Italy at the Olympics
Although the Italian National Olympic Committee was only formed in 1908 and officially recognized in 1913, Italy is one of the few countries that have been to all of the Summer and Winter Olympics. They also rank one of the top-five countries in all of the Olympic games when it comes to gold medal count and one of the top-six countries on the sheer number of Olympic medals earned.
Italy has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1960 which was held on Rome. They were also one of the most dominating teams that year raking in 36 Olympic medals that included 13 gold medals making them the 3rd overall from a pool of 83 participating countries. The country has also hosted the Winter Olympics twice.
Trivia
- In London, 1908, Italian Dorando Pietri needed to be helped across the finish line of the marathon, and was declared the winner before being later disqualified in favor of Johnny Hayes of the USA.
- In 1928, gymnast Luigina Giavotti became the youngest medalist of all time, when he helped the Italian gymnastics team pick up a silver. He was 11 years and 302 days old.
- Canoeist Josefa Idem became the first woman to compete in eight Olympics, eventually reaching the final of the K1-500m event at the 2012 Olympics at the age of 48. She competed for West Germany in 1988, then for Italy from 1992 until 2012.
- Sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs was the surprise winner of the men's 100m race at Tokyo 2020,
- Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar's Mutaz Barshim finished in a tie in the 2021 Tokyo high jump event, both clearing 2.37m, and agreeing to share the gold medal rather than participate in a tie-breaker jump off.
Related Pages
- Italy at the Winter Olympics
- More trivia from each Country at the Olympic Games
- Rome Olympics 1960
- About Sport in Italy
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events