Giangiorgio, Conte Trissino

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameGiovanni Giorgio "Giangiorgio"•Trissino dal Vello D'Oro
Used nameGiangiorgio, Conte•Trissino
Born22 July 1877 in Vicenza, Vicenza (ITA)
Died22 December 1963 in Milano, Milano (ITA)
Title(s)Conte (Count) di Trissino e Valdagno Castelvecchio
NOC Italy
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 2

Biography

Vicenza’s Giangiorgio, Count Trissino was an Italian rider, and the first Italian Olympic champion. Not yet 23-years-old and a second lieutenant with the Genoa Cavalleria, he won the equestrian high jump aboard Oreste at the 1900 Paris Olympics, only three days after winning a silver medal in the long jump. Riding another horse, Melopo, which was allowed in 1900, he also placed fourth in the high jump. The first tile on the Walk of Fame of Italian Sport in Roma is dedicated to Gian Giorgio Trissino by virtue of winning the first Italian Olympic gold medal.

Both Italian horses were trained by the greatest rider of the time, Federico Caprilli, an army officer who was unable to compete in Paris on orders of the Ministry of War, during a troubled period in Italian society, with frequent riots, which culminated with King Umberto I being killed in Monza in July 1900.

Between 1915-17 Trissino was the author and director of several short films on horse riding, in many of which he acted together with Gemma Albini, whom he later married. Leaving the cavalry as a captain, the couple split their time between Roma, with Trissino attending at the King’s court, and Milano, where he devoted himself to musical composition, such as tango, fox-trot and one-step. At the end of World War II he moved permanently to Milano with his wife and three children, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1900 Summer Olympics Equestrian Jumping (Equestrian) ITA Giangiorgio, Conte Trissino
Long Jump, Open (Olympic) Oreste 2 Silver
High Jump, Open (Olympic) Oreste =1 Gold
High Jump, Open (Olympic) Mélepo 4
High Jump, Open (Olympic) Montebello AC

Special Notes