soviet repression.