Aldo Montano (born 18 November 1978) is an Italian fencer and a five-time Olympic medalist. He received a gold medal in sabre individual at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

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. On 11 October 2011, he won the gold medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Catania, Italy. He won a silver medal in Men's team sabre at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Biography

He is the third generation of his family to win a fencing medal for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. Aldo initially took up

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

, but switched to

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

so he could follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. His grandfather, Aldo Montano, won silver medals on the team event in

at the 1936 Summer Olympics and the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Aldo's father,

Mario Aldo Montano Mario Aldo Montano (born 1 May 1948) is an Italian fencer. He won a gold and two silver medals in the team sabre at three Olympic Games. He is the son of fencer Aldo Montano who competed for Italy at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics. His son ...

, was part of the Italian sabre team that won the gold medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, and the team silver medals for sabre at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

, and again at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His uncles ( Mario Tullio Montano and Tommaso Montano) were also on the same team as his father (at both the 1972 and 1976 Olympic events). Another uncle,

Carlo Montano Carlo Montano (born 25 September 1952) is an Italian fencer. He won a silver medal in the team foil event at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ...

, won silver in team foil in 1976. Since 2015 he was in a relationship with the Russian track and field athlete Olga Plachina, born in 1996. They got married in 2016 and as of December 2016 are expecting their first child, a girl, who they want to name Olimpia.

Achievements

Montano is one of the most successful Italian sabre fencers of all time, surpassing the success of his father and grandfather as fencers. He has five Olympic medals, one gold for the individual event in 2004 Summer Olympics, 2 silver medals for the team event in 2004 Summer Olympics and

and 2 bronze medals for the team events in 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. The gold medal bout in 2004 was a "thrilling" final against Hungary's Zsolt Nemcsik, with a final score of 15-14. Nemcsik established an early lead of 5-1, while Montano struggled with a leg cramp. The score remained close during the entire bout, with many close calls, but the final touch by Aldo demonstrated his strength on offense with a powerful redoublement attack. Aldo Montano has also been very successful at the

, having one gold medal, five silver medals and three bronze medals for individual and team events. He also has seven European Championships medals, five of them gold, as well as a gold medal from the 2005 Mediterranean Games.

Tribute

References

External links

* * * *
Aldo Montano profile from the official site of the Olympics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montano, Aldo 1978 births Living people Italian male sabre fencers Olympic fencers of Italy Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Sportspeople from Livorno Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing Fencers of Fiamme Azzurre Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics