Nino Borsari
Nino Borsari ( born December 14, 1911 in Cavezzo; † 31 March 1996 in Carlton ) was an Italian cyclist and Olympic champion.
Sports career
Nino Borsari came from very poor family and was an orphan. He worked for a wealthy pharmacist, who recognized his talent and bought him together with another sponsor a road bike. At the Olympic Games 1932 in Los Angeles, he won jointly with Marco Cimatti, Paolo Pedretti and Alberto Ghilardi the gold medal in the team pursuit. In 1934 he was second in Milan - Modena, and in 1935 he won the Circuito Emiliano - Lombardo.
Success of another kind celebrated Borsari at the six-day race at Madison Square Garden. Although he never took a front seat, he was as " showman " with a lot of charisma among organizers and audience favorite. In 1934 he started for the first time in Australia, the Victorian Centenary Cycling Tour won over 1700 miles and was even there soon became very popular.
An Italian in Australia
When Italy entered the Second World 1940 war, Borsari was in Australia. Since he had spent as a guest of the Australian Cycling Federation in Australia, he was spared from internment, and after the war he remained there. He opened two shops in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, where even then lived many Italians. One of them, Borsaris Emporium, were sold in the household and goods from Italy, was for 50 years and became the meeting place of the Italian district. Today the business is no longer in the family, there is " Borsari 's Ristorante ''. A second store for bicycles exists today.
In Carlton Nino Borsari engaged at various levels for the local Italian community. He promoted the sport of cycling in Australia brought Italian rider there and one of the founders and benefactors of the Juventus Soccer Club. He was called to a sort of unofficial mayor and King of Carlton by his willingness to help in the integration of Italians in Australia. As Melbourne is applied for the 1956 Olympics, Borsari traveled with the Australian delegation to London to make his influence felt. The vote went in favor of Melbourne, with a voice ahead of Buenos Aires, which was also attributed to Borsaris use. He also managed cyclists, boxers, auto racers, artists and singers who came from Italy to Australia. In 1967, he was founding president of the Australian Boxing Federation.
Nino Borsari wheel drove until he was 67 years old; In 1978, he was found unconscious after an accident on the street, he is two weeks in a coma. It took years to recover from it. At the age of 84 years he died of cancer. He left with the " Borsari Collection" important material for historical research of Italian immigration to Australia.
Family
1940 married Nino Borsari Fanny Cester, who had emigrated in 1937 from Italy to Australia; the couple had two children. Fanny Borsari also engaged socially. So it was in the 1950s, the first female president of a football club, the Geelong Soccer Club, and she was president of the Royal Children's Hospital Auxiliary Italian.
Honors
The stadium velodrome in his Italian hometown Cavazzo is named after Nino Borsari. In Italy, he was honored with the title Cavaliere.