Agostino Abbagnale

Agostino Abbagnale is an Italian rower and triple Olympic gold medalist, born on 25 August 1966 in the hamlet of Messigno, Pompei. He is the younger brother of Carmine and Giuseppe Abbagnale and began training on the Sarno river under his uncle and coach Giuseppe La Mura. He won Olympic gold in the men's quadruple sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, in the double scull with Davide Tizzano at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and again in the quadruple sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. A diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis kept him from competing for five years after Seoul, and recurrences forced his retirement in 2003. He won world titles in the quadruple sculls in 1997 and 1998 and received the FISA Thomas Keller Medal in 2006.