{{Short description|Trinidad and Tobago sprinter (1935–2016)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Mike Agostini | image =Mike Agostini 1956b.jpg | imagesize = | caption =Agostini in 1956 | fullname = Michael George Raymond Agostini | nicknames = | nationality = | club =Villanova Wildcats | collegeteam = | birth_date ={{birth date|1935|1|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago<ref name=sr>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418010034/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ag/mike-agostini-1.html Mike Agostini]. sports-reference.com</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|2016|5|12|1935|1|23|df=y}} | death_place = Sydney, Australia | height =171 cm | weight =66 kg | country = Trinidad and Tobago | sport = Athletics | event=Sprint |pb = 100 m – 10.2 (1958)<br>200 m – 20.5 (1956)<ref name=tf>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=52&Gender=M Michael Agostini]. trackfield.brinkster.net</ref> | medaltemplates= {{Medal|Country|{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago|colonial}}}} {{Medal|Competition|Commonwealth Games}} {{Medal|Gold | 1954 Vancouver | 100 yd}} {{Medal|Bronze | 1958 Cardiff | 100 yd}} {{Medal|Competition|Pan American Games}} {{Medal|Silver| 1955 Mexico City | 100 m}} {{Medal|Bronze| 1955 Mexico City | 200 m}} {{Medal|Country | {{flagIOC|BWI|1960 Summer}} }} {{Medal|Competition|Pan American Games}} {{Medal|Silver| 1959 Chicago | 100 m}} {{Medal|Bronze| 1959 Chicago | 200 m}} {{Medal|Bronze| 1959 Chicago | 4×100 m }} }}
'''Michael George Raymond Agostini''' (23 January 1935 – 12 May 2016) was a Trinidadian track and field athlete. He was the first athlete from his country to win a gold medal at what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, when he won the 100 yards final in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 31 July 1954.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/more-sports/former-champion-sprinter-mike-agostini-has-died-at-the-age-of-81/news-story/929d54f89ee4d34b8401483974a37e7c |title= Former champion sprinter Mike Agostini has died at the age of 81 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 May 2016 |access-date=17 May 2016 |author= Mike Hurst, David Tarbotton}}</ref><ref name="TTG" />
== Early life == Michael Agostini was born on 23 January 1935 at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. He was of Corsican,<ref>{{cite book | last = de Verteuil | first = Anthony | date = 2005 | title = The Corsicans in Trinidad | publisher = Litho Press | publication-place = Port of Spain, Trinidad | page = 77 | isbn = 978-976-95008-6-0}}</ref> according to other sources of Portuguese and Italian descent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Agostini - Munzinger Biographie |url=https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/michael+agostini/1/51016.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.munzinger.de |language=de}}</ref> His family had interests in sports: his father played football, his mother played hockey, and all his siblings participated in football and athletics events at St. Mary's College, where they studied.<ref name="TTG">{{cite web|url=http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-12-02/SA-7.html |title=Agostini's gold – T&T's first |author=Bernard Linley |date=1 December 2004|work=The Trinidad Guardian |access-date=16 May 2016}}</ref>
== Athletics career == Agostini participated in athletics, football, and boxing in his school days. In 1952, at Kingston, he defeated Jamaican sprinter Herb McKenley, who had won one gold and two silver medals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. On a scholarship, Agostini enrolled at Villanova University, where he received training from Jumbo Elliott.<ref name="TTG" /> On 23 January 1954, his 19th birthday, he set a world indoor record for over 100 yards at Washington, beating Olympic champion Lindy Remigino.<ref name="IAAF" /> The same year, he competed in the 1954 Commonwealth Games at Vancouver, Canada, and won gold in the 100 yards race (9.6). He defeated Canadian Don McFarlane (9.7) and Australian Hec Hogan (9.7), becoming the first athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to win gold at the Commonwealth Games.<ref name="TTG"/> Hogan was then in the news for tying the world records of 100 yards (9.3) and 100 m (10.2) and was the most anticipated winner. Reports suggest that Hogan's performance was hampered after he was informed that Agostini had ironically stated in a pre-Games interview, "Who the heck is Hogan?" when questioned about him.<ref name="TTG" />
In 1955 Agostini participated in the Pan American Games held in Mexico and won a silver and a bronze in the 100 m and 200 m races, respectively.<ref name="PAG">{{cite web|url= http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/pag.htm |title= Pan American Games | access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> He also won silver at the 1959 Chicago Pan American Games in the 100 m, a bronze in the 200 m, and another bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay.<ref name="PAG" />
Agostini was an All American sprinter for the Fresno State Bulldogs track and field team, finishing 3rd in the 100 m at the 1956 NCAA track and field championships.<ref name="100 meters at the NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships">{{cite web |url=https://www.ustfccca.org/records-lists/meet-history-by-event?gender=1&series=3369&event=2 |title=100 meters at the NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships |website=USTFCCCA |access-date=28 December 2024}}</ref>
In the next Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958, he stood third in the 100 yards run behind Keith Gardner of Jamaica and Tom Robinson of Bahamas.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/cg.htm|title= Commonwealth Games Medallists – Athletics (Men)|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> Agostini won another gold in the 1959 British West Indies Championships in the 100 m and a bronze in the 200 m.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/bwic.htm |title= British West Indies Championships |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>
Agostini had also represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Men's 100 m and Men's 200 m at the 1956 Summer Olympics, ranking 6th and 4th, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-100-metres.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417094425/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-100-metres.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 100 metres |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-200-metres.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174400/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-200-metres.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title= Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 200 metres |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>
==Post-retirement== Agostini retired from active sports in the late 1950s. He graduated with a degree in economics from Fresno State University, California, in 1958. In the late 1950s Agostini moved to Australia and married Pamela, with whom he had two daughters and two sons.<ref name="IAAF">{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/iaaf-news/mike-agostini-obituary |title=Trinidadian sprint legend Agostini dies |work=International Association of Athletics Federations |date= 12 May 2016 |access-date=16 May 2016}}</ref> He received Australian citizenship in 1961. He coached various sprinters, including Ralph Doubell, Andrew Ratcliffe, Peter Vassella, and Jenny Lamy.<ref name="TTG" /> He worked as a freelance journalist and as a teacher for a brief time, and also served as editor and publisher for ''Track and Field'' magazine in the mid-1960s. He edited numerous periodicals and authored nine books. In 2007, Mike Agostini was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fresnoahof.org/current-past-inductees|title=Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame {{!}} Home|website=Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame {{!}} Home|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731195939/https://www.fresnoahof.org/current-past-inductees|archive-date=31 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his later years, he suffered from arthritis and pancreatic cancer. He died on 12 May 2016 of cancer in Sydney.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="IAAF" />
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Mike Agostini}} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150514030304/http://www.sportarchivestt.com/athletes/michael-agostini/ Profile at sportarchivestt.com]}} * [http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/olympics/agostini.html Profile] at ''Best of Trinidad''
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 100 metres Men}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agostini, Mike}} Category:1935 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Trinidad and Tobago men sprinters Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen Category:Australian sportswriters Category:Australian businesspeople Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Pan American Games athletes for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the British West Indies Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for the British West Indies Category:Pan American Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Australia Category:Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Track and field athletes from California Category:Trinidad and Tobago people of French descent Category:Trinidad and Tobago people of Portuguese descent Category:Villanova Wildcats men's track and field athletes Category:California State University, Fresno, alumni Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics Category:Fresno State Bulldogs men's track and field athletes