Today Oldest Olympians has two milestone birthdays to celebrate, so we are combining them into a single blog post instead of choosing between them. Sadly, we also have two deaths from among the oldest Olympian titleholders to report as well.
First, we are wishing Italian sport shooter Ennio Mattarelli a happy 97th birthday! Mattarelli represented Italy in the trap event at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he won the gold medal. He also competed in 1968, where he was 27th, and won seven medals – three of them gold – at the World Championships between 1961 and 1974. He later worked as a coach and opened a business that manufactured clay pigeon launchers, and is now the oldest living Italian Olympic medalist and Olympic medalist in sport shooting!
(Jean Laudet, pictured in the center at Histoire du Canoë)
Next, we are wishing French canoeist Jean Laudet a happy 95th birthday! Laudet represented his country in the C-2 10,000 metres event at the 1952 Helsinki Games, alongside Georges Turlier (another of the oldest Olympians), and took home the gold medal. He later worked as an antiquarian and is now the oldest living Olympic canoeing medalist!
(Ivo Cipci)
Then, Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn of the deaths of two titleholders among the oldest Olympic water polo players. First, Italian Salvatore Gionta, born December 22, 1930, died July 28 at the age of 94. Gionta represented his country in the tournaments at the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics, winning bronze and gold respectively. He was also a Mediterranean Games champion in 1955 and a European Championship bronze medalist in 1954. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Olympic water polo medallist. That distinction now goes to the only other water polo medallist over the age of 90: Ivo Cipci, born April 25, 1933, who took silver with Yugoslavia in 1956.
(Edson Perri)
Second, Brazilian Edson Perri, born June 5, 1928, died August 2 at the age of 97. Perri represented his country in the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the preliminary round. At the Pan American Games, he took silver in 1951 and bronze in 1955. He then took up coaching and led the Brazilian team at the 1968 and 1984 Olympics. At the time of his death, Perri was the oldest living Olympic water polo player overall; the new titleholder is Gerry Worsell, born May 1, 1930, who represented Great Britain in 1952 and 1956.