Pietro Paolo Mennea (; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

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.

Biography

Early life

Mennea, who was born in Barletta, started his long international athletic career in 1968 when he took part in a junior race in

Termoli Termoli ( Molisano: ''Térmëlë'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, ...

and he was registered in ''AVIS Barletta'' club; in 1971, he won the first of his 14 Italian outdoor titles in the 100 and 200 m. He went on to win two indoor titles in 60 m and 400 m, along with five

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The ...

gold medals in 100 m and 200 m. He competed at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

with a third place in the 4 × 100 m relay. He made his Olympic debut at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, where he made the final of the 200 m, his strongest event. He finished in third place, behind Valeri Borzov and Larry Black. Three more consecutive Olympic 200 metre finals would follow later in his career, the longest run ever in this event. At the 1974 European Championships, Mennea claimed the 200 m gold in front of his home crowd in Rome, while also placing second behind Borzov in the 100 m and the 4 × 100 m. After some poor performances in the 1976 Olympic season, Mennea decided to skip the Olympics, but when the Italian public protested Mennea went to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. He finished fourth in the 200 m and sixth in the 4 × 100 m relay. In 1977, he finished second in the world cup 200, where a photo finish separated him from

Clancy Edwards Clancy Edwards (born August 9, 1955) is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the 200 metres at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, the most importa ...

of the United States. He successfully defended his European 200 m title in 1978 but displayed his capabilities in the 100 metres by also winning that event in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

200 metres world record

In 1979, Mennea placed first in the 100 metres and second in the 200 m behind

Allan Wells Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a Scottish former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Within a fortnight of that, he also took on and beat America's best sprinters ...

of Great Britain in the European Cup. Later in the year, aged 27, he took part in the World University Games, which were held on the

high-altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

track of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. On 12 September 1979, he won the 200 metres with a time of 19.72. His time set a new world record, beating

Tommie Smith Tommie C. Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an American former track and field athlete and former wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83&nb ...

's time of 19.83 set on the same track in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

. The record held for almost seventeen years before Michael Johnson broke it at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials. As of November 2020, only twelve athletes have recorded a better time over 200 metres than Mennea. His time stands as the current European record. He also held the low-altitude world record, 19.96, from 1980 to 1983, set in his home town of Barletta. On 17 August 1980, Mennea became the first sprinter to break 20 seconds for the 200 metres for the third time.

Olympic champion

Entering the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow, Mennea was a clear favourite for the Olympic gold, in part because of the United States boycott of the Moscow Olympics. In the 200 metre final, Mennea faced reigning champion Don Quarrie and 100 metre champion Allan Wells. Mennea drew the outer most lane with Wells in lane 7 to his inside. Wells got out to a blistering fast start and closed on Mennea within the first 50 m. They approached the straight with Wells more than a two-metre lead on Mennea with Quarrie in second and Silvio Leonard, hampered by his lane 1 draw, in fourth. However, in the straight Mennea gained ground and passed Quarrie and Leonard and at the very end of the race, just beating Wells, winning the gold by a mere 0.02 seconds. Later in the games, he was the anchor man on the Italian bronze medal winning 4 × 400 relay team. He also competed in the 100 metres, reaching the semi-finals.

Last years

In 1983, in

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri ri ...

, he clocked a manual 14.8 seconds in 150 metres, a world best time that he held until it was bettered by

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in 2009. Mennea, known in Italy as the ("the Arrow of the South"), then announced his retirement, allowing himself more time for his studies. However, he came back from retirement soon and won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the inaugural World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. A year later, he competed in his fourth consecutive Olympic 200 m final, becoming the first person to do so. The defending champion finished in seventh, and retired from athletics for a second time afterwards. Again, Mennea made a comeback, and competed in his fifth

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, where he was the flag bearer: he qualified for the quarterfinals of the 200 m, but he decided to withdraw from the competition and did not take part into the next round. Mennea admitted that he had used human growth hormone once during the last year of his career. In an interview to an Italian newspaper in 1987 he told that in 1984, during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, an American physiotherapist proposed a doping treatment to him. Back in Italy he tried two injections of human growth hormone but the crisis of conscience he got was so important that it induced him to retire from activity: "I realized that in my life I was looking for everything, except for that." Although the usage of the substance is banned in modern-day competition, it was not banned at the time by the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

After athletics

After his athletic career, Mennea worked as a lawyer and a sports agent. He was a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

from 1999 to 2004 elected on the list of The Democrats, but failed in his attempt to be re-elected. He also lobbied for independent doping testing.

Death

Mennea died on 21 March 2013, in a Rome hospital from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

. He was sixty years old. On the day of his death, the Italian Railways announced that the new superfast train Frecciarossa ETR 1000, entering service in 2014, would carry his name.

Achievements

Personal bests

;Outdoor * 100 metres: 10.01 (+0.9 m/s;

, 4 September 1979) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

: 19.72 (+1.8 m/s;

, 12 September 1979) *

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *+ = en route to 400 m performance *i = indoor performance *A = affected by altitude *OT = oversized track (> 200 m in circumference) *h = hand tim ...

: 32.23 (

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...

, 21 July 1979) *

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

: 45.87 ( Formia, 15 May 1977)

Honors and awards

* On 24 May 2012, the Mayor of Durrës, Vangjush Dako, bestowed upon Mennea the title of honorary citizen of Durrës. * Furthermore, President of Albania

Bamir Topi Bamir Myrteza Topi (; born 24 April 1957)CV at Albanian presidency website
. i ...

awarded Pietro Mennea with the "Medal of Gratitude" with citation: "For value and contribution as the former World record holder in Athletics and major figure in the Foundation "Pietro Mennea", created to help sport and research". * The 2016 edition of " Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS Fest" was dedicated to his memory. * He also is in the FICTS "Hall of Fame". * Asteroid 73891 Pietromennea was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...

on 31 January 2018 ().

References

External links