Carlos Espínola (sailor)

Carlos Mauricio Espínola ( born October 5, 1971 in Corrientes ), nicknamed Camau, is an Argentine wind surfers and sailors. With two bronze and two silver Olympic medals Espinola is the Argentine Olympian with the most medals (as of 2009 ).

Espínola trained first as a wind surfer in Club Náutico de La Totora in his home province. His first big success was in winning the silver medal at the Pan American Games in 1991 in Havana, Cuba. The following Pan American Games in 1995 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Espínola won the gold medal.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA ) won the silver medal in windsurfing. He repeated this success at the Olympic Summer Games 2000 in Sydney. He also won the gold medal at the European Windsurf Championship 1998 in Greece.

Following this success, Carlos Mauricio Espínola decided for a change of sport. Instead, he started in windsurfing at the next two Olympics in the Tornado class, the previously fastest Olympic sailing class. In this discipline, he won at the 2004 Games in Athens, held in Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre, and at the 2008 Games in Beijing, held in the International Sailing Center in Qingdao, bronze medals for Argentina. His boat partner was in both competitions Santiago Lange.

Since the November 2007 decided International Sailing Federation (ISAF ) against a Tornado competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games, it is unclear whether and in what discipline Espínola will start playing these games.