After a year of persistent injuries that forced her to stop training, Chiara Gandolfi of Italy officially announced her retirement from the sport a couple of days ago via Instagram.
Gandolfi, 19, was a member of the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo as a first-year senior, where the Italian women missed Olympic qualifications by just one spot. She later went on to help the team win the test event in London a few months later, and with it, a spot at the 2012 Olympic Games. Though she wasn’t included as a member of the Olympic squad, she was named alternate.
The highlight of her gymnastics career was undoubtedly the 2013 Mediterranean Games held in Mersin, Turkey, where she contributed to the team gold in addition to winning gold on uneven bars. Throughout her career, she also won several medals at the Itailan Championships on bars, her best event.
Enjoy some of her performances below as a tribute to her retirement. We’ll miss you, Chiara!
On floor at the Swiss Cup in 2013
On bars at the City of Jesolo Trophy in 2011
Performing in the uneven bars final at Assoluti Ancona in 2013
On top of the medal podium after bars finals at the Mediterranean Games in 2013 (sadly there are no videos of her performance there available)
Article by Valeria Violi
The Gymternet 
Gandolfi, now that’s a name. I wonder if she’s the daughter of Gandalf the Grey?
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Actually I remember an episode of “Ginnaste – Vite parallele” about the Mediterranean Games in which Elisabetta Preziosa called her with the nickname “Gandalf”…and her fans too on social media used the hashtag #TeamGandalf 🙂
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