Sara Simeoni (born 19 April 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

and twice set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

in the women's high jump.

Biography

Sara Simeoni was born in

Rivoli Veronese Rivoli Veronese is a little town (''comune'') in the Province of Verona, Veneto, Italy, located on the hills overlooking the right bank of the river Adige, northwest of Verona. History Rivoli Veronese is celebrated as the scene of the Battle ...

, in the province of Verona. She soon took up athletics, specialising in the high jump. Her first international result was at the 1971 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, where she ended 9th with a 178 cm jump. Her first international success was at the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, where she won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, e ...

, with a personal best of 1.91 m, and was beaten only by Rosemarie Ackermann's 1.93 m leap. In August 1978, she set the new world record with 2.01 m in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

(this jump stood as a national record until Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 in June 2007). Later in the same month she equalled it at

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

while winning the European title. In 1980, Simeoni set a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (lis ...

of 1.97 m, when winning gold in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Simeoni was the only woman athlete not from a Communist country able to win an athletics gold medal in Moscow. Simeoni struggled to regain her form in the following years, with a series of

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

injuries. At

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

, Simeoni carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Here, she cemented her reputation as one of the greatest female high jumpers ever, in a thrilling duel with West German Ulrike Meyfarth. Simeoni managed to reach the 2 meters measure for the first time since 1978. The ageing Meyfarth, however, replied with a notable 2.02 m jump, and Simeoni won a silver medal. Simeoni's other titles include two bronze medals at the European Championships and 25 national titles. Her jump of 2.01 m was the Italian record for women for 29 years. On 8 June 2007, Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 m, establishing the new Italian record for women. Sara Simeoni is widely considered one of the best Italian female athletes ever. She is married to her coach

Erminio Azzaro Erminio Azzaro (born 12 January 1948) is a retired Italian high jumper who won a bronze medal at the 1969 European Championships. Biography Domestically he won the national high jump title six times: four times outdoors (1966, 1969–71) and ...

. Their son Roberto Azzaro is also a high jumper.

Achievements

¹Representing Europe

National titles

She won 25 national championships at individual senior level. *

Italian Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Championships ( it, Campionati italiani assoluti di atletica leggera) are the national championships in athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, ...

** High jump: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985 (14) ** Pentathlon: 1972 (1) *

Italian Indoor Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Indoor Championships ( it, Italian Athletics Indoor Championships) are the national championships in athletics of the indoor events, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera from 1970 (first edit ...

** High jump: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986 (10)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simeoni, Sara 1953 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Verona Italian female high jumpers Olympic athletes of Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for Italy Universiade silver medalists for Italy Universiade bronze medalists for Italy Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1975 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Italian Athletics Championships winners

Biography

Achievements

National titles

See also

References

External links