BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Its victory in the Davis Cup, for the first time in 62 participations, was the high point of Argentinean sport in 2016, orchestrated by tennis star Juan Martin Del Potro.

"Delpo" was elected the Argentinean athlete of the year, after returning from injury to win the Davis Cup and take the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics after defeating two titans in Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, before losing to Andy Murray in the final.

However, Argentina's year was successful beyond the tennis courts at the Rio Olympics, with three gold medals and one silver.

This was the first time Argentina had scored three golds since London 1948.

The glory of standing atop the podium was shared between judoka Paula Pareto in the -48kg category, Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza in the Nacra 17 mixed sailing event and the male hockey team.

Rio also saw Argentina's largest Olympic delegation since London 1948, with 213 athletes making the Olmpics.

However, in the country's treasured football, Argentina suffered when it lost its fourth consecutive international final, losing the final of the Copa America Centenario to Chile on penalties.

This crisis led the country's talisman, Lionel Messi, to temporarily retire from the Albiceleste squad although he reversed his decision two months later.

There is still much to do for the team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. At the end of 2016, it languishes in fifth place in the South American qualifier rankings, which would only grant a play-off spot.

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