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Taking It One Year at a Time: Igor
Cassina
29 January 2010, 22:04
At the 2004 Olympics, Italy’s Igor Cassina (now aged 32) took the gold on high
bar. For the last few years he has been one of the main rivals of Holland’s own
high bar specialist, Epke Zonderland. Cassina’s goal for 2010 is to compete in
the World Championships, to be held at Zonderland’s home turf, the Netherlands.
Igor Cassina is working hard to make 2010 a success. Training is getting
tougher, because this year’s World Championships being a team event, each
participant has to compete at least three events, even specialists like Cassina.
‘I’m focusing on high bar, parallel bars and pommel horse. Maybe I’ll also do
rings. Floor and vault aren’t particularly good events for me, so my chances of
making Italy’s Worlds team on those events are limited.’
Cassina feels it won’t be easy for Italy to qualify a full men’s team to the
2011 Worlds and the 2012 Olympics. ‘There are many strong teams, but we’ll do
our best. We have a number of young gymnasts with great potential. Maybe they’ll
help us qualify. They are Paulo Principe, Lorenzo Ticchi and Andrea Cingolani.’
Cassina himself competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He dreams of competing
in the 2012 London Olympics, as well, but swears he will be done after that. ‘By
that time I’ll be 35 and it will be time for something else,’ says the 2004
Olympic gold medallist. ‘I’m taking it a year at a time. After all, I’m not the
youngest gymnast out there. The level keeps rising. The number of good gymnasts
is increasing. I was happy to come away with the bronze on high bar in London.
It motivated me to keep at it.’
The routine Cassina performed in the high bar final at the London Worlds had a
6.8 difficulty value. By contrast, Epke Zonderland’s silver-winning routine had
a 7.3 difficulty value, while Zou Kai’s winning routine had a 7.5 D score.
Cassina is aware it is important that he, too, raise his difficulty. ‘It’s hard,
though. Sometimes it’s better to have a low-difficulty routine and take fewer
risks, but to make up for it with good execution.’ The Italian is currently
training new skills to have a shot at improving his difficulty. ‘I’m working on
a Cassina 2, a double-twisting double back (“double double”) over the bar, but
I’m not sure I’ll ever compete it. The skill has the same value as the Cassina
1. I may choose to compete it one day, but then again, I may never compete it.’
While Igor Cassina is taking his career one year at a time, he has set himself
certain goals to make his dream of competing in the 2012 Olympics come true. ‘My
first goal is to make a final in each competition in which I participate. My
second goal is to win a medal in that final. I wish to get results which will
keep me motivated enough to stay in the sport.’
At age 32, Igor Cassina is one of the oldest competitive gymnasts in the world.
He thinks age is not a big issue; as far as he is concerned. Yet he admits it’s not easy for ‘aged’ athletes
to stay at the top of their game. ‘After all, you simply have to earn a living,
or make sure you get an education. I’m studying sports science at Milan
University. I’ll graduate in 2010, and I may go on to do a Master’s afterwards,’
says Igor Cassina, one of few competitive gymnasts who will have a degree with
which to support himself by the time he retires from the sport.
Cassina feels older gymnasts have their use in passing their experience on to
younger gymnasts. ‘This will benefit the sport and inexperienced gymnasts.’ His
experience may be vital to Italy’s 2010 Worlds team, which will likely be made
up of relatively young gymnasts.
Needless to say, Cassina is looking forward to the 2010 Worlds in Rotterdam, a
city he first visited while performing in the 2009 Univé Gym Galas last
December. ‘I watched the 1987 Worlds, which were also held in Rotterdam, on TV,’
he told us on that occasion, smiling at the memory. This time around he hopes to
be part of the action, hopefully alongside his friend and coach Matteo
Angioletti, himself a renowed still rings worker and a fellow performer at the
Gym Galas. ‘We hope to be back in Rotterdam in October.’
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