Santiago Lange

“Viento” ( wind) sums up one of the most emblematic chapters of his life: when he won his medal at the 2016 Olympics, months after overcoming lung cancer.

“Viento” is the autobiography of Santiago Lange, Rio 2016 champion sailor and flag-bearer of the Argentine delegation together with Cecilia Carranza, at the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The title revives one of the darkest, and at the same time, most glorious chapters of his life: Lange won, together with Carranza, Argentina’s first gold medal in the mixed Olympic yachting category, in Rio 2016.

Ten months earlier, three-quarters of a lung had been removed, after detecting cancer.

“The Rio gold medal represents the conquest of a dream that I pursued for a long time. That Olympic podium not only marks the highest point of my career, but it is linked to the most important elections of my life. Without my noticing it, the line that divided my days on the water and my days on land was blurring. For this reason, when the medal was hung on me, I felt that my whole story came together at that moment. ”

In this book, written in collaboration with the journalist Nicolás Cassese, Santiago looks in the rear-view mirror and reviews the long road that led him to his laurels.

A demanding father, who participated as a substitute in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games and the passion for aquatic life mark the life of this naval architect who has competed since ”88 in his seventh Games.

“The freedom I felt in the river contrasted with the discipline that my father, Enrique Jorge Lange, exercised at home”

“Before going to sleep, our duty was to leave the wardrobes spotless and prepare the clothes for the next day on a chair next to the bed. My father would review every so often. He once threw the contents of the wardrobes on the floor and forced us to put everything back together ”, he recalled about his father, who was also a Navy sailor.

“Wind” is more than the life of one of the world’s greatest sailors: it is the story behind the sports legend, a tale of resilience, tenacity and what it really means to fight for a dream.