Italy competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. It was the third appearance of the European nation, which had not competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was originally going to host the Games, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius meant the UK hosted them.

Medalists Medal Name Sport Event Gymnastics All-around Wrestling Greco-Roman lightweight Athletics 800 metres Marcello BertinettiRiccardo NowakAbelardo OlivierAlessandro Pirzio BiroliSante Ceccherini Fencing Team Sabre

Results by event

Athletics

Italy's best athletics result was Emilio Lunghi's silver medal in the 800 metres. Dorando Pietri's first-place finish in the marathon was erased by disqualification as a pair of race officials had helped him across the finish line.

Event Place Athlete Heats Semifinals Final Men's 100 metres Heats Gaspare Torretta 12.0 seconds 2nd, heat 16 Did not advance Umberto Barrozzi Unknown 4th, heat 7 Men's 200 metres Heats Umberto Barrozzi Unknown 2nd, heat 8 Did not advance Emilio Brambilla Unknown 5th, heat 11 Men's 400 metres Heats Roberto Penna Unknown 2nd, heat 4 Did not advance Massimo Cartasegna Unknown 2nd, heat 10 Giuseppe Tarella Unknown 3rd, heat 11 Men's 800 metres 2nd Emilio Lunghi None held 1:57.2 1st, semifinal 4 1:54.2 Men's 1500 metres Semi-finalist Emilio Lunghi None held Unknown 2nd, semifinal 3 Did not advance — Massimo Cartasegna Did not finish —, semifinal 3 Men's 3200 metre steeplechase Semi-finalist Massimo Cartasegna None held Unknown 2nd, semifinal 1 Did not advance Men's 3 mile team race — Pericle Pagliani None held 15:22.6 5 points, team=X Did not advance Massimo Cartasegna 16:26.0 6 points, team=X Dorando Pietri Did not finish No score, team=X Emilio Giovanoli Did not finish No score, team=X Emilio Lunghi Did not finish No score, team=X Men's 5 miles Semi-finalist Pericle Pagliani None held Unknown 3rd, semifinal 2 Did not advance Men's marathon — Dorando Pietri None held Disqualified Umberto Blasi Did not finish Augusto Cocca Did not start

Event Place Athlete Distance Men's discus throw 12-42 Umberto Avattaneo Unknown Men's Greek discus 10th Umberto Avattaneo 29.15 metres Men's freestyle javelin 10-33 Emilio Brambilla Unknown

Cycling

No Italian cyclist advanced to the finals in any event. Morisetti's second-place finish in the fourth semifinal of the sprint was the best performance by an Italian cyclist.

Event Place Cyclist Heats Semifinals Final Men's 5000 metres Semi-finalist Guglielmo Malatesta None held Unknown 3rd, semifinal 1 Did not advance Cesare Zanzottera Unknown 3rd, semifinal 5 Guglielmo Morisetti Unknown 3rd, semifinal 6 Men's 20 kilometres Semi- finalist Guglielmo Morisetti None held Unknown 4th, semifinal 6 Did not advance Men's 100 kilometres — Cesare Zanzottera None held Did not finish —, semifinal 2 Did not advance Guglielmo Malatesta Did not finish —, semifinal 2 Battista Parini Did not finish —, semifinal 2 Men's sprint Semi-finalist Guglielmo Morisetti 1:21.4 1st, heat 11 Unknown 2nd, semifinal 4 Did not advance Heats Guglielmo Malatesta Unknown 3rd, heat 1 Did not advance

Diving

Event Place Diver Preliminary groups Semi-finals Final Men's 3 metre springboard 19th Carlo Bonfanti 65.80 points 4th, group 4 Did not advance

Fencing

Event Place Fencer First round Second round Semi-final Final Men's épée Second round Riccardo Nowak 3-2 (3rd in L) 2-3 (3rd in 6) Did not advance Giulio Cagiati 4-2 (2nd in F) 1-2 (3rd in 8) Pietro Speciale 3-3 (3rd in B) 1-3 (4th in 3) Marcelo Bertinetti 3-1 (1st in K) 1-3 (4th in 5) First round Dino Diana 4-4 (4th in D) Did not advance Sante Ceccherini 4-4 (4th in E) Giuseppe Mangiarotti 5-3 (4th in I) Pietro Sarzano 2-4 (4th in J) Alessandro Pirzio Biroli 3-4 (5th in H) Men's sabre Semi-finalist Marcelo Bertinetti 4-1 (1st in H) 4-0 (1st in 7) 3-4 (5th in 1) Did not advance Sante Ceccherini 4-1 (2nd in G) 3-1 (2nd in 5) 0-7 (8th in 2) Second round Riccardo Nowak 4-2 (2nd in M) 1-3 (4th in 3) Did not advance Alessandro Pirzio Biroli 2-1 (1st in E) 1-3 (4th in 7) First round Dino Diana 2-3 (5th in C) Did not advance Arolodo Pinelli 2-3 (5th in K) Pietro Sarzano 2-4 (6th in J)

Event Place Fencers Play-in match First round Semi-finals Final Repechage Silver medal match Men's team épée 4th Marcelo Bertinetti Giuseppe Mangiarotti Riccardo Nowak Abelardo Olivier Bye Defeated Bohemia 12-7 Advanced to semifinals Lost to Belgium 9-8 Out 4th place Did not advance Not relegated Men's team sabre 2nd Marcello Bertinetti (all) Riccardo Nowak (rep) Abelardo Olivier (all) Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli (all) Sante Ceccherini (1st, sf)This fencer competed in the team event, but is not listed in the IOC medallist database. Not held Defeated Great Britain 11-5 Advanced to semifinals Lost to Hungary 11-5 Relegated to repechage Did not advance Defeated Germany 10-4 Advanced to silver medal match Defeated Bohemia Walkover Won silver medal

Gymnastics

Gymnast Event Score Rank Alberto Braglia Men's all-around 317 Guido Romano 230 19 Otello Capitani 226.75 21

Event Place Gymnast Score Men's team 6th Alfredo Accorsi, Nemo Agodi, Umberto Agliorini, Adriano Andreani, Vincenzo Blo, Flaminio Bottoni, Bruto Buozzi, Giovanni Bonati, Pietro Borsetti, Adamo Bozzani, Gastone Calabresi, Carlo Celada, Tito Collevati, Antonio Cotichini, Guido Cristofori, Stanislao Di Chiara, Giovanni Gasperini, Amedeo Marchi, Carlo Marchiandi, Ettore Massari, Roberto Nardini, Gaetano Preti, Decio Pavarri, Gino Ravenna, Massimo Ridolfi, Gustavo Taddia, Gianetto Termanini, Ugo Savanuzzi, Gioacchino Vaccari 316

Rowing

Event Place Rowers First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final Men's single sculls 5th Gino Ciabatti Bye Unknown 2nd, quarterfinal 2 Did not advance

Swimming

Event Place Swimmer Heats Semifinals Final Men's 100 metre freestyle Heats Davide Baiardo Unknown 3–6, heat 1 Did not advance Men's 400 metre freestyle Heats Mario Massa Unknown 3rd, heat 6 Did not advance — Davide Baiardo Did not finish —, heat 4 Men's 1500 metre freestyle Heats Oreste Muzzi 28:52.6 3rd, heat 1 Did not advance Men's 100 metre backstroke Heats Amilcare Beretta Unknown 3rd, heat 4 Did not advance Men's 200 metre breaststroke Heats Amilcare Beretta Unknown 4th, heat 4 Did not advance

Wrestling

Italy's lone wrestler in 1908 was undefeated in his four bouts, winning each match to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman lightweight class.

Event Place Wrestler Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final Greco-Roman lightweight 1st Enrico Porro Bye Defeated Téger Defeated Malmström Defeated Persson Defeated Orlov

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent Hungary 1 0 1.000 Russia 1 0 1.000 Sweden 2 0 1.000 Total 4 0 1.000

References

Bibliography

External links Italy at the 1908 London Summer Games