Luis Subercaseaux

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Subercaseaux and the second or maternal family name is Errázuriz.

Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz
Ambassador of Chile to Peru
In office 1934–193?
Preceded by	Manuel Rivas Vicuña
Succeeded by	Alfredo Duhal de Vásquez
Ambassador of Chile to Spain
In office 1951–1953
Preceded by	Jorge Barriga Errázuriz
Succeeded by	Óscar Salas Letelier
Ambassador of Chile to the Holy See
In office 1924–1930
Preceded by	Horacio Fernández
Succeeded by	Ricardo Ahumada
Personal details
Born	(1882-05-10)10 May 1882 Santiago, Chile
Died	1973(1973-00-00) (aged 90–91)
Sports career
National team	Chile
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, High jump, Football
Team	Club de Deportes Santiago Morning

Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz (10 May 1882 – 1973) was a Chilean diplomat and athlete. He is claimed to be the first Chilean and Latin American sportsman to have competed in the Olympic Games, at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Biography

Born in Santiago, he was the second son of Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña, a career diplomat, Ambassador of Chile to the Holy See for more than two decades, and Amalia Errázuriz Urmeneta, writer and author of the book "Rome of the spirit". Both his parents were members of well-known and well-off families. Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz was the brother of Juan Subercaseaux, a Roman Catholic archbishop.

According to the Comité Olímpico de Chile, Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz competed at the age of 13 in the 100, 400 and 800 metres. Many Olympic historians dispute this claim and maintain that, although he was entered in these events, he did not take part in any race. The International Olympic Committee website lists him as a non-starter in the 100 metres and the 800 metres, and does not list him in the 400 metres. An appraisal of a famous photo of series 2 of the 100 meters sprint, performed by facial recognition experts of the Chilean forensic police, concluded that Subercaseaux was one of the participants.

During this period in his life, he studied at the Colegio Benedictino located in the Basque Provinces of France, where he kept his record on the high jump. He was also one of the founding members of the Chilean football team Club de Deportes Santiago Morning and a successful football player.

Through 1928 he was ambassador of Chile in Peru, Spain and the Vatican, in addition to being an attendant of Chilean business in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia from the consular office in London.

A memorial to Subercaseaux stands in the entrance of the Chilean Olympic Museum.

See also

• Subercaseaux

External links

• Luis Subercaseaux at Olympedia
• De la Cuadra Gormaz, Guillermo (1982). Familias Chilenas: Origen y Desarrollo de las Familias Chilenas (in Spanish). Santiago: Zamorano y Caperán.
• Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. Excerpt available at HT-ref (i-xvi)
• aboutolympics.co.uk. "1896 Athens Olympics". Retrieved 21 February 2011. Fourteen nations were represented - Australia, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland
• Olympic Games Museum (2011). "Participating Countries - Olympic Games Athens 1896". Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
• Radio Cooperativa (5 August 2004). "Los chilenos que llegaron al Olimpo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2009. Luis Subercaseaux [...] compitió en los 100, 400 y 800 metros planos en los Juegos de Atenas 1896, la primera cita olímpica de la era moderna