Daniel Monzoro Fontana (born December 31, 1975, in

General Roca, Río Negro General Roca is a city in the northeast of the Argentine province of Río Negro, northern Patagonia. It was founded on September 1, 1879, by Colonel Lorenzo Vintter, on the order of War Minister Julio A. Roca, during the Conquest of the Deser ...

) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

professional

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

. Fontana started out as a swimmer in Argentina, until he began his triathlon career in 1994, while racing for his homeland. He first competed at two Pan-American Games (

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

), and at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, as part of the Argentina team, where he placed twenty-eighth in the men's triathlon, with a time of 1:57:14. In 2006, Fontana relocated to Italy, and became a naturalized citizen to take his athletic abilities to a higher level. At the peak of his career, Fontana has won seven titles in triathlon, four for Argentina and the other three for Italy. He had also achieved three top fifteen placements at the World Olympic Distance, including his eighth-place finish in 2005, which considered highest by an Italian male. Fontana also qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, and competed for the Italian team in men's triathlon. He finished only in thirty-third place, with a time of 1:52:39. Following his second Olympic participation, Fontana opted to run for the long-distance triathlon, and competed at the

2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship The 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition held in Clearwater, Florida on November 14, 2009. The race was sponsored by Foster Grant and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. The championship race is the culmination ...

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...

, United States, where he finished second behind Germany's

Michael Raelert Michael Raelert (born 29 August 1980) is a German triathlete who is the 2009 and 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Champion. In 2010, Raelert won Ironman 70.3 races at Switzerland, California, and Germany, as well as the 28th Avia Wildflower Triathlon. R ...

with a time of 1:12:00. He was also able to beat New Zealand-born U.S. triathlete Matt Reed, who finished behind him at the Olympics, during the race. Fontana also obtained his third-place finish at the Ironman series in South Africa with the time of 8:18:51, and two championship titles at the 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Series in

Pucón Pucón (Mapudungun: "entrance to the cordillera") is a Chilean city and commune administered by the municipality of Pucón. It is located in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region, 100 km to the southeast of Temuco and 780 km to ...

, Chile and in

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, Italy. In 2012, Fontana performed well with a second-place finishes at the TriStar Cannes tournament, and at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Series, although he had suffered some physical injuries during the race. On March 30, 2014, Daniel was first on the podium at the Ironman Los Cabos with 8:26:15, being the first Italian winning a race in the Ironman Championship. Fontana is currently a member of an Italian professional triathlon team, ''Dimensione Dello Sport'' (DDS), coached by Simone Diamantini. He resides in

Settimo Milanese Settimo Milanese (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is about west of the city centre of Milan. The industrial district of Castelletto is home to Italtel and STMicroelectronics ...

, Italy.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Daniel 1975 births Argentine male triathletes Italian male triathletes Living people Olympic triathletes for Argentina Olympic triathletes for Italy Triathletes at the 1999 Pan American Games Triathletes at the 2003 Pan American Games Triathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Duathletes Pan American Games competitors for Argentina Sportspeople from General Roca 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen