Luis Subercaseaux
Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz (1882–1973) was a Chilean diplomat and athlete. He is claimed to be the first Chilean and Latin American sportsman to have competed in the Olympic Games, at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Born in Santiago, he was the second son of Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña and Amalia Errázuriz Urmeneta, both of them members of well-known and well-off families. And was the brother of Juan Subercaseaux.
According to the Comité Olímpico de Chile, Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz competed at the age of 15 in the 100, 400 and 800 metres although many Olympic historians dispute this claim and maintain that, although he was entered in these events, he did not take part in any race.
During this period in his life, he studied at the Colegio Benedictino located in the Basque Provinces of France, where he kept his record on the high jump. He was also one of the founding members of the Chilean football team Club de Deportes Santiago Morning and a successful football player.
Through 1928 he was ambassador of Chile in Peru, Spain and the Vatican, in addition to being an attendant of Chilean business in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia from the consular office in London.
A memorial to Subercaseaux stands in the entrance of the Chilean Olympic Museum.
References
- De la Cuadra Gormaz, Guillermo (1982). Familias Chilenas: Origen y Desarrollo de las Familias Chilenas (in Spanish). Santiago: Zamorano y Caperán.
- Comité Olímpico de Chile. "La Presencia de Chile en los Juegos Olimpicos" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
- Mallon, Bill; & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. Excerpt available at HT-ref (i-xvi)
- aboutolympics.co.uk. "1896 Athens Olympics". Retrieved 21 February 2011.
Fourteen nations were represented - Australia, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland
- Olympic Games Museum (2011). "Participating Countries - Olympic Games Athens 1896". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- Radio Cooperativa (5 August 2004). "Los chilenos que llegaron al Olimpo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2009.
Luis Subercaseaux [...] compitió en los 100, 400 y 800 metros planos en los Juegos de Atenas 1896, la primera cita olímpica de la era moderna