Team photograph, 1924Arturo Kenny
Also known as Arturo Juan Kenny y Gahan
A member of the polo team that won Argentina's first Olympic gold in 1924; the Copa Arturo Kenny is played at Venado Tuerto each year.
- Born
- reported, Buenos Aires
Irish link
Irish link: ReportedOlympedia states Irish descent; no source opened traces the family's county.
Arturo Juan Kenny y Gahan was born in Buenos Aires on 12 December 1888. Olympedia, the Olympic reference database, states that he was of Irish descent, but no source opened for this site traces his family's county, so his link is graded as reported rather than documented. His date of death is not listed.
He is remembered for one tournament. At the 1924 Olympic Games the Argentine polo team won the gold medal, the country's first Olympic gold in any sport. Kenny scored six goals against Spain, and the team's captain, Jack Nelson, scored the winning goal in the 6–5 final against the United States. Argentina won polo gold again in 1936 with Luis Duggan in the team. Olympedia states Irish descent for Kenny, Nelson and Duggan, but not for their 1936 team-mate Roberto Cavanagh.
His name lives on in southern Santa Fe. The Copa Arturo Kenny is played each year at Venado Tuerto, the town founded by the Irish-Argentine landowner Eduardo Casey.
Sources
- Source: Olympedia, Arturo Kenny (accessed 11 Oct 2026), 11 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Source: Olympedia, Jack Nelson (accessed 11 Oct 2026), 11 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Source: Olympedia, Luis Duggan (accessed 11 Oct 2026), 11 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Source: Olympedia, Roberto Cavanagh (accessed 11 Oct 2026), 11 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Source: SILAS DILAB, José Bernardo Wallace, Casey, Eduardo (pub. 1 Nov 2005), 1 November 2005(opens in a new tab)