Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. 174 competitors, 173 men and 1 woman, took part in 79 events in 18 sports.

Medalists

Gold

Silver

* Ettore Caffaratti,

Garibaldi Spighi Garibaldi Spighi (11 June 1891 – 9 July 1978) was an Italian horse rider who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp ...

Giulio Cacciandra Giulio Cacciandra (15 July 1884 – 28 January 1971) was an Italian horse rider who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as An ...

and

Carlo Asinari Carlo Asinari (3 November 1884 – 2 February 1953) was an Italian show jumping rider, that won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games. He was born in Pisa and died in Turin. Biography Asinari participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 19 ...

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Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, Men's Team three-day event *

Alessandro Valerio Alessandro Valerio (18 May 1881 – 28 May 1955) was an Italian horse rider. He competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1 ...

—

, Individual jumping *

Aldo Nadi Aldo Nadi (29 April 1899 – 10 November 1965) was an Italian fencing champion. Biography Aldo was born into a fencing family in Livorno, Italy, and both Aldo and his brother Nedo Nadi were fencers from a very young age. They were both taught ...

—

Fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, Men's Individual

Sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

* Pietro Annoni and Erminio Dones —

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

, Men's double scull (2x) * Pietro Bianchi —

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, Middleweight

Bronze

Ernesto Ambrosini Ernesto Ambrosini (29 September 1894 – 4 November 1951) was an Italian athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He competed for Italy in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium in the 3000 metre steeple chase where ...

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Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, Men's 3000m steeplechase *

Valerio Arri Valeriano Pompeo Maurizio "Valerio" Arri (22 June 1892 – 31 March 1970) was an Italian marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be ...

—

, Men's marathon *

Edoardo Garzena Edoardo Garzena (4 May 1900 – 11 July 1982) was an Italian featherweight boxer who competed in the 1920s. He was born and died in Turin. Garzena won a bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), official ...

—

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, Featherweight * Ettore Caffaratti —

, Individual three-day event * Ettore Caffaratti,

Alessandro Alvisi Alessandro Alvisi (12 February 1887 – 9 May 1951) was an Italian horse rider who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics and in the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and offi ...

and

—

, Team jumping

Aquatics

Diving

A single diver represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. De Sanctis was unable to advance past the first round in either of his two events. ; Men ''Ranks given are within the semifinal group.''

Swimming

Four swimmers, all men, represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in the sport. None of the individual swimmers advanced to the finals, though the relay did advance before finishing fifth in the final. ''Ranks given are within the heat.'' ; Men

Water polo

Italy competed in the Olympic water polo tournament for the first time in 1920. The

Bergvall System The Bergvall system was a variation of the traditional knockout tournament system. It was used at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics after being devised by Erik Bergvall, a Swedish water polo player, journalist and sports official who want ...

was in use at the time. Italy forfeited its round of 16 match with Spain, then was defeated by Greece in the bronze medal tournament. *Squad ; Round of 16 ;: Italy forfeited the match. ; Bronze medal quarterfinals ; Final rank: 11th

Athletics

24 athletes represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in athletics. Frigerio gave the nation its first gold medals in the sport by winning both of the racewalking competitions. Italy's long-distance successes also included a bronze in the marathon and a bronze in the steeplechase. Overall, the nation placed fourth on the athletics medals leaderboard. ''Ranks given are within the heat.''

Boxing

Five boxers represented Italy at the 1920 Games. It was the nation's debut in boxing. Garzena had the best performance for Italy, taking all three of the nation's wins on his way to a bronze medal.

Cycling

Twelve cyclists represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Italy took its first Olympic cycling medal when its pursuit team won the gold. Italy also had three cyclists place in the top eight of the 50 kilometres event, though none was able to secure a medal.

Road cycling

Track cycling

''Ranks given are within the heat.''

Equestrian

Ten equestrians represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport. The Italian equestrians were fairly successful, winning five medals to take third place on the equestrian leader board for the Games. Italians took the top two spots in the individual jumping competition, as well as a bronze in the individual eventing. The nation also earned a medal in each of the two team events in which it participated, a silver in the eventing and a bronze in jumping (which, by the rules of the day, had to consist of entirely different riders than the individual jumping event).

Fencing

Nineteen fencers represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in the sport. The Italian fencers took five of the six gold medals; the individual épée was the only event not won by an Italian (Italy's best result in that event was sixth place).

Nedo Nadi Nedo Nadi (9 June 1894 – 29 January 1940) was one of the best Italian fencers of all time. He is the only fencer to win a gold medal in each of the three weapons at a single Olympic Games and won the most fencing gold medals ever at a singl ...

took the individual gold medals in the foil and sabre; both he and his brother Aldo were on all three of the gold-medal teams. Aldo Nadi also took a silver medal in the individual sabre. ''Ranks given are within the group.''

Football

Italy competed in the Olympic football tournament for the second time. The team beat Egypt in the first round before falling to France in the quarterfinals. In the tournament for second place, the Italians beat Norway before losing to Spain in the consolation semis. ; Team Roster * Piero Campelli *

Giuseppe Giaccone Giuseppe Giacone (; 9 September 1900 – 6 May 1986) was an Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was the first Juventus player to play for the Italy national tea ...

* Antonio Bruna *

Renzo de Vecchi Renzo De Vecchi (; 3 February 1894 – 14 May 1967) was an Italian association football, football player and coach who played as a defender (association football), defender. He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics with Italy national football tea ...

Virginio Rosetta Virginio "Viri" Rosetta (; 25 February 1902 – 29 March 1975) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender. A hard-working player, he was known for his organisational skills, and for his ability to read the game and anticipate other play ...

* Gracco de Nardo * Ettore Reynaudi *

Mario Meneghetti Mario Meneghetti (; 4 February 1893 – 24 February 1942) was an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. He competed for Italy in the men's football tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officiall ...

Giuseppe Parodi Giuseppe Parodi (; 17 December 1892 – 1 March 1984) was an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. He competed for Italy in the men's football tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially kn ...

Luigi Burlando Luigi Burlando (; 23 January 1899 – 12 December 1967) was an Italian football midfielder and manager. He also played water polo. Club career Originally from Genoa, he played all of his career in his hometown, starting off with Doria, before s ...

* Rinaldo Roggero * Giustiniano Marucco * Pio Ferraris * Giuseppe Forlivesi *

Cesare Lovati Cesare Lovati (; 25 December 1891 – 22 July 1961) was an Argentine-born Italian professional footballer, who played as a midfielder, and football manager. He played for the Italy national team at the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Ol ...

Enrico Sardi Enrico Sardi (; 1 April 1891 – 4 July 1969) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics and the 1920 Summer Olympics with Italy national ...

Adolfo Baloncieri Adolfo Baloncieri (; 27 July 1897 – 23 July 1986) was an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Critically regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Gianni Brera considered him one of the greate ...

* Emilio Badini *

Guglielmo Brezzi Guglielmo Brezzi (; 24 December 1898 – 7 April 1926) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward. Career At club level, Brezzi played for Genoa C.F.C. and U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912. Brezzi made his debut for the Italy n ...

* Aristodemo Santamaria * Adevildo De Marchi ; First round ; Quarterfinals ; Consolation first round ; Consolation semifinals ;Final rank: 5th

Gymnastics

Twenty-seven gymnasts represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in the sport. The Italians took gold medals in both of the events in which they competed, with Zampori taking the men's individual all-around and leading the Italians to a team gold. Italy did not compete in the free system or Swedish system team events.

Artistic gymnastics

Modern pentathlon

A single pentathlete represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. ''A point-for-place system was used, with the lowest total score winning.''

Rowing

Six rowers represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Italian rowers reached the finals for the first time, winning the nation's first two Olympic rowing medals: a gold in the coxed pairs and a silver in the double sculls. ''Ranks given are within the heat.''

Shooting

Ten shooters represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport, and the first since 1896. Greece took a silver medal in the team military pistol, its first medal in shooting since 1896. Italy's best result was a fourth-place finish in the team standing military rifle.

Tennis

Four tennis players, three men and one woman, competed for Italy in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Balbi and Colombo reached the quarterfinals in the men's doubles, the best result for Italy that year.

Tug of war

Italy competed in the Olympic tug of war tournament for the first time in 1920, the final appearance of the sport in the Olympics. The

was used in 1920. Italy lost its first match in the semifinals to the Netherlands. Because the Dutch went on to win the silver medal, Italy received an opportunity to contest the bronze. In the bronze medal semifinals, the Italians lost again, this time to the United States, to finish fifth and last in the tournament. All matches were best-of-three pulls. ; Semifinals ; Bronze medal semifinals ; Final rank: 5th

Weightlifting

Five weightlifters, one in each weight class, represented Italy in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. No Italian weightlifter placed worse than sixth, with two winning medals (including Bottino's gold) and two others just missing with fourth-place finishes.

Wrestling

Eight wrestlers, all in the Greco-Roman style, competed for Italy in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. None of the Italian wrestlers advanced past the quarterfinals, or qualified for the silver or bronze rounds.

Greco-Roman

Art Competitions

References

External links

* *
International Olympic Committee results database
* {{Nations at the 1920 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1920 Summer Olympics

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