Pietro MENNEA

Few sprinters of international class could claim to have had similar consistency and longevity as Pietro Mennea, whose career included his participation in no less than four consecutive Olympic 200m finals. Mennea was still a teenager when he competed in his first European Championships at Helsinki in 1971, finishing sixth in the 200m and winning a bronze medal as a member of Italy's 4 x 100m relay team. The following year, on 21 July, Pietro ran the anchor leg on an Italian 4 x 200m relay team which set a new world record of 1min 21.5sec. Less than two months later, at the Olympic Games in Munich, he won a bronze medal in the 200m behind Valeriy Borzov (Soviet Union) and anchored Italy to an 8th place finish in the 4 x 100m relay final.

In August 1973, Mennea competed at his first World university Games in Moscow, winning the 200m, as well as picking up bronze medals in both the 100m and 4 x 100m relay. He attempted the same treble with even more successful results at the following year's European Championships in Rome, where he not only won the gold medal in the 200m, but also finished a close second behind Borzov in the 100m final, and added another silver medal to his haul in the 4 x 100m relay.

In 1975 Pietro won the 100m/200m double at his second World University Games in Rome and was also victorious in the 200m at the European Cup. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Mennea finished fourth in his second Olympic 200m final on 26 July, and then five days later he (see photo above, at left) anchored the Italian 4 x 100m relay team which came sixth in the final, finishing only marginally behind the Borzov-anchored Soviet team that won the bronze medal. (Ron Casey)

Men's 200m. Final.

Olympic Games 1972

Men's 100m. Final.

European Athletics Championships 1974.

Men's 200m. Final.

European Athletics Championships 1974

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By the end of 1976, Pietro Mennea had well and truly made his mark on the international sprinting scene, having won the 1974 European 200m title, and having finished respectively third and fourth in the previous two Olympic 200m finals. In September 1977 Mennea competed in the inaugural World Cup in Dusseldorf as a representative of the European team. On the first day he finished fourth in the 100m, and two days later, he just failed to catch the winner Clancy Edwards (USA) in the 200m, losing by the narrowest of margins as both sprinters clocked the same time of 20.17sec. Mennea won the 400m at the 1978 European Indoor Championships in Milan, and the endurance cultivated by training for this longer event obviously helped him get through the gruelling schedule that he set himself at the European Championships held later that year in Prague.

Pietro not only successfully defended his European 200m title in Prague but also won the 100m to achieve the sprint double. Only two day after his 200m victory, Mennea ran the anchor leg for Italy in both relay finals, bringing them home to a fifth place finish in the 4 x 100m and a seventh place finish in the 4 x 400m, in which he clocked an amazing 44.2sec in his tenth race of the championships. Mennea maintained active participation in study well into his late twenties, and this qualified him to compete at his third World University Games in Mexico City in 1979, where he won gold medals in the 200m and the 4 x 400m relay. The time that Pietro recorded in his 200m victory was 19.72sec, which set a new world record. Although Mennea's record would carry a stigma over the years for having been set at high altitude, it nonetheless remained the fastest time ever recorded until Michael Johnson (USA) broke the record in 1996. (Ron Casey).

Men's 100m. Final.

European Athletics Championships 1978

Men's 200m. Final.

European Athletics Championships 1978

The highlight of Pietro Mennea's 1979 season had been setting a new world record of 19.72sec for 200m in Mexico City. The validity of this mark drew criticism over the years due to the fact that it had been recorded at high altitude, but just to emphasis that he was indeed the fastest man in the world over 200m, Mennea clocked a time of 19.96sec at his home town of Barletta on 17 August 1980, which was the fastest time ever recorded at low altitude. This performance came less than three weeks after what was arguably the greatest achievement of Mennea's career, his victory in the 200m at the Olympic Games in Moscow.

Prior to the 200m, Mennea competed in the 100m at Moscow, where he was eliminated when he finished sixth in the first semi-final. Mennea breezed through the first three rounds of the 200m, winning easily on each occasion, however, in the final held on 28 July, he unluckily drew lane 8, with 100m gold medallist Allan Wells (Great Britain) just inside him in lane 7. Wells exploded out of the blocks at the gun, and had already made up the stagger on Mennea before entering the straight, which he did with a lead of two metres over the rest of the field, and seemingly on his way to victory. However, with about 75m to go, Mennea moved into overdrive and slowly but surely began to reduce Wells' lead. Pietro finally gained the lead with only a few metres to go, and although Wells made a desperate dip at the finish (see photo above), Mennea had already crossed the line and claimed the gold medal. Pietro won another medal at Moscow in the final of the 4 x 400m relay, bringing Italy home to win the bronze, after starting the anchor leg in fourth position. (Ron Casey).

Men's 200m. Final.

Olympic Games 1980

Pietro Mennea announced his retirement at the end of the 1980 season during which he capped off his career by winning the gold medal in the 200m at the Moscow Olympics. However, Mennea decided to return to competition in late 1982, and although his first season back was relatively low-key, he did run the first leg on the Italian 4 x 400m relay team which finished sixth at the European Championships in Athens. Mennea quickly returned to world-class form in 1983, as evidenced by his performances at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki (see photo above). In the 200m final he narrowly edged out Allan Wells (Great Britain) for the bronze medal, replicating their close finish for the gold medal at the Moscow Olympics. Pietro also anchored the Italian 4 x 100m relay team to a silver medal in Helsinki, bringing them home in a new national record of 38.37sec.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Mennea became the first sprinter to compete in four Olympic 200m finals. Pietro was fourth at the halfway mark, but faded to finish in seventh place. Seemingly not deterred by age, Mennea ran the anchor leg for Italy in both relay finals held on 11 August. He just failed to gain another Olympic medal when he brought the 4 x 100m team home in fourth place, and afterwards ran a 44.95sec leg to help the 4 x 400m team to a fifth-place finish. Mennea retired at the end of the 1984 season stating that he was doing so in protest against the growing use of drugs by athletes. Incredibly, he made a second comeback in 1987, and competed at his fifth and last Olympic Games in Seoul the following year, where he finished fourth in his heat of the 200m, and although this qualified him for the next round, he withdrew from further competition. (Ron Casey)

Men's 200m. Final.

World Athletics Championships 1983