Adolfo Cambiaso facts for kids
Cambiaso in 2019
|
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Dolfi |
| Born | 15 April 1975 Cañuelas, Argentina |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Polo |
| Rank | One (10-goal handicap) |
| Team | La Dolfina Polo Team |
| Achievements and titles | |
| World finals | Abierto de Polo with La Ellerstina: 1994, 1997, 1998 with La Dolfina: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. |
| Highest world ranking | 2 |
Adolfo Cambiaso (born April 15, 1975) is a famous Argentine professional polo player. He is known as one of the best polo players ever, with the highest possible skill rating, a 10-goal handicap. This means he is considered a master of the sport.
Contents
Early Polo Days
Adolfo's mom, Martina de Estrada Lainez, really wanted him and his half-brothers to play polo. He started playing at a very young age.
First Wins
- By age 12, Adolfo had a 1-goal handicap, which is a good start.
- A year later, at 13, his skill rating jumped to 3 goals.
- He won the Eduardo Heguy Cup with his team La Martina, playing alongside his father.
- In 1989, when he was 14, his team San Diego won the Campaña del Desierto Cup.
- A year after that, he won the Renault Cup Open with La Martina. His handicap then became 6 goals.
Becoming a Polo Star
The 1990s: Rising Fast
Adolfo Cambiaso traveled a lot to play polo around the world. He won 24 tournaments in Argentina, England, and the United States. He played for teams like La Martina and Ellerstina.
- In 1994, he achieved the "Triple Crown" with the Ellerstina team. This means they won the three biggest polo tournaments in Argentina: the Argentine Open, the Hurlingham Open, and the Tortugas Open.
- After this amazing success, his handicap rating went up to 10 goals. He was the youngest player ever to reach this top level.
Late 1990s: More Trophies
Between 1995 and 1999, Adolfo won 31 more tournaments. He played for teams such as La Martina, Ellerstina, White Birch, and Outback.
- In 1997, he received the Olimpia de Plata award. This award recognized him as the most important Argentine polo player of that year.
- He was also named the best player in the final of the Abierto Argentino in 1997.
- In the 1998 Abierto Argentino, he set a record by scoring 67 goals.
Early 2000s: New Team, New Wins
From 2000 to 2004, Adolfo won 33 more trophies. He left the Ellerstina team and started his own team called La Dolfina. He created this team with his friend Bartolomé Castagnola.
- La Dolfina quickly became very successful. They won the Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo (Argentine Open) in 2002.
- In England, he started playing for the Dubai team. With Dubai, he won the Cartier Queen's Cup three times. He also won the Gold Cup seven times, playing for different teams.
Mid-2000s: La Dolfina Dominates
Adolfo's La Dolfina team continued to be very strong. They won the Argentine Open in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
- In 2005, La Dolfina beat Ellerstina with a score of 20–19. This was the highest score ever in an Argentine Open final match.
- He kept playing well for the Dubai team in England.
- He also became the captain for the Crab Orchard team in the United States. With them, he won the US Open and the USPA Gold Cup.
- The year 2008 was a bit tougher for him. La Dolfina reached the finals of the Argentine Open but lost to Ellerstina.
Recent Achievements
Adolfo Cambiaso is still considered one of the best polo players in the world. He has played in the Argentine Open 15 times and won it 7 times. He also reached the final two other times.
- He has scored 535 goals in the Argentine Open alone. This broke the previous record of 531 goals held by Bautista Heguy.
- He has played for the Argentina national team since 2002. In that year, they won the Copa Quilmes.
Amazing Polo Horses
Adolfo Cambiaso has ridden many incredible horses throughout his career. Some of his most famous horses were Lili, Ilusión, Sospechosa, La Osa, and his favorite, Colibrí.
- Other well-known horses included Mambo, Bruma, and Dolfina Cuartetera.
- For the 2015 U.S. Open, his top horses were the mare Romana and the stallion Boeing. Boeing was even called the "American Pharoah" of the polo world, like the famous racehorse.
Horse Breeding and Cloning
When Adolfo was 25, he decided to start his own horse breeding business. He also created his polo team, La Dolfina. Today, he has almost 1000 horses on his large farms.
- One of his best polo ponies was a famous stallion named Aiken Cura.
- During the 2006 Argentine Open final, Aiken Cura was seriously injured. The horse had to retire early from playing.
- Sadly, Aiken Cura had to be put down in January 2007. But before that, Adolfo asked for some of the horse's skin cells to be saved. He hoped that one day, cloning might be possible.
Pioneering Horse Cloning
Adolfo Cambiaso became a leader in horse cloning. He worked with a polo fan named Alan Meeker.
- In 2010, they successfully created the first clone.
- Adolfo, along with biologist Dr. Adrian Mutto and businessman Ernesto Gutiérrez, cloned his favorite 17-year-old mare, Cuartetera, many times.
- He even rode clones of Cuartetera to win the 2017 Argentine Open.
- One clone of Cuartetera was sold for $800,000 at an auction. This made it the most expensive horse sale in polo history. Now, they don't sell the clones themselves, only their foals (baby horses).
Adolfo's Family Life
In 2001, Adolfo Cambiaso married María Vázquez, who was a model and TV presenter in Argentina. They have three children.
- Their first child, Mia, was born in 2002.
- Their son, Adolfo Jr, was born in 2005. This happened during the Argentine Polo Open. Adolfo Sr. even left his game halfway through to be there for his son's birth!
- Their youngest child, Myla, was born in 2010.
Awards and Special Recognition
Adolfo Cambiaso has received many awards for his amazing polo career.
- He won the Platinum Konex Award in 2000 and 2010. This award recognized him as the best polo player of each decade in Argentina.
- On June 24, 2012, Queen Elizabeth II gave Adolfo an award. She praised him for his efforts to train horses without using pain or distress. This was inspired by the horse trainer Monty Roberts.
See also
In Spanish: Adolfo Cambiaso para niños
