Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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]

Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics
IOC code	ITA
NOC	Italian National Olympic Committee
Website	www.coni.it (in Italian)
in London
Competitors	68 (all men)
Flag bearer	Pietro Bragaglia
Medals Ranked 9th	Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 0 Total 4
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

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
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