Joaquín Capilla Pérez (December 23, 1928 – May 8, 2010), was a Mexican diver who won the largest number of Olympic medals among Mexican athletes. Together with his elder brother

Alberto Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

he competed in the 3 m springboard and 10 m platform at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, finishing fourth in the two remaining competitions. He also won four medals at the Pan American Games, in 1951 and 1955. After retiring from competitions Capilla descended into poverty, chain smoking and alcoholism, eventually losing his family and home. He recovered owing to religion and later earned a degree in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. In 2009 he was awarded the National Sports Award. He died the next year in 2010 as a result of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

, at the age of 81.

References

1928 births 2010 deaths Mexican male divers Swimmers from Mexico City Olympic divers of Mexico Olympic gold medalists for Mexico Olympic silver medalists for Mexico Olympic bronze medalists for Mexico Divers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in diving Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Pan American Games medalists in diving Divers at the 1955 Pan American Games Divers at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games {{Mexico-acrobatics-diving-bio-stub