<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The horse has always played an important
\npart in the rural civilization, in Romania. That is why horse riding contests
\nare placed among Romanian traditional sports disciplines. In Romanian villages,
\nto this day, youngsters still compete galloping on horseback, of driving a
\nwagon. Little wonder then, that the first Olympic medal in an individual sports
\ndiscipline was won in a horse-riding contest. It is not an individual event
\nproper, since success equally goes to the jockey and the horse, so we are in a
\nbit of a conundrum if, in the case of a notable performance, we may want to
\ndiscriminate between the animal’s talent and the skill of the jockey.. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The medal-winning couple was made of cavalry
\nlieutenant Henri Rang and his horse Delfis. In Berlin, in 1936, Rang and Delfis
\ncame in 2nd in the steeple-chase event. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rang and Delfis had an excellent run.
\nHowever, they had to compete in a playoff for the gold medal with German
\nlieutenant Kurt Hasse, who was riding Tora. From this point onwards, stories
\nvary, according to their sources. Were we to believe what was written in the
\nSports Gazzette at that time, Tora was the first to enter the playoff contest.
\nIn the last obstacle, Tora failed, and her course ended with a penalty. Then it
\nwas the turn of the Romanian stallion, Delfis, which had an elegant start.
\nDelfis had no problem jumping over the first obstacle, bringing the German
\naudience to a standstill. The prospects of grabbing the gold medal were
\ndistant. Right before the last obstacle, the most difficult one, the obstacle where
\nTora made the mistake, Delfis slightly touched the upper bar, failing as well.
\nThe German public literally exploded, and their joy was complete when the
\nspeaker announced lieutenant Hasse was the winner because of the shorter timing
\nhe succeeded during the course. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Little is known about Lieutenant Henri
\nRang. He was born in 1902. Rang was a member of the golden generation of
\nRomanian equitation, whose most popular name was that of Felix Topescu. Henri
\nRang got seriously involved in high-performance competitions, taking part in a
\ngreat number of international top-flight contests, until the outbreak of World
\nWar Two. Rang died an untimely death in 1946, when he was only 44. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jockey Henri Rang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":83019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[41667,41669,41668],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-119628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-jockey","tag-obstacle","tag-steeplechase"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n