Italy at the 1972 Summer Olympics
IOC code	ITA
NOC	Italian National Olympic Committee
Website	www.coni.it (in Italian)
in Munich
Competitors	224 (197 men and 27 women) in 19 sports
Flag bearer	Abdon Pamich
Medals Ranked 10th	Gold 5 Silver 3 Bronze 10 Total 18
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Italy competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 224 competitors, 197 men and 27 women, took part in 123 events in 19 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Gold

• Klaus Dibiasi — Diving, Men's 10m Platform
• Graziano Mancinelli — Equestrian, Jumping Individual Competition
• Rolando Rigoli, Cesare Salvadori, Michele Maffei, Mario Aldo Montano, and Mario Tullio Montano — Fencing, Men's Sabre Team Competition
• Antonella Ragno-Lonzi — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual Competition
• Angelo Scalzone — Shooting, Trap Individual Competition

Silver

• Giorgio Cagnotto — Diving, Men's 3m Springboard
• Alessandro Argenton — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Individual Competition
• Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 400m Freestyle

Bronze

• Pietro Mennea — Athletics, Men's 200m
• Paola Pigni — Athletics, Women's 1.500m
• Giorgio Cagnotto — Diving, Men's 10m Platform
• Anselmo Silvino — Weightlifting, Men's Middleweight
• Raimondo D'Inzeo, Piero D'Inzeo, Vittorio Orlandi, and Graziano Mancinelli — Equestrian, Jumping Team Competition
• Silvano Basagni — Shooting, Trap Individual Competition
• Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 800m Freestyle
• Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 400m Individual Medley
• Giuseppe Bognanni — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Flyweight
• Gian-Matteo Ranzi — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Lightweight

Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Italy entered three men. Their highest placing competitor was Alfredo Massazza, at 31st place.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Alfredo Massazza - 2340 points (→ 31st place)
• Giancarlo Ferrari - 2322 points (→ 33rd place)
• Sante Spigarelli - 2300 points (→ 35th place)

Athletics

Men's 800 metres

• Franco Arese
  • Heat — DNS (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500 metres

• Franco Arese
  • Heat — 3:44.0
  • Semifinals — 3:41.1 (→ did not advance)
• Gianni del Buono
  • Heat — 3:40.8
  • Semifinals — 3:42.0 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m Relay

• Vincenzo Guerini, Ennio Preatoni, Luigi Benedetti, and Pietro Mennea
  • Heat — 39.29s
  • Semifinals — 39.21s
  • Final — 39.14s (→ 8th place)

Men's High Jump

• Enzo del Forno
  • Qualifying Round — 2.15m
  • Final — 2.15m (→ 10th place)
• Marco Schivo
  • Qualifying Round — 2.15m
  • Final — 2.10m (→ 17th place)

Basketball

Men's Team Competition

• Preliminary Round (Group B)
  • Lost to Yugoslavia (78-85)
  • Defeated Senegal (92-56)
  • Lost to Soviet Union (66-79)
  • Defeated West Germany (68-57)
  • Defeated Poland (71-59)
  • Defeated Puerto Rico (71-54)
  • Defeated Philippines (101-81)
• Semi Finals
  • Lost to United States (38-68)
• Bronze Medal Match
  • Lost to Cuba (65-66) → Fourth place
• Team Roster
  • Ottorino Flaborea
  • Giuseppe Brumatti
  • Giorgio Giomo
  • Mauro Cerioni
  • Massimo Masini
  • Renzo Bariviera
  • Marino Zanatta
  • Dino Meneghin
  • Pierluigi Marzorati
  • Luigi Serafini
  • Ivan Bisson
  • Giulio Iellini

Boxing

Men's Light Flyweight:

• Gaetano Curcetti

1. 1/16-Final - Lost to Kadir Syed Abdul of Singapore (3 round, RSC)

Men's Flyweight:

• Franco Udella

1. 1/16-Final - Defeated Filex Maina of Kenya (5 - 0)
2. 1/8-Final - Lost to Boris Zoriktuev of USSR (1 - 4)

Men's Featherweight:

• Pasqualino Morbidelli

1. 1/32-Final - Defeated Morgan Mwenya of Zambia (5 - 0)
2. 1/16-Final - Defeated Ebu Sef Tatar of Turkey (5 -0 )
3. 1/8-Final - Lost to Royal Kobayashi of Japan (1 round, KO)

Men's Lightweight:

• Giambattista Capretti

1. 1/32-Final - Defeated José Martinez of Canada (2 round, RSC)
2. 1/16-Final - Lost to László Orbán of Hungary (1 - 4)

Men's Light Welterweight:

• Ernesto Bergamasco

1. 1/16-Final - Lost to Srisook Bantow of Thailand (1 - 4)

Men's Welterweight:

• Damiano Lassandro

1. 1/32-Final - Lost to Emilio Correa of Cuba (0 - 5)

Men's Light Middleweight:

• Antonio Castellini

1. 1/16-Final - Lost to Wiesław Rudkowski of Poland (0 - 5)

Men's Light Heavyweight:

• Guglielmo Spinello

1. 1/16-Final - Defeated Samson Laizer of Tanzania (2round KO)
2. 1/8-Final - Lost to Rudi Hornig of West Germany (1 - 4)

Canoeing

Cycling

Fifteen cyclists represented Italy in 1972.

Individual road race

• Francesco Moser — 8th place
• Walter Riccomi — 49th place
• Aldo Parecchini — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Franco Ongarato — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Team time trial

• Osvaldo Castellan
• Pasqualino Moretti
• Francesco Moser
• Giovanni Tonoli

Sprint

• Massimo Marino
• Ezio Cardi

1000m time trial

• Ezio Cardi
  • Final — 1:07.80 (→ 9th place)

Tandem

• Dino Verzini and Giorgio Rossi → 9th place

Individual pursuit

• Luciano Borgognoni

Team pursuit

• Pietro Algeri
• Giacomo Bazzan
• Giorgio Morbiato
• Luciano Borgognoni

Diving

Men's 3m Springboard

• Giorgio Cagnotto — 591.63 points (→ Silver Medal)
• Klaus Dibiasi — 559.05 points (→ 4th place)

Men's 10m Platform

• Klaus Dibiasi — 504.12 points (→ Gold Medal)
• Giorgio Cagnotto — 475.83 points (→ Bronze Medal)

Equestrian

Fencing

19 fencers, 14 men and 5 women, represented Italy in 1972.

Men's foil

• Nicola Granieri
• Stefano Simoncelli
• Arcangelo Pinelli

Men's team foil

• Alfredo Del Francia, Nicola Granieri, Carlo Montano, Arcangelo Pinelli, Stefano Simoncelli

Men's épée

• Nicola Granieri
• Claudio Francesconi
• Gianluigi Saccaro

Men's team épée

• Claudio Francesconi, Nicola Granieri, Gianluigi Placella, Gianluigi Saccaro, Pier Alberto Testoni

Men's sabre

• Michele Maffei
• Mario Aldo Montano
• Rolando Rigoli

Men's team sabre

• Michele Maffei, Rolando Rigoli, Cesare Salvadori, Mario Aldo Montano, Mario Tullio Montano

Women's foil

• Antonella Ragno-Lonzi
• Maria Consolata Collino
• Giulia Lorenzoni

Women's team foil

• Antonella Ragno-Lonzi, Giulia Lorenzoni, Der Reka Cipriani, Maria Consolata Collino, Giuseppina Bersani

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Italy in 1972.

Men's Individual Competition:

• Mario Medda - 4850 points (→ 16th place)
• Giovanni Perugini - 4571 points (→ 34th place)
• Nicolo Deligia - 4492 points (→ 39th place)

Men's Team Competition:

• Medda, Perugini, and Deligia - 13913 points (→ 10th place)

Rowing

Men's Coxed Pairs

• Giampaolo Tronchin, Mario Semenzato and Siro Kuhnke Meli
  • Heat — 8:02.79
  • Repechage — 8:10.46 (→ did not advance)

Sailing

Shooting

Eleven male shooters represented Italy in 1972. In the trap event, Angelo Scalzone won gold and Silvano Basagni won bronze.

25 m pistol

• Giovanni Liverzani
• Roberto Ferraris

50 m pistol

• Giuseppe De Chirico
• Piero Errani

50 m rifle, three positions

• Giuseppe De Chirico
• Walter Frescura

50 m rifle, prone

• Giovanni Mezzani
• Giancarlo Cecconi

Trap

• Angelo Scalzone
• Silvano Basagni

Skeet

• Romano Garagnani
• Carlo Alberto Lodi

Swimming

Men's 100m Freestyle

• Roberto Pangaro
  • Heat — 54.74s (→ did not advance)

Men's 200m Freestyle

• Riccardo Targetti
  • Heat — 2:02.58 (→ did not advance)
• Arnaldo Cinquetti
  • Heat — 2:01.78 (→ did not advance)
• Roberto Pangaro
  • Heat — 2:00.97 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

• Roberto Pangaro, Paolo Barelli, Marcello Guarducci and Alberto Castagnetti
  • Heat — 3:38.81 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay

• Roberto Pangaro, Arnaldo Cinquetti, Lorenzo Marugo, and Riccardo Targetti
  • Heat — 8:03.98 (→ did not advance)

Men's Competition

• Vincenzo Finocchiaro, Sergio Irredento, Massimo Nistri, Edmondo Mingione, Michele di Pietro, Angelo Tozzi, Gaetano Carboni, and Mauro Calligaris. Reserve: Sandro Grassi.

Women's Competition

• Laura Podestà, Novella Calligaris, Federica Stabilini, Patrizia Miserini, Donatella Talpo, Patrizia Lanfredini, Laura Gorgerino, and Alessandra Finesso. Reserve: Antonella Valentini.

Water polo

Men's Team Competition

• Preliminary Round (Group C)
  • Lost to Soviet Union (1-4)
  • Defeated Bulgaria (8-5)
  • Defeated Spain (6-2)
  • Defeated Japan (12-5)
• Final Round (Group I)
  • Lost to Hungary (7-8)
  • Drew with Yugoslavia (6-6)
  • Drew with West Germany (2-2)
  • Lost to United States (5-6) → Sixth place
• Team Roster
  • Alberto Alberani
  • Eraldo Pizzo
  • Roldano Simeoni
  • Mario Cevasco
  • Alessandro Ghibellini
  • Gianni de Magistris
  • Guglielmo Marsili
  • Silvio Baracchini
  • Franco Lavoratori
  • Sante Marsili
  • Ferdinande Ligano

Weightlifting

Men's Bantamweight:

• Gaetano Tosto - 325.0 kg (→ 16th place)

Men's Featherweight:

• Peppino Tanti - 372.5 kg (→ 8th place)

Men's Middleweight:

• Anselmo Silvino - 470.0 kg (→ Bronze Medal)
• Salvatore Laudani - 440.0 kg (→ 11th place)

Men's Light Heavyweight:

• Dino Turcato - 455.0 (→ 9th place)

Men's Heavyweight:

• Roberto Vezzani - 545.0 (→ 5th place)

Wrestling

Water Skiing (demonstration sports)

Men's Slalom:

• Roby Zucchi - 44.0 points (→ Gold Medal)

Men's Figure Skiing:

• Max Hofer - 3850 points (→ 6th place)
• Roby Zucchi - 3560 points (→ 8th place)

Men's Jump:

• Max Hofer - 37.70 points (→ Silver Medal)
• Roby Zucchi - 35.10 points (→ 7th place)