Jockey Henri Rang
The horse has always played a crucial part in the dynamics of the rural civilization in Romania. Therefore, equestrian competitions have always had their place among Romanian traditional sports. In Romanian villages, even to this day youngsters compete riding a horse or driving horse-drawn wagons.
Little wonder, then, that the first Romanian Olympic medal in an individual event was won by a jockey in an equestrian contest. It is rather inappropriate to say that the feat was a purely individual one, since the credit for success should always and equally go to the jockey and the horse he rides. In equestrian disciplines, it has always been difficult to have a clear-cut success ratio placing the talent of the horse against the mastery of the jockey riding it, when it comes to a top performance.
The medal-winning couple was made of cavalry lieutenant Henri rang and his horse Delfis. In Berlin, in 1936, the two came in 2nd in the steeple-chasing event.
Rang and Delfis had an excellent trail. And yet, they had to compete in a play-off session for the gold medal, having to prove their mettle against German lieutenant Kurt Hasse and his horse. From this episode onward, versions are divergent, according to their source. Were we to believe the info provided by the Sports Magazine of that time, in the playoff, Tora and Kasse were the first competitors. For the final obstacle of the chase, Tora fails and ends the race with a penalty. It was the Romanian stallion's turn; the horse had an elegant start and uninterruptedly jumped over the obstacles. The German public was suddenly brought to a standstill. The prospects of winning the gold medal became distant. Then, before the most difficult obstacle, the last one, actually the one where Tora failed, Delfis slightly touched the upper bar, also failing. The German public literally exploded; their joy was total when the speaker announced the winning of the race by Lieutenant Hasse, for the shorter timing he managed during the race.
Very little is known about lieutenant Rang He was a member of the golden generation of Romanian equestrianism, with the name of Felix Topescu being the most familiar one. Henri Rang trained for top-level horse-riding competitions, taking part in top-flight international tournaments until the outbreak of World War Two. Henri Rang died in 1946, at the age of 44.
(Translation by Eugen Nasta)
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