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In Memoriam: Joaquín Pérez de las Heras (MEX) 1936 – 2011

Joaquín Pérez de las Heras, the Mexican double Olympic bronze medallist who has died at the age of 75.

Lausanne (SUI), 26 May 2011 – Joaquín Pérez de las Heras (MEX), double bronze medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and with a professional jumping career spanning over 30 years, passed away on Friday, 20 May at the age of 75. His wife Joan and his daughter Katya were by his side.

Mr Pérez was widely tipped by the international equestrian community as a medal contender in Moscow having already competed at three previous Olympic Games in Mexico (1968), Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976). He had also enjoyed a highly successful European tour in the months running up the 1980 Games.

Riding the American-bred Alimony he clinched individual bronze and team bronze with compatriots Jesús Gómez Portugal, Alberto Valdes and Gerardo Tazzer in the Central Lenin Stadium, now part of Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic complex.

Mr Pérez was born in Ameca, Jalisco in central-western Mexico in 1936. At the age of 11 he became hooked on jumping after riding Arete (MEX), the horse ridden by Lieutenant Colonel Humberto Mariles (MEX) to double gold at the 1948 Olympic Games in London (GBR), a feat unequalled by any other Mexican sportsman at the time.

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