Fabian Hambüchen

Personal life

Hambüchen was born 25 October 1987 in Bergisch Gladbach. He lives in Wetzlar.

Career

Hambüchen's first major senior competition was the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim. He competed 4 events in qualifications but the German team did not advance to the team final.

Hambüchen was the youngest German athlete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens where the German team placed 8th in the Team Final. Individually, Hambüchen finished 23rd in the All Around and seventh in the horizontal bar final.

in 2005, Hambüchen won the horizontal bars title at the 2005 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen competed 3 events in qualifications and placed 4th in the horizontal bar final.

2006

Hambüchen competed at the 2006 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where the German Team placed 7th. Individually, 2005 Euuropean Artistic Gymnastics Championships placed 5th in the vault final and 7th in the parallel bars final.

At the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen won his first World Championship medal at the age of 18 with bronze in the All Around. He also won a bronze on vault despite having the lowest combined difficulty in the final. The German Team placed 7th in the Team Final, with Hambüchen contributing scores on 5 events. However, Hambüchen did not qualify to the horizontal bar final.

2007

In 2007, Hambüchen competed at the 2006 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he won the silver medal in the All Around, and won the European horizontal bar title for the second time.

The 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where held in Stuttgart and the German Team won the bronze medal in front of the home crowd, with Hambüchen contributing on 4 events. Individually, Hambüchen won the silver medal in the All Around behind reigning World Champion Yang Wei. He then won the gold medal in the horizontal bar final, becoming World Champion on that event. In the vault final he placed 5th.

In 2007 he was named the German Sportspersonality of the Year.

2008

At the 2008 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German Team won the silver medal, with Hambüchen contributing on 5 events. He qualified for 4 event finals, winning the bronze medal on floor, placing 5th on both vault and parallel bars, and defending his European title on horizontal bar, making it his second consecutive European title on that event and 3rd overall.

Going into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Hambüchen was considered the favourite for the horizontal bar title and a strong contender for an All Around medal. He qualified to 4 individual finals including 2nd into the All Around and was the top qualifier for the horizontal bar final. The German team placed 4th in the Team final, with Hambüchen contributing scored on 5 events. However in the All Around final, Hambüchen had a fall on horizontal bar and placed in 7th. He then placed 4th in the floor final and the parallel bars final. He then won his first Olympic Medal with a bronze on horizontal bar.

2009

At the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships Hambüchen won the Individual All Around title and the floor title. He also placed 7th in the vault final and won the bronze medal on parallel bars. He did not qulify for the high bar title. Hambüchen had to pull out of the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships due to an injury to his foot. He was considered a frontrunner for the all-around and horizontal bar titles.

2010

At the 2010 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen contributed scores on 5 events towards the German Team winning the European Title. Individually he placed 8th in the rings final, and tied for the bronze medal with his teammate Philipp Boy. At the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Hambüchen did not compete in the All Around due to an injured Achilles tendon, but he contributed scores on 3 events to the German Team's bronze medal. He also qualified to the parallel bars final, placing 4th, and the horizontal bar final where he won the bronze medal.

2011

In January 2011, Hambüchen tore his Achilles tendon, which kept him out of competition at the 2011 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Berlin. He recovered in time for the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he once again contributed scores on 5 events in the Team Final, where Germany finished 5th. He competed all 6 events in qualifications but did not advance to the All Around final due to the rule that only 2 gymnasts from each country can advance to a final, as Philipp Boy and Marcel Nguyen both qualified ahead of Hambüchen. He qualified to the horizontal bar final where he placed 4th.

2012

In 2012, Hambüchen once again missed the European Championships, as he wanted to focus on preparation for the Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he qualified 3rd into the All Around and 4th into the horizontal bar final. He contributed scores on 5 events to the German Team's 7th place finish. However he had multiple large mistakes in the All Around final, once again including a fall from the horizontal bar, finishing in 15th place. In the horizontal bar final he won his second Olympic medal, winning the silver behind Netherlands' Epke Zonderland.

2013

At the 2013 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Hambüchen qualified to the horizontal bar final but placed 6th after a fall. In July he compete at the 2013 Summer Universiade where the German team placed 4th. Hambüchen he won the silver medal in the All Around behind Russian Nikolai Kuksenkov, beating 2013 European Champion David Belyavskiy. He also won silver in the floor final behind Japan's Ryohei Kato. He competed at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he won the bronze medal in the All Around. He also finished in 7th place in the floor final and won a silver medal in the horizontal bar final, once again behind Epke Zonderland.

2014

At the 2014 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German Team finished in 4th, with Hambüchen once again contributing scores on 5 events to the team total. He qualified in 2nd to the horizontal bar final, but had a bad fall during the final and did not finish his routine, ending up in 8th place. At the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the German Team finished in 8th place. Hambüchen also finished in 8th place in the All Around final, however he did not qualify to the horizontal bar final after falling in qualifications.

2015

Hambüchen did not compete in the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In June he competed at the 2015 European Games where he finished 5th in the All Around and won the gold medal on the horizontal bar. In July he competed at the 2015 Summer Universiade where he won the gold medal on the horizontal bar. At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships the German Team did not qualify for the Team Final, and therefore missed automatic qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Hambüchen qualified to the All Around final in 27th place but withdrew due to illness. He also qualified to the horizontal bar final in 4th place, but finished in 7th after a poor routine in the final.

2016

Hambüchen was unable to compete for the first half of 2016 due to a shoulder injury. He was unable to compete in the Olympic Test Event, where the German Team secured their place for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Hambüchen returned to competition on 3 events (floor, vault, horizontal bar) at the German Olympic Trials. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the German Team placed 7th in the Team Final, with Hambüchen contributing on 3 events. He qualified in 1st place to the horizontal bar final where he won his third Olympic medal and first Olympic Gold, becoming the Olympic horizontal bar champion.

Hambüchen retired after the Rio Olympics, stating that his Olympic title was "a dream come true".