Delaval Astley


Major Delaval Graham L'Estrange Astley CB DL was a Major in the British Army. He has been claimed to have won a medals at the 1924 Winter Olympics for both the British and Swedish Curling teams. Despite being on the reserve British team, he made no appearances for either team during the Olympics and therefore was not eligible for a medal.

Early life

Delaval Astley was born on 7 December 1868 to Frederic Astley and Emma Schreiber.

Sporting career

Curling

Curling made its first appearance at an Olympic Games at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. Four teams took part, one from Great Britain, one from France and two teams from Sweden. Astley appeared on the reserve team for the British. It was claimed that Astley had played at some point for the British team thus becoming eligible, and also playing for Sweden in a playoff match with the French team. This would have meant that Astley won both a gold and silver medal for different countries in the same sport - the only time this would have occurred. However, Astley actually made no appearances during the 1924 Winter Olympics for any teams and was not eligible for medals of any type.