Major Delaval Graham L'Estrange Astley, CB, DL (7 December 1868 – 17 May 1951) was a Major in the British Army. He has been claimed to have won a medals at the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France ...

for both the British and Swedish Curling teams. Despite being on the reserve British team, he made no appearances for either team during the Olympics and therefore was not eligible for a medal.

Early life

Delaval Astley was born in Aylsham, Norfolk, on 7 December 1868 to Frederic Astley and Emma Schreiber. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Welch Regiment, and after he retired from the regular army was appointed a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

North Somerset Yeomanry The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on ...

on 11 July 1895. He later served as aide-de-camp to Colonel Boyle, Commander of the West Counties Brigade Volunteer Infantry.

Sporting career

Curling

Curling made its first appearance at an Olympic Games at the

in Chamonix, France. Four teams took part, one from Great Britain, one from France and two teams from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Astley appeared on the reserve team for the British. It was claimed that Astley had played at some point for the British team thus becoming eligible, and also playing for Sweden in a playoff match with the French team. This would have meant that Astley won both a gold and silver medal for different countries in the same sport - the only time this would have occurred. However, Astley actually made no appearances during the 1924 Winter Olympics for any teams and was not eligible for medals of any type.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, Delaval 1868 births 1951 deaths People from Aylsham 20th-century British Army personnel 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Norfolk Welch Regiment officers North Somerset Yeomanry officers Curlers at the 1924 Winter Olympics Deputy Lieutenants of Norfolk Olympic curlers for Great Britain Sportspeople from Norfolk