Gervasio Deferr Ángel (born 7 November 1980) is a retired gymnast from Spain who competed at three Olympic Games. He became the Olympic champion in men's vault at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney (scored 9.712) and repeated the feat at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (scoring 9.737 average — vault 1 scored 9.687; vault 2 scored 9.787). Each of his ankles show a tattoo with the logo of one of these two Olympic Games. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won the silver medal on the floor exercise with a score of 15.775.

Gervasio Deferr
Gervasio Deferr after he won the gold medal in Athens 2004
Personal information
Born (1980-11-07) 7 November 1980 (age 44)
Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Spain
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented Spain
Retired2011
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Vault
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Vault
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Floor
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1999 Tianjin Floor
Silver medal – second place 2007 Stuttgart Floor
Disqualified 2002 Debrecen Floor
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2000 Glasgow Men's Vault
Silver medal – second place 2000 Glasgow Men's Floor
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2000 Bremen Men's Floor

Deferr started in gymnastics at the age of five. He considered floor exercise as his favorite event and has had some success in major competitions. He finished in second place with the silver medal on floor at the 1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a score of 9.750 points, which he repeated eight years later with another silver medal at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, as well as many medals in the same apparatus in the Gymnastics World Cup, between them: World Cup 2000 in Ljubljana, Slovenia — 9.688 points (silver), or World Cup 2001 in Paris, France — 9.625 points (gold).[1] He also finished second at the 2002 World Championships on floor exercise but the medal was taken away after he tested positive for marijuana.

In January 2011, Deferr announced his retirement.[2][3]

A curious aspect of Deferr's personality is his stating that he considers sleeping a hobby. He also has an iguana as a pet and likes Japanese and Korean cultures. He even appeared on the Japanese game show Sasuke (Ninja Warrior in the United States), but failed to complete the first stage, being unable to make it over the 15 foot wall.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ gymmedia.de (ed.). "World Cup 1999/2000" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. ^ "gymnast Gervasio Deferr retires". Gymnastics Coaching.com. 2011-01-21. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  3. ^ "Olympic Gymnastic champion Gervasio Deferr teaches children in Barcelona's La Mina suburb". www.catalannews.com. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
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