Rider Obituary: Within the early hours of Thursday the thirtieth of November 2023, certainly one of Italy’s best monitor cyclists died. Sante Gaiardoni handed away on the age of 84 in Motta Visconti, Lombardia. Gaiardoni was a prolific winner within the 60’s and was well-known for taking two Olympic gold medals within the Video games of 1960 in Rome.
Double Olympic champion – Santi Gaiardoni
Italian biking is in mourning for the passing of Sante Gaiardoni, the one Italian to win two gold medals on the Olympic Video games held in Rome in 1960 and one of many protagonists of the game of that decade. Gaiardoni, gained his Olympic gold medals within the 1 Kilometre and the Dash, and between 1958 and 1970 he gained two gold, 4 silver and two bronze medals in dash occasions on the UCI monitor World championships. He additionally set a 1K World file.
Born on June 29, 1939 in Villafranca di Verona, within the province of Verona within the Veneto area. Gaiardoni grew to become dash World champion in Leipzig in 1960 and repeated that three years later in Belgium as an expert. He was additionally runners-up 4 occasions and third twice, so as to add to his two Olympic gold medals. He turned skilled on the finish of 1960 and retired in 1971. Many will keep in mind his rivalry with the legendary Italian sprinter, Antonio Maspes, the seven-time World champion, with whom he had historic duels and who would later turn into shut pals. Each riders was often seen with stars of leisure corresponding to Walter Chiari and Maurizio Enviornment, these had been the “Dolce Vita” years, particularly after he married the singer, Elsa Cuarta in 1963.
Marriage to singer Elsa Cuarta in 1963
Gaiardoni started to make folks discuss when he gained the Italian title in 1957 and in 1958, though his large second of glory got here on the 1960 Rome Olympic Video games on August 26, when he gained his first gold medal, after which three days later he would repeated it. That day resulted in through Veneto with a crowd cheering him within the streets, together with his well-known pals, Chiari and Enviornment, encouraging the followers to chant: “Gaiardó! Gaiardó! Gaiardó!”.
World champion
On the finish of that 12 months he gained the dash World championship in Leipzig whereas nonetheless an newbie. The next 12 months he started his skilled profession and took the skilled dash World title within the Rocourt World Championship of 1963 after an epic battle with Maspes, his everlasting rival. It didn’t matter the place the 2 gladiators battled, be it on the Vigorelli in Milan or on the bankings of France, Germany or Belgium, there was mush pleasure, intrigue and… betting.
Second to Maspes
The rivalry between Gaiardoni and Maspes unfold all through Europe and divided the Italian followers, who used to argue as they did when the legendary Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali fought one another, whereas the kids of these years competed within the backyards of their homes like their hero champions. That bitterness on the monitor later changed into an unbreakable friendship that prolonged till Maspes’ loss of life in 2000, on the age of 68, an actual blow to Gaiardoni’s spirit. “With Antonio, a chunk of my life is gone,” stated Gaiardoni, who after successful the silver medal on the 1970 World championships in Leicester celebrated for the final time and retired the next 12 months, after which he opened a motorcycle store in Giambellino, Milan, his metropolis by adoption.
Rome 1960
His reputation led him to enter politics and he ran as a candidate for mayor within the elections held in 2006, though he misplaced to Letizia Moratti. One of many heartbreaks he suffered was the demolition of the Olympic velodrome, the place he made historical past: “It’s a stab within the coronary heart,” he stated on the time. However the best loss in his life was his spouse Elsa, who handed on in 2020. Regardless of the love of his solely daughter, Susy, Gaiardoni by no means managed to recover from her loss of life and his ache stayed with him to his final days.
“A sprinter and a novel champion who will stay eternally within the Olympus of Italian sport,” stated the president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malagó, when in 2015 he awarded Gaiardoni the “Golden Necklace” for sporting advantage.
Second to Johnson in Leicester in 1970
Prime Palmarès:
1958
3º in Copenhagen, DBC’s Grand Prix for Amatører, (København, Dash, Amateurs), Ordrup (Hovedstaden), Denmark
1º in Nationwide Championship, Observe, Tandem with Sergio Bianchetto, Amateurs, Italy
2º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Amateurs, Paris (Ile-de-France), France
1959
2º in Copenhagen, DBC’s Grand Prix for Amatører, (København, Dash, Amateurs), Ordrup (Hovedstaden), Denmark
1º in Mediterranean Video games, Observe, 1 km, Elite, Beirut, Lebanon
1º in Mediterranean Video games, Observe, Dash, Elite, Beirut, Lebanon
1º in Trofeo Auro Boreri, (Milano – Busseto), Busseto (Emilia-Romagna), Italy
1º in Nationwide Championship, Observe, Tandem with Turchemeis Zanettini, Amateurs, Italy
2º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Amateurs, Amsterdam (Noord-Holland), The Netherlands
1960
1º in Copenhagen, DBC’s Grand Prix for Amatører, (København, Dash, Amateurs), Ordrup (Hovedstaden), Denmark
1º in Nationwide Championship, Observe, Tandem with Turchemeis Zanettini, Amateurs, Italy
1º in Grand Prix of Paris, (Paris, Dash, Amateurs), Paris (Ile-de-France), France
1º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Amateurs, Leipzig (Sachsen), German Democratic Republic
1º in Olympic Video games, Observe, 1 km, Elite, Roma (Lazio), Italy
1º in Olympic Video games, Observe, Dash, Roma (Lazio), Italy
1961
2º in Nationwide Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Italy
2º in Paris, Dash, Paris (Ile-de-France), France
1962
2º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Milano, Italy
1963
2º in GP du Roi, (Brussel/Bruxelles, Dash, Brussel (Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), Belgium
2º in Paris, Dash, Paris (Ile-de-France), France
1º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Rocourt, Belgium
1964
2º Paris, Dash, Paris (Ile-de-France), France
1º Nationwide Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Italy
1966
3º World Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Frankfurt, Germany
1969
3º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Antwerp, Belgium
1970
1º in Copenhagen, DBC’s Grand Prix for professionals, (København, Dash), Ordrup (Hovedstaden), Denmark
2º in Nationwide Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Italy
2º in World Championship, Observe, Dash, Elite, Leicester, Britain.
Santi Gaiardoni – RIP
Our condolences to the Gaiardoni household and pals.
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