Santiago Lange

Santiago Lange was an Argentine sailor who had an Olympic career that spanned 32 years, from 1988 to 2020. Lange won three sailing Olympic medals, all in multi-hull classes, with bronzes in 2004 and 2008 in Tornado, and winning gold in the Nacra 17 alongside Cecilia Carranza in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. He and Carranza competed again at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, placing seventh in the Nacra 17 class. His seven Olympic appearances are the most ever by an Argentine athlete.

Lange won two silver medals at the Pan American Games, in the 1987 Snipe class and 1995 Laser. Lange won 10 medals at the World Championships, taking four titles, three in Snipe class in 1985, 1993, and 1995, and the Tornado division in 2004.

A well-rounded sailor, he began his Olympic career in 1988 in the Soling class but competed in the single-handed Laser event at Savannah in 1996. Lange twice sailed in the Volvo Ocean Race; in 2001–02 on Team SEB and in 2008–09 on Telefónica Black. He was also a crew member of the Swedish challenger Artemis Racing for the 34th Americas Cup in 2013.

Lange’s Olympic gold medal was won after he had developed lung cancer in 2015 and had to have 25% of his lung volume surgically removed. For that achievement he was named World Sailor of the Year in 2016 by World Sailing. Lange was also chosen to light the flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. His entire career saw him sail out of the Club Naútico San Isidro.