Carlos Espínola (sailor)
Carlos Mauricio Espínola is an Argentine windsurfer and politician. He served as Mayor of Corrientes from 2009 to 2013.Biography
d Camau, Espínola was born in Corrientes and started training at the Club Náutico de La Totora in his home province. He obtained his first important award, a silver medal, during the Pan American Games held in 1991 in Havana. In the following games, held in Mar del Plata in 1995, Espínola obtained the gold medal.
A year later he won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta; he would win a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney. In 1998, he won the gold medal in the European windsurf Championship held in Greece.
Espínola then decided to change category, from Mistral to Tornado, with Santiago Lange he got a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and then again in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, becoming the Argentine sportsman with most Olympic medals. He is also the only sportsperson who had the honor of being the flag bearer for Argentina in two Summer Olympic Games.
In 1996, Carlos received the Gold Olimpia Award as the best athlete of the year from his country.
In April 2009, Espínola announced he was a candidate for the office of Mayor of Corrientes, on the ticket of Fabián Ríos, Front for Victory candidate for Governor of Corrientes Province. He was elected as mayor of his native city on September 13, and on December 10 he took office. He is a member of the Justicialist Party and of the Front for Victory, the Peronist faction and alliance led by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Espínola was nominated as the Front for Victory candidate for governor ahead of the September 2013 elections in Corrientes. He was defeated by incumbent Governor Ricardo Colombi of the centrist UCR, however, by a 51-to-46% margin; Espínola was succeeded as mayor by fellow Front for Victory lawmaker Fabián Ríos.
In 2015, Espínola was elected Senator.
