The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Italy

This page contains a list of the greatest Italian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 135 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 7th most number of Athletes behind France, and Sweden.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Italian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Italian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Italian Athletes.

1. Gustavo Marzi (1908 - 1966)

With an HPI of 57.16, Gustavo Marzi is the most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Gustavo Marzi (25 November 1908 – 14 November 1966) was an Italian fencer. He competed in foil and sabre events at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won a gold or silver medal in every event he entered, except for individual sabre in 1928, in which he finished fourth. In total he won two gold and five silver medals. At the world championships, which were unofficial through 1935, he won 10 titles: two in the individual foil (1935, 1937), seven in team foil (1929–31, 1934–35, 1937–38) and one in team sabre (1938). He died from a lung cancer, aged 57.

2. Pietro Mennea (1952 - 2013)

With an HPI of 56.32, Pietro Mennea is the 2nd most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Pietro Paolo Mennea (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjeːtro menˈnɛːa]; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed la Freccia del Sud ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72 seconds in September 1979. This record stood for almost 17 years – the longest duration in the event history – and is still the European record. He is the only male sprinter who has qualified at four consecutive 200 metres Olympic finals: from 1972 to 1984.

3. Dorando Pietri (1885 - 1942)

With an HPI of 55.83, Dorando Pietri is the 3rd most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Dorando Pietri (Italian pronunciation: [doˈrando ˈpjɛːtri]; often wrongly spelt Petri; 16 October 1885 – 7 February 1942) was an Italian long-distance runner. He finished first in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but was subsequently disqualified.

4. Giorgio Pessina (1902 - 1977)

With an HPI of 55.76, Giorgio Pessina is the 4th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Giorgio Pessina (16 June 1902 – 18 July 1977) was an Italian fencer. He won a gold medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

5. Gioacchino Guaragna (1908 - 1971)

With an HPI of 52.99, Gioacchino Guaragna is the 5th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Gioacchino Guaragna (14 June 1908 – 19 April 1971) was an Italian fencer. He won two gold medals and a silver in the team foil event at three different Olympic games.

6. Ugo Frigerio (1901 - 1968)

With an HPI of 51.67, Ugo Frigerio is the 6th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ugo Frigerio (16 September 1901 – 7 July 1968) was an Italian race walker. He competed in four events at the 1920, 1924 and 1932 Olympics ranging from 3 to 50 km and won three gold and one bronze medals. He was the Olympic flag bearer for Italy in 1924 and 1932.

7. Giulio Gaudini (1904 - 1948)

With an HPI of 51.56, Giulio Gaudini is the 7th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Giulio Gaudini (28 September 1904 – 6 January 1948) was an Italian foil and sabre fencer. He competed at the 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won three gold, four silver, and two bronze medals. He was the flag bearer for Italy at the 1936 Games. At the world championships, he earned 17 medals between 1929 and 1938. He died of cancer, aged 43.

8. Luigi Beccali (1907 - 1990)

With an HPI of 50.69, Luigi Beccali is the 8th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Luigi Beccali (19 November 1907 – 29 August 1990) was the first Italian to win an Olympic gold medal in running, in the 1500 metres at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and the first Italian to win a European Championship title in athletics.

9. Adolfo Consolini (1917 - 1969)

With an HPI of 50.59, Adolfo Consolini is the 9th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Adolfo Consolini (5 January 1917 – 20 December 1969) was an Italian discus thrower. He competed at the 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and finished in 1st, 2nd, 6th and 17 place, respectively. While winning the gold medal in 1948 he set an Olympic record at 52.78 m. Consolini won three European titles, in 1946, 1950 and 1954, and 15 national titles.

10. Eugenio Monti (1928 - 2003)

With an HPI of 50.51, Eugenio Monti is the 10th most famous Italian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Eugenio Monti (23 January 1928 – 1 December 2003) was an Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals (of which nine gold) and 6 Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

People

Pantheon has 179 people classified as Italian athletes born between 1869 and 2000. Of these 179, 96 (53.63%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Italian athletes include Livio Berruti, Sara Simeoni, and Giuseppina Leone. The most famous deceased Italian athletes include Gustavo Marzi, Pietro Mennea, and Dorando Pietri. As of April 2024, 44 new Italian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Roberto Battaglia, Fausto Acke, and Saverio Ragno.