Hal Haig Prieste
{{short description|Armenian-American athletic diver (1896–2001)}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Hal Haig Prieste (Keshishian)
| image = Hal_Haig_"Harry"_Prieste,_holding_the_original_Antwerp_Flag.jpg
| caption = Hal Prieste, holding the original Olympic "Antwerp" Flag
| birth_name = Haig Prieste
| nickname = Harry
| nationality =
| national_team = United States
| citizenship =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|11|23}}
| birth_place = Fresno, California
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|04|19|1896|11|23}}
| death_place = Camden, New Jersey
| resting_place = Inglewood Park Cemetery
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Athlete, stunt man
| years_active =
| height = 5 ft 2 in
| country = United States
| sport = Diving
| club = Illinois Athletic Club
| coach =
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry| {{USA}} }}
{{MedalSport|Men's Diving}}
{{MedalBronze|1920 Antwerp|10 metre platform}}
| medaltemplates-title =
| module3 =
}}
Hal Haig "Harry" Prieste (November 23, 1896 – April 19, 2001) was an American athlete who participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp as a diver.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51524 |title=Hal Haig Prieste |work=Olympedia |access-date=8 August 2021}}
Biography
He was born Haig Prieste in Fresno, California, to Armenian immigrant parents. Their original surname was Keshishian. "Haig" is the name of the progenitor of the Armenians. Prieste first took "Harry" as his American name, but later switched to "Hal."
He won a bronze medal in platform diving as a member of the 1920 US Olympic team.{{cite web |title=Harry Prieste |url=http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PRIESHAR01 |website=databaseOlympics |access-date=14 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319003406/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PRIESHAR01 |archive-date=19 March 2007 |date=2006 |url-status=dead}} He also competed in the 1920 plain high diving event, but he was eliminated in the first round.
He is known for taking the original five-interlocking-ring Olympic flag as a prank at the 1920 Summer Olympics hosted by the city of Antwerp, Belgium. At the end of the Games, the flag could not be found. In 1997, at a banquet hosted by the US Olympic Committee, a reporter was interviewing him and the reporter mentioned that the IOC had not been able to find out what had happened to the original Olympic flag. "I can help you with that," Prieste said matter-of-factly; "it's in my suitcase."{{cite web |last1=Ortiz |first1=Miguel |title=This WWI Navy vet stole the 1920 Olympic flag |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/this-wwi-navy-vet-stole-the-1920-olympic-flag/ |website=We Are The Mighty |access-date=14 April 2024 |language=en |date=13 August 2022}} At the end of the Antwerp Olympics, spurred on by team-mate Duke Kahanamoku, he climbed a flagpole and stole the Olympic flag. For 77 years the flag was stored away in the bottom of his suitcase. The flag was returned to the IOC by Prieste, by then 103 years old, in a special ceremony held at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.{{cite news |title=Flag Returned by 103-Year-Old Olympian |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100602&page=1 |access-date=14 April 2024 |work=ABC News |date=11 September 2000 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Sandomir |first1=Richard |title=Missing Flag Returns to Glory, Courtesy of a Prankster |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/sports/olympics-notebook-missing-flag-returns-to-glory-courtesy-of-a-prankster.html |access-date=14 April 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=12 September 2000}} At the handover, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch gave him a commemorative Olympic medal in a box, to which the hard-of-hearing Prieste responded, "What is it? Kleenex?"{{cite news |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |title=London 2012: Olympic Flag Is Games' Constant Symbol |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/olympic-flag-is-games-constant-symbol/ |access-date=14 April 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=27 July 2012 |language=en}} The Antwerp Olympic Flag is now on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a plaque thanking him for donating it.
At the time of his death at 104, Prieste was the world's oldest former Olympic medalist,{{cite web |title=Some Olympic Trivia Q&A |url=http://www.olympic-medallists.com/trivia.htm |website=olympic-medallists.com |access-date=14 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040212222801/http://www.olympic-medallists.com/trivia.htm |archive-date=12 February 2004 |url-status=usurped}} and the first known Olympian whose lifespan covered three centuries (1896–2001).
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE3DE1738F931A2575AC0A9669C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/F/Flags,%20Emblems%20and%20Insignia New York Times article]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070319003406/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PRIESHAR01 Profile of Hal Haig Prieste]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieste, Hal Haig}}
Category:American sportspeople of Armenian descent
Category:Divers at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in diving
Category:Sportspeople from Fresno, California
Category:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Category:American men centenarians