Pietro Mennea

✶June 28, 1952

†March 21, 2013

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About their life

Pietro Paolo Mennea, nicknamed la Freccia del Sud, was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72 seconds in September 1979. This record stood for almost 17 years – the longest duration in the event history – and is still the European record. He is the only male sprinter who has qualified at four consecutive 200 metres Olympic finals: from 1972 to 1984.

Italian sprinter and politician (1952–2013)

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Biography from the article Pietro Mennea on the English Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.