Italy at the
1908 Summer Olympics
IOC codeITA
NOCItalian National Olympic Committee
Websitewww.coni.it (in Italian)
in London
Competitors68 (all men)
Flag bearerPietro Bragaglia
Medals
Ranked 9th
Gold
2
Silver
2
Bronze
0
Total
4
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

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.[1]

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event
 Gold Alberto Braglia Gymnastics All-around
 Gold Enrico Porro Wrestling Greco-Roman lightweight
 Silver Emilio Lunghi Athletics 800 metres
 Silver Marcello Bertinetti
Riccardo Nowak
Abelardo Olivier
Alessandro Pirzio Biroli
Sante Ceccherini		 Fencing Team Sabre

Results by event

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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

Main article: Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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

Main article: Diving at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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

Main article: Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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) [2]		 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

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Gymnast Event Score Rank
Alberto Braglia Men's all-around 317 1st place, gold medalist(s)
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

Main article: Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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

Main article: Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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

Main article: Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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

  1. ^ "Londra 1908: le prime Olimpiadi inglesi e Dorando Pietri" (in Italian). giochiolimpiciparalimpici.wordpress.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018. Siamo nel 1901 quando il CIO si riunisce per decidere chi sarà la città ad ospitare la quarta edizione Olimpica. A contendersi questo onore ci furono Roma e Berlino, e ne uscì vincitrice la prima. Purtroppo, però, la nostra città italiana dovette ritirarsi qualche anno prima dei Giochi a causa dell'eruzione del Vesuvio
  2. ^ This fencer competed in the team event, but is not listed in the IOC medallist database.

Bibliography

External links

Italy at the Olympics
Nations at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom
Categories