Manuel Andrada

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameManuel Ángel•Andrada Ballesteros
Used nameManuel•Andrada
Nick/petnamesEl Paisano
Born9 January 1890 in Coronel Suárez, Provincia de Buenos Aires (ARG)
Died21 September 1962 in Washington, Córdoba (ARG)
NOC Argentina
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Originally a horse trainer Manuel Andrada, who was known as “El Paisano”, was the most popular polo player in Argentina in the 1930s. He became a 9-handicap player and it remained a mystery amongst the sport’s elite that he was never elevated to a maximum 10. He uniquely won the Argentine Open six times with five different teams. He won it with Santa Paula in 1930 and 1933, with La Rinconada in 1931, Tortugas in 1935, Los Indios in 1938 and El Trébol in 1939. When he played in his final Open with El Campito in 1947 he was still a 7-handicap player and was amongst the top 16 players in Argentina even though he was 57 years of age at the time.

The US Open winner in 1931 with Santa Paula, Andrada was a reserve on the first Argentine team to compete for the Cup of the Americas against the USA in 1928. However, he was his team’s captain in 1932 and 1936, when the South Americans won the trophy for the first time. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 1936. Andrada played for nearly 50 years and died only a few hours after playing in a tournament in Cordóba province in Argentina. In 1950 he had been appointed the assistant treasurer of the Argentine Polo Association and at the age of 64 he was still a 4-handicap player. His three sons Manuel Hector ‘Bebe’, Oscar Miguel ‘Fungi’ and Eduardo Diego ‘Jimmy’ all became polo payers

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1936 Summer Olympics Polo ARG Manuel Andrada
Polo, Men (Olympic) Argentina 1 Gold

Errata

Date of death also seen as 23 September 1962.