Gerardo Conforti

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Gerardo Conforti (28 March 1903 – 29 June 1982) was an Italian equestrian and former soccer player. He was born in Salerno to a wealthy family. His parents, Pasquale Conforti and Assunta Di Martino, valued education, and in 1918 he entered the Nunziatella Military School in Naples. While at the school, he also played soccer as a defender for Salernitana.

After joining the Infantry and Cavalry Academy in Modena, he stopped playing soccer to focus on horsemanship. He became a prominent horseman and began winning major events at Piazza di Siena. In 1934 he won in Sanremo on a horse named Claudine, and in 1936 he won the Premio Roma in Piazza di Siena on a horse named Sabà, ending five years of French dominance and earning him national popularity. This victory helped him join the Italian team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In 1937, with teammates including Count Alessandro Bettoni Cazaggo and Ranieri di Campello e Frassetto, he won the Gran Premio delle Nazioni at Piazza di Siena. He won again in 1939 with a team that included Bettoni, Filippini and Gutierrez.

Conforti served in World War II as a Cavalry lieutenant in the Savoia Cavalleria. As a major, he was involved in the Izbushensky charge, one of the last cavalry charges of the Royal Italian Army. After the war he became director of the Italian committee of horsemanship and competed again in the 1948 Olympic Games.