Stefano Baldini

Stefano Baldini (born 25 May 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a retired Italian runner who specialized in the marathon. He was the Olympic champion in Athens in 2004 and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006).

Stefano Baldini

Personal information
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1971-05-25) 25 May 1971 (age 54) Castelnovo di Sotto, Italy
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Country	Italy
Sport	Athletics
Event	Marathon
Coached by	Luciano Gigliotti
Achievements and titles
Personal best	Marathon: 2:07:22 (2006)
Medal record Olympic Games 2004 Athens Marathon World Championships 2001 Edmonton Marathon 2003 Paris Marathon European Championships 1998 Budapest Marathon 2006 Gothenburg Marathon Half Marathon World Championships 1996 Palma de Mallorca Half marathon World Marathon Cup 2003 Paris Team 2001 Edmonton Team European Marathon Cup 1998 Budapest Individual[1] 1998 Budapest Team 2006 Gothenburg Team

Biography

Baldini was also a world champion in the half marathon, taking the title in Palma de Mallorca in 1996. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Baldini finished first in the men's marathon, winning a gold medal. He finished ahead of Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima, who was leading the marathon until being pushed off the course by protester Neil Horan.

After a disappointing 2007 season in which he did not complete the London Marathon, Baldini chose to run the New York City Marathon, finishing 4th. Baldini closed his Olympic career at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing 12th.^[2]

Baldini ended his career in October 2010, having originally planned a final race at the Giro al Sas but deciding against the race because of injury.^[3]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Italy
1990	World Junior Championships	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	6th	5000m	13:54.38
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	20th	10,000m	28:41.82
1996	World Half Marathon Championships	Palma de Mallorca, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:01:17
1997	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	2nd	Marathon	2:07:57
	New York City Marathon	New York City, United States	3rd	Marathon	2:09:31
1998	Rome Marathon	Rome, Italy	1st	Marathon	2:09:33
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	Marathon	2:12:01
2000	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	6th	Marathon	2:09:45
2001	Turin Marathon	Turin, Italy	2nd	Marathon	2:08:51
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	3rd	Marathon	2:13:18
	Madrid Millenium Marathon	Madrid, Spain	1st	Marathon	2:09:59
2002	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	6th	Marathon	2:07:29
	New York City Marathon	New York City, United States	5th	Marathon	2:09:12
2003	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	2nd	Marathon	2:07:56
	World Championships	Paris, France	3rd	Marathon	2:09:14
2004	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	4th	Marathon	2:08:37
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	1st	Marathon	2:10:55
2005	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	5th	Marathon	2:09:25
2006	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	5th	Marathon	2:07:22
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	Marathon	2:11:32
	New York City Marathon	New York City, United States	6th	Marathon	2:11:33
2007	New York City Marathon	New York City, United States	4th	Marathon	2:11:58
2008	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	12th	Marathon	2:13:06
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	12th	Marathon	2:13:25

National titles

He won 13 national championships.^[4]

• Italian Athletics Championships
  • 10,000 metres: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002 (6)
  • 10 km road: 2010
  • Half marathon: 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009 (6)

See also

• FIDAL Hall of Fame
• Italian all-time lists - 10000 metres
• Italian all-time lists - half marathon
• Italian all-time lists - Marathon