Cosimo Caliandro (11 March 1982 – 10 June 2011) was an Italian

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 15 ...

who won a gold medal at the 2007 European Indoor Championships.

Biography

Caliandro was born in

Francavilla Fontana Francavilla Fontana ( Francavillese: ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is also called the town of the "Imperiali", after the Imperiali, a family of feudal lords who ...

. In his first appearance on the world stage, he ran in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

at the

1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the first edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland from July 16 to July 18, 1999. Results Boys Girls Medal table External links Offi ...

, but did not progress beyond the heats.Caliandro, Cosimo
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-11. He also competed at the

European Youth Olympic Festival The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is a biennial multi-sport event for youth (14 to 18 years old) athletes from the 50 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. The festival has a summer edition, held for the fir ...

that year and he won the gold medal in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

. His first major medal came at the 2001 European Athletics Junior Championships, where he became the

champion. As a junior athlete, he represented Italy at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

placing 100th in 2000, and improving to 68th the following year. At the 2001 European Cross Country Championships, he came 28th overall in the men's junior race. His first participation at world senior level was a 44th place at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships. Caliandro was eliminated in the heats of the 3000 metres at the 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships, but returned two years later to win in the event final at the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. He represented Italy at the 2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup, taking silver over 3000 m. He won the Cross Della Volpe in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and earned a spot at the

2010 European Cross Country Championships The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition h ...

. He died on 10 June 2011, as a result of a motorbike accident in his native town of

, in southern Italy. He had a wife and two sons.

National titles

He won 3 national championships at individual senior level. *

Italian Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Championships ( it, Campionati italiani assoluti di atletica leggera) are the national championships in athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, w ...

**5000 metres: 2006 * Italian Indoor Athletics Championships **3000 metres: 2005, 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caliandro, Cosimo 1982 births People from Francavilla Fontana Italian male middle-distance runners Motorcycle road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Italy 2011 deaths Athletics competitors of Fiamme Gialle Sportspeople from the Province of Brindisi