Sara Simeoni (born 19 April 1953) is an Italian former

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er, who won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

and twice 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 organizatio ...

in the women's high jump.

Biography

Sara Simeoni was born in

Rivoli Veronese Rivoli Veronese is a little town (''comune'') in the Province of Verona, Veneto, Italy, located on the hills overlooking the right bank of the river Adige, northwest of Verona. History Rivoli Veronese is celebrated as the scene of the Battle ...

, in the province of Verona. She soon took up athletics, specialising in the high jump. Her first international result was at the 1971 European Championships in

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, where she ended 9th with a 178 cm jump. Her first international success was at the

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, where she won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

, with a personal best of 1.91 m, and was beaten only by Rosemarie Ackermann's 1.93 m leap. In August 1978, she set the new world record with 2.01 m in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

(this jump stood as a national record until Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 in June 2007). Later in the same month she equalled it at

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while winning the European title. In 1980, Simeoni set a new Olympic record of 1.97 m, when winning gold in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Simeoni was the only woman athlete not from a Communist country able to win an athletics gold medal in Moscow. Simeoni struggled to regain her form in the following years, with a series of

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

injuries. At 1984 Olympics, Simeoni carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in

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. Here, she cemented her reputation as one of the greatest female high jumpers ever, in a thrilling duel with West German Ulrike Meyfarth. Simeoni managed to reach the 2 meters measure for the first time since 1978. Meyfarth, however, replied with a notable 2.02 m jump, and Simeoni won a silver medal. Simeoni's other titles include two

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

s at the European Championships and 25 national titles. Her jump of 2.01 m was the Italian record for women for 29 years. On 8 June 2007, Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 m, establishing the new Italian record for women. Sara Simeoni is widely considered one of the best Italian female athletes ever. She is married to her coach Erminio Azzaro. Their son Roberto Azzaro is also a high jumper.

Achievements

¹Representing Europe

National titles

She won 25 national championships at individual senior level. *

Italian Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Championships () are the national championships in Athletics (sport), athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, was held in 1906 at Arena Civica in ...

** High jump: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985 (14) ** Pentathlon: 1972 (1) * Italian Indoor Athletics Championships ** High jump: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986 (10)

References

External links

Biography

Achievements

National titles

See also

References

External links