CASSARA Andrea

General
BALANCING EMOTIONS
He had doubts about continuing in the sport following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after he was knocked out of the men's individual foil competition in the round of 16. He then began working with a mental coach who helped him start enjoying the process more than the outcome, and get a better sense of his emotions in both victory and defeat. "The secret is balance. You can't be too happy when you win in competition and you can't be too sad when you lose the competition because we compete every week. So we have to balance to keep training. And the most important thing is to think about the next competition. I'm really enjoying [what] I do. And [it's for this] reason that I want to continue fencing, not because I had to, but because I want to." (tokyo2020.org, 27 Oct 2020)

OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
He hopes to make his fifth Olympic appearance at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "In Beijing 2008 and London 2012, especially in London, I had a lot of pressure because I was number one in the world. So all eyes were on me because 'it's your Games'. So we won in the team but I didn't really perform very well in the individual [event]. Now I hope at 37 [years of age] in Tokyo I [will be] less stressed. I earned this Games. So I'm happy to go, then we will see what's going to happen." (tokyo2020.org, 27 Oct 2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has worked as sporting director of the Bergamasca Scherma club in Bergamo, Italy. He is also coach at the Scherma Brescia club, which was founded by his family in 1987. "I can compare [teaching] with my career. It's different but I can compare. There is a lot of emotion. I have more stress when I go to watch my students' competitions." (tokyo2020.org, 27 Oct 2020; bergamonews.it, 05 May 2019; bergamascascherma.it, 01 Nov 2018; ecodibergamo.it, 28 Jul 2018; bresciatoday.it, 17 May 2018)