Italy competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. 340 competitors, 236 men and 104 women, took part in 172 events in 27 sports.
Antonio Rossi — Canoeing, Men's K1 500 metres Kayak SinglesAntonio Rossi and Daniele Scarpa — Canoeing, Men's K2 1.000 metres Kayak PairsAndrea Collinelli — Cycling, Men's 4.000 metres Individual PursuitSilvio Martinello — Cycling, Men's Points RaceAntonella Bellutti — Cycling, Women's Individual PursuitPaola Pezzo — Cycling, Women's Cross-country MountainbikeAlessandro Puccini — Fencing, Men's Foil Individual CompetitionMaurizio Randazzo, Sandro Cuomo, and Angelo Mazzoni — Fencing, Men's Épée Team CompetitionGiovanna Trillini, Francesca Bortolozzi-Borella, and Valentina Vezzali — Fencing, Women's Foil Team CompetitionYuri Chechi — Gymnastics, Men's RingsAgostino Abbagnale and Davide Tizzano — Rowing, Men's Double ScullsRoberto Di Donna — Shooting, Men's Air PistolEnnio Falco — Shooting, Men's SkeetFiona May — Athletics, Women's Long JumpElisabetta Perrone — Athletics, Women's 10 km WalkBeniamino Bonomi — Canoeing, Men's K1 1.000 metres Kayak SinglesBeniamino Bonomi and Daniele Scarpa — Canoeing, Men's K2 500 metres Kayak PairsImelda Chiappa — Cycling, Women's Individual Road RaceMargherita Zalaffi, Laura Chiesa, and Elisa Uga — Fencing, Women's Épée Team CompetitionValentina Vezzali — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual CompetitionGirolamo Giovinazzo — Judo, Men's Extra Lightweight (60 kg)Albano Pera — Shooting, Men's Double TrapAndrea Sartoretti, Paolo Tofoli, Andrea Zorzi, Pasquale Gravina, Marco Meoni, Samuele Papi, Luca Cantagalli, Andrea Gardini, Andrea Giani, Lorenzo Bernardi, Vigor Bovolenta, and Marco Bracci — Volleyball, Men's Team CompetitionMichele Frangilli, Matteo Bisiani, and Andrea Parenti — Archery, Men's Team CompetitionAlessandro Lambruschini — Athletics, Men's 3.000 metres SteeplechaseRoberta Brunet — Athletics, Women's 5.000 metresJosefa Idem Guerrini — Canoeing, Women's K1 500 metres Kayak SinglesRaffaello Caserta, Luigi Tarantino, and Tonhi Terenzi – Fencing, Men's Sabre Team CompetitionGiovanna Trillini — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual CompetitionYlenia Scapin — Judo, Women's Half Heavyweight (72 kg)Roberto Didonna — Shooting, Men's Free PistolAndrea Benelli — Shooting, Men's SkeetEmanuele Merisi — Swimming, Men's 200m BackstrokeLeonardo Sottani, Carlo Silipo, Luca Giustolisi, Amedeo Pomilio, Francesco Postiglione, Roberto Calcaterra, Marco Gerini, Alberto Ghibellini, Alessandro Bovo, Alessandro Calcaterra, Alberto Angelini, Francesco Attolico, and Fabio Bencivenga — Water Polo, Men's Team CompetitionAlessandra Sensini — Sailing, Women's Mistral Individual CompetitionThe Italian men received unfortunate rankings in the open round, and both Andrea Parenti and Matteo Bisiani quickly found themselves losing to eventual silver medallist Magnus Petersson, in the second and third rounds, respectively. Both had the highest score of any archer to lose in their round. Michele Frangilli advanced to the quarterfinal before facing eventual gold medallist Justin Huish. They won the bronze medal in the team round.
Women's Individual Competition:
Giovanna Aldegani – round of 32, 28th place (1–1)Paola Fantato – round of 64, 54th place (0–1)Giuseppina di Blasi – round of 64, 60th place (0–1)Men's Individual Competition:
Michele Frangilli – quarterfinal, 6th place (3–1)Matteo Bisiani – round of 16, 9th place (2–1)Andrea Parenti – round of 32, 17th place (1–1)Women's Team Competition:
Aldegani, Fantato, and di Blasi – round of 16, 9th place (0–1)Men's Team Competition:
Frangilli, Bisiani, and Parenti – Bronze Medal Match (3–1) → Bronze MedalMen's 100 metres
Ezio MadoniaStefano TilliMen's 200 metres
Sandro FlorisMen's 800 metres
Giuseppe D'UrsoAndrea BenvenutiAndrea GiocondiMen's 5,000 metres
Genny di NapoliQualification — 14:03.56Semifinal — 13:28.80Final — 13:28.36 (→ 12th place)Stefano BaldiniQualification — 13:55.41Semifinal — 14:06.45 (→ did not advance)Men's 10,000 metres
Stefano BaldiniQualification — 27:55.79Final — 29:07.77 (→ 18th place)Men's Marathon
Danilo Goffi — 2:15.08 (→ 9th place)Salvatore Bettiol — 2:17.27 (→ 20th place)Davide Milesi — 2:21.45 (→ 50th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Giovanni Puggioni, Ezio Madonia, Angelo Cipolloni, and Sandro FlorisHeat — did not finish (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
Fabrizio Mori, Alessandro Aimar, Andrea Nuti, and Ashraf SaberHeat — 3:03.60Semi Final — 3:02.56 (→ did not advance)Men's 400m Hurdles
Fabrizio MoriHeat — 48.90sSemi Final — 48.43sFinal — 48.41s (→ 6th place)Laurent OttozHeat — 48.92sSemi Final — 48.52s (→ did not advance)Ashraf SaberHeat — 49.71s (→ did not advance)Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase
Alessandro LambruschiniHeat — 8:31.69Semifinals — 8:27.32Final — 8:11.28 (→ Bronze Medal)Angelo CarosiHeat — 8:30.83Semifinals — 8:21.86Final — 8:29.67 (→ 9th place)Men's Long Jump
Simone BianchiQualification — 7.79m (→ did not advance)Men's Shot Put
Paolo Dal SoglioCorrado FantiniGiorgio VenturiMen's Discus Throw
Diego FortunaQualification — 60.08m (→ did not advance)Men's Hammer Throw
Enrico SgrullettiQualification — 77.36mFinal — 76.98m (→ 9th place)Loris PaoluzziQualification — 72.82m (→ did not advance)Men's Decathlon
Beniamino PoserinaFinal Result — 7013 points (→ 30th place)Men's 20 kilometres Walk
Giovanni PerricelliGiovanni De BenedictisMichele DidoniMen's 50 kilometres Walk
Arturo Di Mezza — 3'44:52 (→ 4th place)Giovanni Perricelli — 3'52:31 (→ 13th place)Giovanni De Benedictis — did not finish (→ no ranking)Women's 400 metres
Virna De AngeliPatrizia SpuriWomen's 5,000 metres
Roberta BrunetSilvia SommaggioWomen's 10,000 metres
Maria GuidaQualification — 31:55.35Final — did not start (→ no ranking)Silvia SommaggioQualification — 32:59.40 (→ did not advance)Women's Marathon
Ornella Ferrara — 2:33.09 (→ 13th place)Maria Curatolo — did not finish (→ no ranking)Maura Viceconte — did not finish (→ no ranking)Women's 100m Hurdles
Carla TuzziWomen's 400m Hurdles
Virna de AngeliQualification — 57.12 (→ did not advance)Women's Discus Throw
Agnese MaffeisQualification — 56.54m (→ did not advance)Women's High Jump
Antonella BevilacquaQualification — 1.93mFinal — 1.99m (→ 4th place)Women's Long Jump
Fiona MayQualification — 6.85mFinal — 7.02m (→ Silver Medal)Women's Triple Jump
Barbara LahQualification — 13.74m (→ did not advance)Women's Heptathlon
Giuliana SpadaWomen's 10 km Walk
Elisabetta Perrone – 42:12 (→ Silver Medal)Rossella Giordano – 42:43 (→ 5th place)Annarita Sidoti – 43:57 (→ 11th place)The Italians were one of four teams that made their second appearance in Olympic baseball in 1996. They improved slightly, upon their seventh-place finish of four years earlier by taking the middle place in a three-way tie for fifth through seventh places. They had defeated Korea and Australia in the preliminary round but had lost their other five preliminary games.
Men's Team Competition:
Italy – 6th place (2–5)Team Roster
Claudio LiverzaniPier Paolo IlluminatiRoberto De FranceschiDavid RigoliMarco UrbaniFrancesco CasolariAndrea EvangelistiEnrico VecchiMassimiliano MasinPaolo CeccaroliRuggero BagialemaniPaolo PasseriniMassimo FochiAlberto d'AuriaRoberto CabalistiDante CabriniMarco BarboniRolando CretisLuigi CarrozzaFabio BettoAndrea Ghiurghi and Nicola Grigolo — 13th place overallMen's Flyweight (51 kg)
Carmine MolaroFirst Round — Lost to Hussein Hussein (Australia), 8–11Men's Lightweight (60 kg)
Christian GiantomassiFirst Round — Lost to Sergey Kopenkin (Kyrgyzstan), 11–12Men's Light Middleweight (71 kg)
Antonio PeruginoFirst Round — Defeated José Quinones (Puerto Rico), 10–8Second Round — Defeated Roger Pettersson (Sweden), 18–4Quarter Finals — Lost to Alfredo Duvergel (Cuba), 8–15Men's Light Heavyweight (81 kg)
Pietro AurinoFirst Round — Defeated Yusuf Öztürk (Turkey), 15–7Second Round — Lost to Vassili Jirov (Kazakhstan), 13–18Men's Super Heavyweight (> 91 kg)
Paolo VidozFirst Round — ByeSecond Round — Lost to Alexis Rubalcaba (Cuba), referee stopped contest in first roundMen's Individual Time Trial
Maurizio FondriestFinal — 1:05:01 (→ 4th place)Francesco CasagrandeFinal — 1:09:18 (→ 19th place)Women's Individual Road Race
Imelda ChiappaFinal — 02:36:38 (→ Silver Medal)Alessandra CappellottoFinal — 02:37:06 (→ 7th place)Roberta BonanomiFinal — 02:37:06 (→ 32nd place)Women's Individual Time Trial
Imelda ChiappaFinal – 38:47 (→ 8th place)Men's Points Race
Silvio MartinelloFinal — 37 points (→ Gold Medal)Men's Cross Country
Daniele PontoniFinal — 2:25:08 (→ 5th place)Luca BramatiFinal — 2:26:05 (→ 8th place)Women's Cross Country
Paola PezzoFinal — 1:50.51 (→ Gold Medal)Annabella StropparoFinal — 1:55.56 (→ 6th place)Men's 3m Springboard
Davide LorenziniPreliminary Round — 356.55Semi Final — 202.80 (→ 15th place)Women's 3m Springboard
Francesca d'OrianoPreliminary Heat — 208.77 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Women's 10m Platform
Francesca d'OrianoPreliminary Heat — 202.86 (→ did not advance, 28th place)Sixteen fencers, nine men and seven women, represented Italy in 1996.
Men's foilAlessandro PucciniStefano CerioniMarco ArpinoMen's team foilAlessandro Puccini, Marco Arpino, Stefano CerioniMen's épéeSandro CuomoAngelo MazzoniMaurizio RandazzoMen's team épéeSandro Cuomo, Angelo Mazzoni, Maurizio RandazzoMen's sabreTonhi TerenziLuigi TarantinoRaffaelo CasertaMen's team sabreLuigi Tarantino, Raffaelo Caserta, Tonhi TerenziWomen's foilValentina VezzaliGiovanna TrilliniDiana BianchediWomen's team foilFrancesca Bortolozzi-Borella, Giovanna Trillini, Valentina VezzaliWomen's épéeMargherita ZalaffiElisa UgaLaura ChiesaWomen's team épéeElisa Uga, Laura Chiesa, Margherita ZalaffiPreliminary Round (Group C)Lost to Mexico (0–1)Lost to Ghana (2–3)Defeated South Korea (2–1) → Did not advanceTeam RosterGianluca PagliucaChristian PanucciAlessandro NestaFabio CannavaroFabio GalanteSalvatore FresiRaffaele AmetranoMassimo CrippaMarco BrancaMassimo BrambillaMarco DelvecchioGianluigi BuffonAlessandro PistoneDamiano TommasiFabio PecchiaDomenico MorfeoCristiano LucarelliAntonino BernardiniLuigi SartorHead Coach: Cesare MaldiniMen's Individual Competition:
Cesare Toraldo – 5402 pts (→ 8th place)Fabio Nebuloni – 5285 pts (→ 17th place)Alessandro Conforto – 5128 pts (→ 25th place)Men's 50m Freestyle
René GuspertiHeat – 22.85B-Final – 22.96 (→ 14th place)Men's 200m Freestyle
Massimiliano RosolinoHeat – 1:48.80Final – 1:48.50 (→ 6th place)Pier Maria SicilianoHeat – 1:49.88B-Final – 1:50.07 (→ 13th place)Men's 400m Freestyle
Emiliano BrembillaHeat – 3:49.35Final – 3:49.87 (→ 4th place)Massimiliano RosolinoHeat – 3:51.05Final – 3:51.04 (→ 6th place)Men's 1500m Freestyle
Emiliano BrembillaHeat – 15:16.72Final – 15:08.58 (→ 4th place)Marco FormentiniHeat – 15:41.14 (→ did not advance, 18th place)Men's 100m Backstroke
Emanuele MerisiHeat – 55.82Final – 55.53 (→ 6th place)Men's 200m Backstroke
Emanuele MerisiHeat – 2:00.01Final – 1:59.18 (→ Bronze Medal)Mirko MazzariHeat – 1:59.95Final – 2:01.27 (→ 7th place)Men's 100m Butterfly
Andrea OrianaHeat – 56.04 (→ did not advance, 39th place)Men's 200m Butterfly
Andrea OrianaHeat – 2:00.67 (→ did not advance, 17th place)Men's 200m Individual Medley
Luca SacchiHeat – 2:03.24B-Final – 2:03.49 (→ 11th place)Men's 400m Individual Medley
Luca SacchiHeat – 4:19.63Final – 4:18.31 (→ 6th place)Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Emiliano Brembilla, Emanuele Idini, Pier Maria Siciliano, and Massimiliano RosolinoHeat – 7:22.69Massimiliano Rosolino, Emanuele Idini, Emanuele Merisi, and Pier Maria SicilianoFinal – 7:19.92 (→ 6th place)
Women's 100m Freestyle
Cecilia VianiniHeat – 57.17 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Women's 200m Backstroke
Lorenza VigaraniHeat – 2:13.58Final – 2:14.56 (→ 7th place)Women's 100m Breaststroke
Manuela Dalla ValleHeat – 1:10.25B-Final – 1:11.19 (→ 15th place)Women's 100m Butterfly
Ilaria TocchiniHeat – 1:01.83 (→ did not advance, 17th place)Women's 200m Butterfly
Ilaria TocchiniHeat – 2:16.10 (→ did not advance, 17th place)Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Lorenza Vigarani, Manuela Dalla Valle, Ilaria Tocchini, and Cecilia VianiniHeat – 4:10.57Final – 4:10.59 (→ 8th place)Men's Singles Competition
Renzo FurlanFirst round — Defeated Jiří Novák (Czech Republic) 4–5 6–4 6–3Second round — Defeated Luis Morejon (Ecuador) 7–5 6–2Third round — Defeated Marc Rosset (Switzerland) 6–2 4–2 retiredQuarter Finals — Lost to Leander Paes (India) 1–6 9–7Andrea GaudenziFirst round — Defeated Carlos Costa (Spain) 6–3 6–2Second round — Defeated Oscar Ortiz (Mexico) 6–1 7–6Third round — Lost to Andre Agassi (United States) 6–2 4–6 2–6
Women's Singles Competition
Rita GrandeFirst round — Lost to Patricia Hy-Boulais (Canada) 4–6 4–6Silvia FarinaFirst round — Defeated Clare Wood (Great Britain) 6–2 6–2Second round — Lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (Spain) 1–6 3–6Preliminary Round (Group B)Defeated South Korea (3–0)Defeated Tunisia (3–0)Defeated Netherlands (3–0)Defeated Russia (3–0)Defeated Yugoslavia (3–0)QuarterfinalsDefeated Brazil (3–2)SemifinalsDefeated Yugoslavia (3–1)FinalLost to the Netherlands (2–3) → Silver MedalTeam RosterLorenzo BernardiVigor BovolentaMarco BracciLuca CantagalliAndrea GardiniAndrea GianiPasquale GravinaMarco MeoniSamuele PapiAndrea SartorettiPaolo TofoliAndrea ZorziHead Coach: Julio VelascoPreliminary Round (Group B)Defeated United States (10–7)Defeated Ukraine (8–6)Defeated Croatia (10–8)Defeated Greece (10–8)Defeated Romania (10–9)QuarterfinalsDefeated Russia (11–9)SemifinalsLost to Croatia (6–7)Bronze Medal MatchDefeated Hungary (20–18) → Bronze MedalTeam RosterFrancesco AttolicoFrancesco PostiglioneAlessandro BovoFabio BencivengaAlessandro CalcaterraRoberto CalcaterraLuca GiustolisiAlberto AngeliniAmedeo PomilioMarco GeriniLeonardo SottaniCarlo SilipoAlberto Ghibellini