Spartaco Bandinelli (27 March 1921 – 17 February 1997) was an Italian boxer. He was born and died in

Velletri Velletri (; la, Velitrae; xvo, Velester) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring comm ...

. He started boxing at the amateur level at the age of 16.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

would interrupt his boxing carrier, he was drafted into the

Italian army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

. At the end of the war he joined AS Audace, a Roman sports club. On the occasion of the national championships in

Vigevano Vigevano (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Avgevan) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing a ...

he was noticed by the coach of the Italian national boxing team, Steve Klaus. He competed for Italy in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the flyweight event where he finished in second place, losing to Pascual Pérez of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

1948 Olympic results

Below are the results of Spartaco Bandinelli who competed for Italy as a flyweight boxer at the 1948 London Olympics: * Round of 32: defeated Olli Lehtinen (Finland) on points * Round of 16: defeated Leslie Handunge (Ceylon) on points * Quarterfinal: defeated Luis Martinez (Spain) on points * Semifinal: defeated Han Soo-An (South Korea) on points * Final: lost to Pascual Perez (Argentina) on points (was awarded silver medal)

References

Spartaco Bandinelli's profile at Sports Reference.com
1921 births 1997 deaths People from Velletri Flyweight boxers Olympic boxers of Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Italian male boxers Italian military personnel of World War II Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital 20th-century Italian people {{Italy-boxing-bio-stub