Article by John Manenti
There are claims, in the sports arena, that at the moment they seem ends in themselves, even if, as in the case in question, they refer to an Olympic gold medal, but which, over time, take on a much more significant valueboth for being the only victory in a particular Discipline and for remaining for over half a century the last face that a representative of his country managed to get on the highest step of the podium …
Ed the protagonists of our story today have achieved both of these primates, so as to assume a prominent position, obviously unthinkable at the time of receiving the coveted prize, in the history of the great Novel of the Games for their country, namely Argentina which, in fact, is better known on the international scene for its successes in professional and team sports such as football, basketball and rugby, as well as boxing.
It should also not be underestimated that the South American nation provides the best of itself in the editions of the Games held between the two wars, in which it conquers 24 of the 77 medals won overall, an even higher percentage referring only to the Ori (9 out of 21), to then undergo a sharp decline also due to the dramatic socio-political situations especially under the Military Dictatorship, just think that at the Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics (in Moscow 1980 Argentina, although obvious, had joined the boycott imposed by the USA …) no athlete manages to get on the podium …
The glory period of Argentine sport also continues with the resumption of competitive activity following the tragic events of the Second World War under the guidance of President Juan Domingo Peron, so much so that at the 1948 London Olympics Argentina equals the record established at the 1928 Amsterdam and Berlin 1936 Games with 7 overall medalsas well as the number of three gold medals won in the Dutch capital and four years later in Los Angeles – later also achieved in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 – but it is four years later in Helsinki our protagonists enter the scene, in a Discipline such as Rowing which until then had seen only the couple formed by Horacio Podestà and Julio Curatella climb the Olympic podiumbronze in the coxless pair at the 1936 Berlin Games.
They break such a taboo the 34-year-old Tranquilo Cappozzo and the 24-year-old Eduardo Guerrero who show up in the Finnish capital entered in the duo sculls competitionafter the older of the two had taken part four years earlier in the singles London edition, being eliminated in the first of the three semi-finals, finishing second behind the blue Romolo Catasta .…
To be honest Cappozzo, born in the United States and moving to Argentina at the age of 18, would have liked to try his luck again in singlesbut his Federation now considers him out of age for this specialty – which, in fact, sees the affirmation of the 22-year-old Soviet Yuriy Tyukalov – managing to convince him to accept as a companion the young Guerrero, towards whom he was initially reticent, considering him a bit too undisciplinedor, but it is evident that during the training sessions carried out together, harmony is created, as their opponents will be able to realize.
At the time, the Rowing World Championships were not yet planned (the first edition of which only took place in 1962 in Lucerne …), which is why the the grid of favorites narrows down to the Danish couple formed by Ebbe Parsner and Aage Larsen (European Champions in 1949 and 1950 …) and the Swiss Peter Stebler and Emile Knechtwho had secured the continental title in 1951, while Great Britain relies on two 20-year-olds, John MacMillan and Peter Brandt, students of the prestigious University of Cambridge and Italy sends an ambitious rig made up of Silvio Bergamini and Lodovico Sommaruga into the water, both European silver, the first in 1951 and the second the previous year, in both cases teaming up with Antonio Balossi …
What happens though in the afternoon of July 20, 1952 on the Mailahti basin, it upsets all predictions since, with the 16 weapons divided into four batteries of as many pairs, with the first two to qualify for the semifinals, already in the first series the Danish team finishes in last position, just as the reigning Swiss continental champions do not go beyond third place in the second, same placement as the British couple in the third heat which sees the Azzurri prevail with a time of 7’01″3 ahead of the United States, while the fourth and final series is the prerogative of the Argentine duo, albeit with the highest time of 7’04″4, compared to the best of 7’00”1 scored by the French Jacques Maillet and Achille Giovannoni, of very clear Italian origins.
Rowing still allows a second chance through the repechages that take place the following morning, but only the Belgians Robert George and Jos Van Stickel benefit from it – who win the first series ahead of the Swiss couple – and the Australians John Rodgers and Murray Riley who won in the secondthus eliminating both the British and Danish weapons…
With the predictions of the eve gone up in the air, in the afternoon the two semi-finals where only the winning pairs qualify for the Final, meanwhile the remaining 6 guns, together with the two coming from the repechage in the morning go to another barrage, and this time too there is no shortage of surprises, given that to disappoint this time are the Soviet team made up of Georgy Zhilin and Igor Yemchuk, only third in the first series with the French even fourth, like the blue team, also third in the secondin the meantime the Czechoslovakians take the pass for the Final Antonin Malinkovic and Jiri Vykoukal and the increasingly surprising Argentine couplefinishing with almost identical times, 7’23”5 for the first and 7’23”1 for the second.
The last chance to stay in the running for the medals comes from the repechages that take place on the morning of July 22nd and, this time, the surprise is provided the Uruguayan armo format of Miguel Sejas and Juan Antonio Rodriguez (even though the latter had conquered the bronze four years earlier in London paired with William Jones …) who – concluded the second semifinal clearly separated when he had no more chances of winning – he saved his energies on this occasion by realizing the best time of 7’01”7 to eliminate the Americans Walter Hoover and Pat Costello, while in the second series he redeems himself French pair and in the third, with only two guns in the water, the Soviets eliminated quite clearly (7’07″5 to 7’16″0) the Italian crew …
And so, for the first time in the history of the Games there are two South American weapons fighting for the medals, but who expected, in that late afternoon of July 23, 1952, a challenge to the last stroke of the oar is disappointed, as, after an initial advantage of the Soviet rig which keeps the lead until halfway through the race, the Argentine couple changes pace and dominates the race by flying off for go to triumph over time – not excellent due to the adverse conditions of the regatta course – of 7’32”2, leaving the Soviet rig over 6” behindwhile the South American triumph is completed with the Uruguayan bronze.
That of Cappozzo and Guerrero is the only Gold won by Argentina at the Helsinki 1952 Games, but what the two rowers certainly could not have imagined is that it would remain the last for over 50 years, given that it is necessary to wait until the Athens 2004 edition to update the medal collection with team successes in the respective Football and Basketball Tournaments, to then touch, four years later in Beijing, the couple formed by Walter Perez and Juan Curuchet to triumph in the Madison specialty of track cycling …
But what remains perhaps more significant is the fact that Cappozzo, who passed away on May 14, 2003 at the age of 85, is the oldest Argentine Olympic gold medalist at the date of his deatha record for which he leaves the baton to his partner Guerrero, who passes away on 17 August 2015 having reached 87 springs, but, unlike his friend, having learned that he is no longer the last Argentine to have climbed on the top step of the podium…
And this is history too…