Humberto Mariles

Humberto Mariles

Medal record
Representing  Mexico
Olympic Games
Men’s equestrian
	1948 London	Jumping, Individual
	1948 London	Jumping, Team
	1948 London	Three-Day Event, Team

Humberto Mariles Cortés (June 13, 1913 in Parral, Chihuahua; died December 7, 1972) was a Mexican show jumping champion and two-time Olympic champion.

Career

He participated in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won gold medals in Individual Jumping and Team Jumping, as a member of the Mexican winning team^[1] aboard his Mexican-bred horse, Arete. Mariles Cortés made a bold move in the final jumping round, allowing his horse to jump into the water (and thus incur jumping faults) so that he would be appropriately balanced to clear the following jump, a large wall.^[2] Due to this strategy, Arete was the only horse to jump this obstacle clean.

He also earned a bronze medal in Three-Day Event, Team.

Mariles Cortés killed a man by gunshot in 1964, due to "road rage," and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.^[2] He served five of those years before being released, only to be arrested in 1972 after he was caught trafficking drugs in Paris. He died in his cell that same year, at the age of 59, but it is still unclear whether it was due to murder or suicide.^[2]

References