Aldo Montano III (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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. 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 ...

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

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

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Biography

Montano is the third generation of his family to win a fencing medal for Italy at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He 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 ma ...

, but switched to

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

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 The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

and the

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

. Aldo's father, Mario Aldo Montano, 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 officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, and the team silver medals for sabre at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, and again at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. 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, 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

, 2 silver medals for the team event in

and

and 2 bronze medals for the team events in

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. 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 A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

medals, five of them gold, as well as a gold medal from the

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

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 for 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 Fencers at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Fencers from Livorno Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing Fencers of Fiamme Azzurre Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics