Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics
# Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Italy competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. It was the third appearance of the European nation, which had not competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was originally going to host the Games, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius meant the UK hosted them.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
| - | - | - | - |
| Gold | Alberto Braglia | Gymnastics | All-around |
| Gold | Enrico Porro | Wrestling | Greco-Roman lightweight |
| Silver | Emilio Lunghi | Athletics | 800 metres |
| Silver | Marcello Bertinetti Riccardo Nowak Abelardo Olivier Alessandro Pirzio Biroli Sante Ceccherini | Fencing | Team Sabre |

## Results by event

### Athletics

Italy's best athletics result was Emilio Lunghi's silver medal in the 800 metres. Dorando Pietri's first-place finish in the marathon was erased by disqualification as a pair of race officials had helped him across the finish line.

| Event | Place | Athlete | Heats | Semifinals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's 100 metres | Heats | Gaspare Torretta | 12.0 seconds 2nd, heat 16 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 100 metres | Heats | Umberto Barrozzi | Unknown 4th, heat 7 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 200 metres | Heats | Umberto Barrozzi | Unknown 2nd, heat 8 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 200 metres | Heats | Emilio Brambilla | Unknown 5th, heat 11 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 400 metres | Heats | Roberto Penna | Unknown 2nd, heat 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 400 metres | Heats | Massimo Cartasegna | Unknown 2nd, heat 10 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 400 metres | Heats | Giuseppe Tarella | Unknown 3rd, heat 11 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 800 metres | 2nd | Emilio Lunghi | None held | 1:57.2 1st, semifinal 4 | 1:54.2 |
| Men's 1500 metres | Semi- finalist | Emilio Lunghi | None held | Unknown 2nd, semifinal 3 | Did not advance |
| Men's 1500 metres | — | Massimo Cartasegna | None held | Did not finish —, semifinal 3 | Did not advance |
| Men's 3200 metre steeplechase | Semi- finalist | Massimo Cartasegna | None held | Unknown 2nd, semifinal 1 | Did not advance |
| Men's 3 mile team race | — | Pericle Pagliani | None held | 15:22.6 5 points, team=X | Did not advance |
| Men's 3 mile team race | — | Massimo Cartasegna | None held | 16:26.0 6 points, team=X | Did not advance |
| Men's 3 mile team race | — | Dorando Pietri | None held | Did not finish No score, team=X | Did not advance |
| Men's 3 mile team race | — | Emilio Giovanoli | None held | Did not finish No score, team=X | Did not advance |
| Men's 3 mile team race | — | Emilio Lunghi | None held | Did not finish No score, team=X | Did not advance |
| Men's 5 miles | Semi- finalist | Pericle Pagliani | None held | Unknown 3rd, semifinal 2 | Did not advance |
| Men's marathon | — | Dorando Pietri | None held | None held | Disqualified |
| Men's marathon | — | Umberto Blasi | None held | None held | Did not finish |
| Men's marathon | — | Augusto Cocca | None held | None held | Did not start |
| Event | Place | Athlete | Distance |
| Men's discus throw | 12-42 | Umberto Avattaneo | Unknown |
| Men's Greek discus | 10th | Umberto Avattaneo | 29.15 metres |
| Men's freestyle javelin | 10-33 | Emilio Brambilla | Unknown |

### Cycling

No Italian cyclist advanced to the finals in any event. Morisetti's second-place finish in the fourth semifinal of the sprint was the best performance by an Italian cyclist.

| Event | Place | Cyclist | Heats | Semifinals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's 5000 metres | Semi- finalist | Guglielmo Malatesta | None held | Unknown 3rd, semifinal 1 | Did not advance |
| Men's 5000 metres | Semi- finalist | Cesare Zanzottera | None held | Unknown 3rd, semifinal 5 | Did not advance |
| Men's 5000 metres | Semi- finalist | Guglielmo Morisetti | None held | Unknown 3rd, semifinal 6 | Did not advance |
| Men's 20 kilometres | Semi- finalist | Guglielmo Morisetti | None held | Unknown 4th, semifinal 6 | Did not advance |
| Men's 100 kilometres | — | Cesare Zanzottera | None held | Did not finish —, semifinal 2 | Did not advance |
| Men's 100 kilometres | — | Guglielmo Malatesta | None held | Did not finish —, semifinal 2 | Did not advance |
| Men's 100 kilometres | — | Battista Parini | None held | Did not finish —, semifinal 2 | Did not advance |
| Men's sprint | Semi- finalist | Guglielmo Morisetti | 1:21.4 1st, heat 11 | Unknown 2nd, semifinal 4 | Did not advance |
| Men's sprint | Heats | Guglielmo Malatesta | Unknown 3rd, heat 1 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Diving

| Event | Place | Diver | Preliminary groups | Semi- finals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's 3 metre springboard | 19th | Carlo Bonfanti | 65.80 points 4th, group 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Fencing

| Event | Place | Fencer | First round | Second round | Semi- final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's épée | Second round | Riccardo Nowak | 3-2 (3rd in L) | 2-3 (3rd in 6) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | Second round | Giulio Cagiati | 4-2 (2nd in F) | 1-2 (3rd in 8) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | Second round | Pietro Speciale | 3-3 (3rd in B) | 1-3 (4th in 3) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | Second round | Marcelo Bertinetti | 3-1 (1st in K) | 1-3 (4th in 5) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | First round | Dino Diana | 4-4 (4th in D) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | First round | Sante Ceccherini | 4-4 (4th in E) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | First round | Giuseppe Mangiarotti | 5-3 (4th in I) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | First round | Pietro Sarzano | 2-4 (4th in J) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's épée | First round | Alessandro Pirzio Biroli | 3-4 (5th in H) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | Semi- finalist | Marcelo Bertinetti | 4-1 (1st in H) | 4-0 (1st in 7) | 3-4 (5th in 1) | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | Semi- finalist | Sante Ceccherini | 4-1 (2nd in G) | 3-1 (2nd in 5) | 0-7 (8th in 2) | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | Second round | Riccardo Nowak | 4-2 (2nd in M) | 1-3 (4th in 3) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | Second round | Alessandro Pirzio Biroli | 2-1 (1st in E) | 1-3 (4th in 7) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | First round | Dino Diana | 2-3 (5th in C) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | First round | Arolodo Pinelli | 2-3 (5th in K) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's sabre | First round | Pietro Sarzano | 2-4 (6th in J) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Event | Place | Fencers | Play-in match | First round | Semi- finals | Final | Repechage | Silver medal match |
| Men's team épée | 4th | Marcelo Bertinetti Giuseppe Mangiarotti Riccardo Nowak Abelardo Olivier | Bye | Defeated Bohemia 12-7 Advanced to semifinals | Lost to Belgium 9-8 Out 4th place | Did not advance | Not relegated | Not relegated |
| Men's team sabre | 2nd | Marcello Bertinetti (all) Riccardo Nowak (rep) Abelardo Olivier (all) Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli (all) Sante Ceccherini (1st, sf) | Not held | Defeated Great Britain 11-5 Advanced to semifinals | Lost to Hungary 11-5 Relegated to repechage | Did not advance | Defeated Germany 10-4 Advanced to silver medal match | Defeated Bohemia Walkover Won silver medal |

### Gymnastics

| Gymnast | Event | Score | Rank |
| - | - | - | - |
| Alberto Braglia | Men's all-around | 317 | |
| Guido Romano | Men's all-around | 230 | 19 |
| Otello Capitani | Men's all-around | 226.75 | 21 |
| Event | Place | Gymnast | Score |
| Men's team | 6th | Alfredo Accorsi, Nemo Agodi, Umberto Agliorini, Adriano Andreani, Vincenzo Blo, Flaminio Bottoni, Bruto Buozzi, Giovanni Bonati, Pietro Borsetti, Adamo Bozzani, Gastone Calabresi, Carlo Celada, Tito Collevati, Antonio Cotichini, Guido Cristofori, Stanislao Di Chiara, Giovanni Gasperini, Amedeo Marchi, Carlo Marchiandi, Ettore Massari, Roberto Nardini, Gaetano Preti, Decio Pavarri, Gino Ravenna, Massimo Ridolfi, Gustavo Taddia, Gianetto Termanini, Ugo Savanuzzi, Gioacchino Vaccari | 316 |

### Rowing

| Event | Place | Rowers | First round | Quarter- finals | Semi- finals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's single sculls | 5th | Gino Ciabatti | Bye | Unknown 2nd, quarterfinal 2 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Swimming

| Event | Place | Swimmer | Heats | Semifinals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Men's 100 metre freestyle | Heats | Davide Baiardo | Unknown 3–6, heat 1 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 400 metre freestyle | Heats | Mario Massa | Unknown 3rd, heat 6 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 400 metre freestyle | — | Davide Baiardo | Did not finish —, heat 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 1500 metre freestyle | Heats | Oreste Muzzi | 28:52.6 3rd, heat 1 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 100 metre backstroke | Heats | Amilcare Beretta | Unknown 3rd, heat 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Men's 200 metre breaststroke | Heats | Amilcare Beretta | Unknown 4th, heat 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Wrestling

Italy's lone wrestler in 1908 was undefeated in his four bouts, winning each match to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman lightweight class.

| Event | Place | Wrestler | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarter- finals | Semi- finals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Greco-Roman lightweight | 1st | Enrico Porro | Bye | Defeated Téger | Defeated Malmström | Defeated Persson | Defeated Orlov |
| Opponent nation | Wins | Losses | Percent |
| Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Russia | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Sweden | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Total | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
