Daniel Monzoro Fontana (born December 31, 1975, in

General Roca, Río Negro General Roca is a city in the northeast of the Argentine province of Río Negro, northern Patagonia. It was founded on September 1, 1879, by Colonel Lorenzo Vintter, on the order of War Minister Julio A. Roca, during the Conquest of the Desert ...

) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

professional

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

. Fontana started out as a swimmer in Argentina, until he began his triathlon career in 1994, while racing for his homeland. He first competed at two Pan-American Games (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

), and at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, as part of the Argentina team, where he placed twenty-eighth in the men's triathlon, with a time of 1:57:14. In 2006, Fontana relocated to Italy, and became a naturalized citizen to take his athletic abilities to a higher level. At the peak of his career, Fontana has won seven titles in triathlon, four for Argentina and the other three for Italy. He had also achieved three top fifteen placements at the World Olympic Distance, including his eighth-place finish in 2005, which considered highest by an Italian male. Fontana also qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and competed for the Italian team in men's triathlon. He finished only in thirty-third place, with a time of 1:52:39. Following his second Olympic participation, Fontana opted to run for the long-distance triathlon, and competed at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

, United States, where he finished second behind Germany's

Michael Raelert Michael Raelert (born 29 August 1980) is a German triathlete who is the 2009 and 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Champion. In 2010, Raelert won Ironman 70.3 races at Switzerland, California, and Germany, as well as the 28th Avia Wildflower Triathlon. ...

with a time of 1:12:00. He was also able to beat New Zealand-born U.S. triathlete

Matt Reed Matthew Reed (born November 8, 1975 in Palmerston North, New Zealand) is an American elite triathlete. Reed became a US citizen in 2007, and lives and trains in Arizona. In 2009, Reed won 7 triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport ...

, who finished behind him at the Olympics, during the race. Fontana also obtained his third-place finish at the Ironman series in South Africa with the time of 8:18:51, and two championship titles at the 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Series in

Pucón Pucón (Mapudungun: "entrance to the cordillera") is a Chilean city and commune administered by the municipality of Pucón https://www.mipucon.com/ sitio web. It is located in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region, 100 km to the south ...

, Chile and in

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

, Italy. In 2012, Fontana performed well with a second-place finishes at the TriStar Cannes tournament, and at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Series, although he had suffered some physical injuries during the race. On March 30, 2014, Daniel was first on the podium at the Ironman Los Cabos with a stunning 8h26'15", first Italian winning a race of the Ironman Championship. Fontana is currently a member of an Italian professional triathlon team, ''Dimensione Dello Sport'' (DDS), coached by Simone Diamantini. He resides in

Settimo Milanese Settimo Milanese (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is about west of the city centre of Milan. The industrial district of Castelletto is home to Italtel and STMicroelectroni ...

, Italy.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Daniel 1975 births Argentine male triathletes Italian male triathletes Living people Olympic triathletes for Argentina Olympic triathletes for Italy Triathletes at the 1999 Pan American Games Triathletes at the 2003 Pan American Games Triathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Duathletes Pan American Games competitors for Argentina People from General Roca Sportspeople from Río Negro Province People from Río Negro Province