Delfo Cabrera played football as a youth, but decided to turn to athletics after Juan Carlos Zabala’s triumph at the 1932 Olympics. Cabrera moved to Buenos Aires in 1938 and won his first national championship, in the 5,000 m, that year. He would win a total of 10 national titles, but none of them in the marathon. Cabrera served in the Army during World War II, where he met Juan Perón. After the war, as a friend of Perón, he was an active member of the Justicialist Party. Cabrera received the Peronist Medal in 1949.
The London Olympic Games were Cabrera’s first major international meet. Belgian Étienne Gailly dominated the marathon race most of the way, until the final few yards. He was the first to enter the stadium, but on that final lap, Gailly fell down, exhausted, and that happened several times, eerily reminiscent of Dorando Pietri’s dramatic finish at the 1908 Olympic marathon. Cabrera and Tom Richards of Great Britain managed to pass the staggering Gailly, Cabrera winning by 16 seconds ahead of Richards, with Gailly taking bronze. Cabrera also competed at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, placing sixth in the marathon. He ended his athletics career after the 1954 Boston Marathon, where he finished sixth. Cabrera later taught physical education in several schools. He died in a car accident near Buenos Aires.
Personal Best: Mar – 2-26:43 (1952).
Argentina