Ricky Petrucciani (; born 30 June 2000) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

sprinter specialising in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He won a gold medal at the 2021 European U23 Championships and a silver medal at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

in the 400m category. He also reached the semifinals of the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Early life and background

Ricky Petrucciani was born on 30 June 2000 in

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

, Switzerland to a Brazilian mother and a Swiss father. He began his athletic career in 2015 when he decided to switch from playing football to athletics. He explained the reason was because he "wanted to train for imselfand not for a team, ewanted to achieve isresults and not those of a team.” He started working with Flavio Zberg in 2017 and transferred clubs so that he could train with LC Zürich. His father, Maurizio, acts as his manager. Ricky graduated from Collegio Papio and serves as an ambassador for the Ascona-Locarno region.

Career

2016—2019

Petrucciani claimed several national titles as a junior. He competed in the 400 metres at the 2016 Swiss U18 Championships, came in first place, and was named the champion for that year. The following year, he collected six more titles at the 2017 Swiss U18 Championships for: the indoor 60 metres, outdoor 100 metres, indoor and outdoor 200 metres, and indoor and outdoor 400 metres. He added yet another national title to his record in the 100 metres at the 2018 Swiss U20 Championships. He earned two extra titles in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2019 Swiss U20 Championships.

2021

He earned a gold medal in the 400 metres at the 2021 European U23 Championships, where he set a new championship record and a personal best of 45.02 that still stands to this day. He also ran the second leg of the 4 x 400 m relay, however, his team did not finish because of a mishap between the Dutch and British athletes that made the third Swiss runner trip during the race. The Swiss lost their lead within moments.

2023

He was selected for the 2023 World Championships and ran the third leg of the mixed 4 x 400 m relay. But, ultimately, the Swiss team failed to advance to the final round. Later, he withdrew from his individual event in the 400 metres due to a hamstring problem that had not healed from the previous day's relay race. He did not want to injure himself, as well, ahead of

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich () is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it ...

, the Galà dei Castelli, and the

2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Achievements

Personal bests

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

indoor – 6.68 ( Magglingen 2023) *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

– 10.24 (+0.2 m/s,

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

2021) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

– 20.72 (+0.3 m/s,

2021) **

indoor – 21.50 ( Magglingen 2021) *

– 45.02 (

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

2021) **

indoor – 46.27 ( Magglingen 2023)

International competitions

National titles

* Swiss Athletics Championships (3) **

— 2019, 2020, 2021 * Swiss Indoor Athletics Championships (4) **

— 2022 **

— 2018, 2019, 2020

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrucciani, Ricky 2000 births Living people Swiss male sprinters Sportspeople from Locarno Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Switzerland European Athletics Championships medalists European Games competitors for Switzerland Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games 21st-century Swiss sportsmen