Miguel Rayderley Zapata Santana (born 26 May 1993) is a Spanish-Domincan artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 Olympic silver medalist on the floor exercise. He is also the 2015 World bronze medalist and the 2015 European Games champion on the floor exercise. He also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh on the floor exercise.
| Rayderley Zapata | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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_2015.jpg) Zapata at the 2015 European Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Miguel Rayderley Zapata Santana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Ray | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 May 1993 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Lanzarote, Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Madrid, Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior international elite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2014 – present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Isla Lanzarote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Fernando Siscar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eponymous skills | Zapata (floor) – double front tucked 1½ twist (F [0.6]) Zapata II (floor) – double front layout 1½ twist (H [0.8]) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editBorn in the Dominican Republic, his family moved to the Spanish island of Lanzarote when he was a child. Later, in 2010, he moved to Barcelona to receive further training with Gervasio Deferr and Víctor Cano.[2][3]
Career
edit2014–15
editAt the 2014 Cottbus World Cup, Zapata won his first FIG World Cup medal- a bronze on the vault.[4] He finished eighth on the floor exercise at the 2014 World Championships.[5] After the World Championships, he competed at the Mexican Open and placed tenth in the all-around.[6]
At the 2015 European Championships, Zapata initially placed sixth in the floor exercise, but he was allowed to repeat his routine due to a timing error. He then received a score that would have won the bronze medal, but the judges later added an out-of-bounds deduction they had initially missed, and he ultimately finished fifth.[7][8] He then won the gold medal on the floor exercise at the 2015 European Games.[9] Then at the 2015 World Championships, he won the bronze medal on the floor exercise and as a result qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]
2016–18
editZapata won a silver medal on the floor exercise at the 2016 Cottbus World Cup behind Japan's Naoto Hayasaka.[11] He helped the Spanish team finish eighth at the 2016 European Championships.[12] He then represented Spain at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the second reserve for the floor exercise final.[13][14]
Zapata finished sixth on the floor exercise at the 2017 European Championships.[15] He returned to competition after a torn Achilles tendon at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and won gold medals with the Spanish team and on the floor exercise.[16][17] At the 2018 European Championships, he helped the Spanish team place sixth,[18] and he also finished seventh on the floor exercise.[19] He won bronze medals on the floor exercise at the 2018 World Challenge Cups in Guimarães and Paris.[20][21]
2019–21
editZapata tied with Great Britain's Dominick Cunningham for the floor exercise bronze medal at the 2019 Melbourne World Cup.[22] He won another floor exercise bronze medal at the 2019 Baku World Cup.[23] He also won silver medals at the Doha and Cottbus World Cups.[24][25] At the 2019 European Championships, he finished sixth in the floor exercise final.[26]
Zapata won a silver medal on the floor exercise at the 2021 Doha World Cup.[27] He secured an Olympic berth with his results from the prior two years of the FIG World Cup series.[28] At the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Zapata qualified for the floor exercise final in first place. In the final, he tied with Israel's Artem Dolgopyat for the highest score with 14.933. For the first tiebreaker, Zapata and Dolgopyat had the same execution score, but Dolgopyat prevailed on the second tiebreaker because he had a higher difficulty score. Zapata thus received the silver medal.[29][30]
2022–24
editZapata helped the Spanish team finish eighth at the 2022 European Championships.[31] He was the first reserve for the floor exercise final.[32] Zapata and the Spanish team then finished sixth at the World Championships in Liverpool.[33]
On 16 March 2023, Zapata and other members of the Spanish national team were involved in a car accident during a training camp in Anadia, Portugal. The wheel on their van exploded, causing it to roll over multiple times, but Zapata was not severely injured.[34][35] At the 2023 European Championships, he was the third reserve for botht the rings and vault finals.[36][37] Then at the 2023 World Championships, he helped the team finish in ninth place, which made them the first reserve for the team final and allowed them to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[38]
Zapata was selected to represent Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Néstor Abad, Thierno Diallo, Nicolau Mir, and Joel Plata.[39] The team finished 12th in the qualification round, and Zapata qualified for the floor exercise final in third place.[40] He stepped out of bounds during the floor final and finished in seventh place.[41]
Eponymous skills
editZapata has two difficult tumbling passes named after him in the Code of Points. The first is a double forward flip in a tucked position with a 1.5 twist. The second is the same skill in a layout position.[42]
| Apparatus | Name | Description | Difficulty[a] | Added to Code of Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor exercise | Zapata | Double salto fwd. tucked with 3/2 turn | F | |
| Zapata II | Double salto fwd. str. with 3/2 turn | H | 2021 Doha World Cup[43] |
- ^ Valid for the 2022–2024 Code of Points
Personal life
editZapata has a daughter Olympia, born in 2021, and a son Kayro, born in 2023, with his wife Susana.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Rayderley Zapata". Rio 2016 Olympics. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ "Entrevista con Ray Zapata, nuestro guerrero se prepara pa..." [Interview with Ray Zapata, our warrior prepares to storm Paris]. Sportlife (in Spanish). 25 April 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b de la Torre, Estela (10 April 2024). "Spain's Rayderley Zapata on Paris 2024: 'I keep a clear head about what I want'". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Gold for six nations at 38th Tournament of Masters". International Gymnastics Federation. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Rayderley Zapata octavo en el Mundial de Gimnasia Artística de Nanning" [Rayderley Zapata eighth in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Nanning]. Podium Telefónica (in Spanish). 15 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Jossimar Calvo, Marta Pihan-Kulesza win Acapulco's Abierto Gimnasia de Mexicano". International Gymnastics Federation. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ Ojeda, Enrique (18 April 2015). "El desastre de los jueces acaba con Zapata en quinta posición" [The judging disaster ends with Zapata in fifth place]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "El español Rayderley Zapata, quinto en la final de suelo" [Spain's Rayderley Zapata, fifth in the floor final]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 April 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Giulia Steingruber and Oleg Stepko impress at Baku 2015 Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Finals". International Gymnastics Federation. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "A four-way tie on Uneven Bars and plenty of other firsts as event finals begin at Glasgow Worlds". International Gymnastics Federation. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Eight champions emerge at Cottbus Individual Apparatus World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "32nd European Championships in Men's Artistic Gymnastics Seniors and Juniors Senior Team Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Gymnastics-Men's floor exercise qualification results". Reuters. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Ray Zapata concluye en 11º puesto" [Ray Zapata finishes in 11th place]. Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation (in Spanish). 7 August 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "5 nations golden on day 1 of event finals". European Gymnastics. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Ray Zapata consigue el oro para España en la prueba de suelo" [Ray Zapata wins gold for Spain in the floor event]. Diari de Tarragona (in Spanish). 26 June 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Ray Zapata baña de oro a España en suelo" [Ray Zapata showers Spain with gold on the floor]. RTVE (in Spanish). 26 June 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Senior Team Final Results" (PDF). European Gymnastics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ "Rayderley Zapata consigue la 7ª plaza en la final de suelo del Europeo de Glasgow" [Rayderley Zapata takes 7th place in the floor final of the Glasgow European Championships]. Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation (in Spanish). 12 August 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Larduet, Methuen golden at Guimarães World Challenge Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "Host France take 5 golds at World Challenge Cup in Paris". International Gymnastics Federation. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Asian nations dominate Melbourne World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Gymnasts from nine nations golden at Baku World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Chinese gymnasts claim three titles at Doha World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "World Cup series resumes in Cottbus". International Gymnastics Federation. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Rayderley Zapata, sexto en la final de suelo en Polonia" [Rayderley Zapata, sixth in the floor final in Poland]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 13 April 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Doha World Cup: Ten nations win titles as Olympic qualification comes to an end". International Gymnastics Federation. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Six world champions top Apparatus World Cup standings in Artistic Gymnastics". International Gymnastics Federation. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Artem Dolgopyat wins Israel's first gymnastics medal". NBC Olympics. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Historic firsts highlight a night to remember in Gymnastics". International Gymnastics Federation. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "European Championships Munich 2022 Men Team Results" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Men Seniors Qualification Floor Exercise" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Liverpool (GBR), 29 October – 6 November 2022 Men's Team Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ Amorós, José (16 March 2023). "El equipo nacional de gimnasia artística sufre un accidente de tráfico que ha provocado una lesión grave a Joel Plata" [The national artistic gymnastics team suffers a traffic accident that has caused a serious injury to Joel Plata]. Relevo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Joel Plata, la historia de una recuperación récord tras un accidente que le hizo empezar de cero" [Joel Plata, the story of a record recovery after an accident that made him start from scratch]. LaSexta. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "10th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Qualification Rings" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "10th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Qualification Vault" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ Aragón, Andrés; Martín, Marta (2 October 2023). "España en el Mundial de Gimnasia Artística 2023: De superar un accidente a obtener una cuota a los Juegos Olímpicos" [Spain at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships: From overcoming an accident to obtaining a quota for the Olympic Games]. International Olympic Committee (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ "Joel plata: "No lo llamo presión, lo llamo objetivo"" [Joel Plata: "I don't call it pressure, I call it objective"]. Avance Deportivo (in Spanish). 26 July 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Payá, Rafa (27 July 2024). "Ray Zapata brilla y se mete en la final de suelo con la tercera nota" [Ray Zapata shines and gets into the floor final in third place]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ "Ray Zapata, diploma olímpico en suelo en París 2024" [Ray Zapata, Olympic finish on the floor exercise in Paris 2024]. Spanish Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 3 August 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "2022 – 2024 Code of Points Men's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ "Newly named for their creators, these Men's elements are the opposite of elementary". International Gymnastics Federation. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
External links
edit
- Rayderley Miguel Zapata at the International Gymnastics Federation
- Rayderley Miguel Zapata at Olympics.com
- Rayderley Miguel Zapata Santana at the Comité Olímpico Español (in Spanish)
- Rayderley Miguel Zapata Santana at the Comité Olímpico Español (new page) (in Spanish)
- Ray Zapata at Olympedia
