Gaston Peers de Nieuwburgh

The son of a former Mayor of Waardamme, in northern Belgium, Baron Gaston Peers de Nieuwburgh was one of twins. In the 1800s he went to live in Argentina where he was the Administrator of the Belgian Colony of La Barrancosa. In 1899, de Nieuwburgh married one of Argentina’s socialites, Ernestina Costa Oliveira Cézar.

Nearly all his polo prior to the 1920 Olympics was played in Argentina and in 1900 de Nieuwburgh reached the final of the P. A. River Plate Open with his own San Carlos team. The following year they won the River Plate Open Championship, the forerunner of the Argentine Open, to become the only Belgian to win the trophy. With Sociedad Sportiva in 1908 he won the Copa Anchorena (now the Tortugas Open and one of polo’s Triple Crown events). At the Olympics Peers de Nieuwburgh played at back for Belgium in their two matches. A 6-goal handicap, his other titles included the 1906 Antwerpen Open Cup and the 1911 Belgian Championship.