Along with teammates Humberto Mariles, who also won individual gold – a feat unequalled by any other Mexican sportsman at the time – and Rubén Uriza, who added individual silver to the team gold, the trio created an iconic day for Mexican sports at those London Games.

The day was all the more poignant for Valdés as he received news by telegram that his daughter had been born just before he competed in the Empire Stadium, now known as Wembley Stadium.

He said the Olympic medal was the most rewarding prize of his career, not for the personal achievement alone, but "because Mexico had never won anything in the Olympics".

Equestrianism became a way of life for Valdés at the age of 10, after he moved to Paris with his father who had been appointed military attaché to the Mexican Embassy.


Valdés was part of a generation of accomplished Mexican riders who won major competitions in the United States, Canada and Europe, and he passed on his talent to his son Alberto Valdés Lacarra Jr, who won team bronze at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.

Valdés was a torchbearer at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara at the age of 92 and passed the torch to diver Paola Espinosa, a fellow Olympian, who descended on wires from the roof of the Omnilife stadium to light the Pan American cauldron.

"The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Alberto Valdés Ramos' family and friends, to the Mexican Equestrian Federation and the international jumping community," read a statement from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Valdés died of natural causes at his home in Mexico City.

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