Agostino Straulino

Agostino Straulino (October 10, 1914 – December 14, 2004) was an Italian sailor and sailboat racer, who won one Olympic gold medal and one silver medal in the Star class, and eight consecutive European championships and two world championships in this class and was world champion in the 5.5m-class [http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_81.shtml] .

Straulino was born in Mali Lošinj on the island of Lošinj, Croatia (at that time in the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary).

He gained his first sailing experiences as a child on the Kvarner Gulf of the northern Adriatic Sea. He later attended the naval academy at Livorno and embarked on a naval career during which he was commanding officer of the Italian training vessel "Amerigo Vespucci" for some time and eventually rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.

At the 1936 Summer Olympics he was a reserve sailor.

He first competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics and finished fifth in the Star class.

Between 1949 and 1956 he won eight consecutive European championships in the starboat class. In 1952 and 1953 he was also world champion in this class. The climax of his career as a sportsman was his gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki [http://www.sailing.org/706.php] . Four years later he won the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. After his partner Nicolò Rode (also from Lošinj) quit, Straulino continued to compete at Olympic games with his new partner Carlo Rolandi in the starboat class (1960 Summer Olympics, Rome, fourth place) and the 5.5m-class (1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo, fourth place). A year later he won the world championship in the 5.5m-class.

He continued to compete in regattas in bigger boats and won the One Ton Cup off Porto Cervo in 1973 and the Italian Giraglia long-distance-race.

Mali Lošinj pronounced him an honorable citizen . Straulino was the initiator of "Lošinjska regata", a sailing competition. hr icon [http://www.morsko-prase.hr/2006/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1236&Itemid=62 Morsko prase] In memoriam Agostinu Straulinu (article originally from Novi list), Jan 9, 2005] .

Straulino died in Rome in 2004.

Non-sporting biography

Despite having the property of his family nationalized and expropriated by Tito's Yugoslavia, and despite early leaving of his island of birth, Straulino was so deeply in love with his island that he was regular visitor, especially after he had retired and always wanted to know what was going on Lošinj. In fact, from his position, he helped former Yugoslavia.

His final wish was fulfilled, so he was buried in Croatia, in his village of birth, Mali Lošinj. [hr icon [http://www.novilist.hr/Default.asp?WCI=Rubrike&WCU=2861286328592863285A28582858285D28632877287C286328632859285A285D285B2859285B28632863286328582863X Novi list] U Malom Lošinju na posljednje počivalište ispraćen Agostino Straulino - Posljednji velikan lošinjskog pomorstva, Jan 9, 2005]

References

External links

* [http://www.starclass.org/artman/publish/article_81.shtml 2003 Biography in English]