Giorgio Oberweger, who played a leading role in Italian athletics for nearly half a century, died last night aged 84.
Oberweger was born in Trieste, Italy, on 22 December 1913. He commenced his athletics career at the start of the Thirties and was selected to represent Italy in 1932. He participated in two Olympics and two European championships, competing in the first edition of the European championships, in 1934, in Turin. Four years later, he won silver in Paris, behind Germany’s Willy Schröder.
The high point of his career came in the 1936 Games in Berlin, when he won bronze in the discus.
As eclectic in the stadium as he was in his daily life (he was an economics graduate), Giorgio Oberweger was also an excellent 110m hurdler, competing in this discipline in the 1938 European championships. In 1939 he was Italian champion in the event, adding this to the four titles held in the discus
In 1946 he was appointed Technical Commissioner by the Italian Federation. Uniquely, Oberweger wore three different hats at the 1948 Olympics in London: athlete (he was knocked out in qualifying in the discus), technical commissioner of the Italian team and international race walking judge.
He subsequently became vice-president of FIDAL, a member of the IAAF Council and remained a technical commissioner until 1961. He was an honorary member of the IAAF.
IAAF President, Dr Primo Nebiolo, remembered Giorgio Oberweger with these words: "Oberweger was a leading figure in the athletics movement in Italy and world-wide. He was an excellent athlete and administrator who has marked the history of our sport; just as the memory of a man who was full of vitality and intelligence will stay with those, like myself, who were fortunate enough to have known him as a friend and fellow traveller along the path of sport."
IAAF