Equestrian sports in mourning for the passing of Olympic Champion Alessandro Argenton, who passed away today morning, Sunday 7 January, at the age of 86. Born in Cividale del Friuli in the province of Udine on 11 February 1937, Argenton won the team gold medal (together with Mauro Checcoli, Giuseppe Ravano and Paolo Angioni) in the Eventing discipline at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and placed around his neck is the individual silver medal at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the same discipline.
«A life of a great man of sport and horses, that of Alessandro Argenton, who in addition to those already mentioned took part in three other five-circle editions with Rome 1960, Mexico City 1968 and Montreal 1976» we read on the FISE website . «Founding member of the Italian National Academy, Federigo Caprilli, his sporting curriculum also includes several successful participations in obstacle races in racecourses throughout Italy which allowed him to win, among other things, a golden stirrup and well seven of silver.”
The Italian National Olympic Committee had awarded him the highest sporting honour: the “Golden Collar of Sporting Merit”, while the Italian Equestrian Sports Federation had named him a Meritorious Member of FISE which published the news on its website.
“He was a shy man – recalls his teammate at the Tokyo Games, Mauro Checcoli – and he didn’t like being a protagonist, but he was great, not only as a sportsman, but also from a human point of view as he was generous and selfless. He was a true intellectual with a great passion not only for horses but also for engine mechanics. Although, in everyday competitions, he was my direct competitor, he was one of the people from whom I learned the most. He was truly a great knight,” concluded Checcoli.
Having learned the sad news of the passing of Alessandro Argenton, the President of FISE, Marco Di Paola, the Council, the federal staff and the entire world of Italian equestrian sports join the family and offer their deepest condolences in this moment of great pain.
Deep condolences in Veneto, where Alessandro had founded the Veneto Equestrian Center with his brother Ruggero.
«The boundless greatness of Alessandro Argenton does not lie so much in his victories, which are countless and of the highest international prestige. No: the greatness of Alessandro Argenton lies in his being a man of horses, it lies in the way in which he lived a life entirely dedicated to a passion that saw him become a champion of equestrian sport, rather than of a specific discipline” he writes in the Cavallo Magazine website Umberto Martuscielli, article here.
