Italy at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Italy at the Olympics
IOC code	ITA
NOC	Italian National Olympic Committee
Website
Medals Ranked 7th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 271 244 284 799
Summer appearances
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Italy has sent athletes to most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896, outside of not having officially participated (as a national delegation) in the 1904 Summer Olympics.

Italy has taken part in all the Winter Olympic Games, winning 141 medals, and has won 618 medals at the Summer Olympic Games. Italy's total of 259 gold medals makes it the sixth most successful country in Olympic history, after the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain and France. Italy has the sixth highest medal total of all time with 759. Italy has the third longest medaling streak after Sweden and Finland. It has medaled in 40 straight Olympic Games, starting with the 1936 Summer Olympics.

The Italian National Olympic Committee was created in 1914 and recognised in 1915. As of 2020, Italy is the most successful nation at fencing in Olympic history.

Italy has participated in all Olympic Winter Games from 1924 to 2022, securing a total of 141 medals, including 42 gold medals. The country has excelled in various sports disciplines, with many achievements in cross-country skiing (36 medals, nine of which are gold), Alpine skiing (36 medals, 14 of which are gold) and luge (18 medals, seven of which are gold). Among the Italian Winter Olympians, only Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni have achieved the feat of winning three gold medals in Alpine skiing.

Hosted Games

Italy has hosted the Games on three occasions, with a fourth occasion is planning for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Medal tables

Flag used from 1896 to 1946

According to the official count of the International Olympic Committee, Italy has won 618 medals at Summer Olympics.

In the Summer Olympic Games, Italy has finished 2nd in 1932, 3rd in 1960, 4th in 1936, and 5th in 1924, 1928, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1980 and 1984. In the Winter Olympic Games, Italy has finished 4th in 1968 and 1994, and 6th in 1952 and 1992.

Italy ranks 1st all-time in fencing, 2nd in cycling, 3rd in luge, 4th in boxing and shooting, 5th in alpine skiing, and 6th in bobsled, cross-country skiing and short track speed skating.

      Host country

Medals by Summer Games Main article: Italy at the Summer Olympics Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 Bronze Total Rank 1896 Athens 1 0 0 0 0 – 1900 Paris 24 3 2 0 5 8 1904 St. Louis 1 0 0 0 0 – 1908 London 68 2 2 0 4 9 1912 Stockholm 61 3 1 2 6 11 1920 Antwerp 174 13 5 5 23 7 1924 Paris 200 8 3 5 16 5 1928 Amsterdam 174 7 5 7 19 5 1932 Los Angeles 112 12 12 12 36 2 1936 Berlin 243 8 9 5 22 4 1948 London 213 8 11 8 27 5 1952 Helsinki 231 8 9 4 21 5 1956 Melbourne 129 8 8 9 25 5 1960 Rome 280 13 10 13 36 3 1964 Tokyo 168 10 10 7 27 5 1968 Mexico City 167 3 4 9 16 13 1972 Munich 224 5 3 10 18 10 1976 Montreal 210 2 7 4 13 14 1980 Moscow 159 8 3 4 15 5 1984 Los Angeles 268 14 6 12 32 5 1988 Seoul 253 6 4 4 14 10 1992 Barcelona 304 6 5 8 19 12 1996 Atlanta 340 13 10 12 35 6 2000 Sydney 361 13 8 13 34 7 2004 Athens 364 10 11 11 32 8 2008 Beijing 344 8 9 10 27 9 2012 London 285 8 9 11 28 9 2016 Rio de Janeiro 314 8 12 8 28 9 2020 Tokyo 372 10 10 20 40 10 2024 Paris 405 12 13 15 40 9 2028 Los Angeles future event Total 229 201 228 658 6 Cyclist Frank Bizzoni, who immigrated from Italy to the United States but still was an Italian citizen in 1904, was disputed and not recognized by the International Olympic Committee until the 21st century.

Medals by Winter Games Main article: Italy at the Winter Olympics Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 Bronze Total Rank 1924 Chamonix 23 0 0 0 0 – 1928 St. Moritz 13 0 0 0 0 – 1932 Lake Placid 12 0 0 0 0 – 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 40 0 0 0 0 – 1948 St. Moritz 57 1 0 0 1 10 1952 Oslo 33 1 0 1 2 6 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 65 1 2 0 3 8 1960 Squaw Valley 28 0 0 1 1 14 1964 Innsbruck 61 0 1 3 4 12 1968 Grenoble 52 4 0 0 4 4 1972 Sapporo 44 2 2 1 5 8 1976 Innsbruck 58 1 2 1 4 10 1980 Lake Placid 46 0 2 0 2 13 1984 Sarajevo 74 2 0 0 2 10 1988 Calgary 58 2 1 2 5 10 1992 Albertville 107 4 6 4 14 6 1994 Lillehammer 104 7 5 8 20 4 1998 Nagano 113 2 6 2 10 10 2002 Salt Lake City 112 4 4 5 13 7 2006 Turin 185 5 0 6 11 9 2010 Vancouver 114 1 1 3 5 16 2014 Sochi 113 0 2 6 8 22 2018 Pyeongchang 122 3 2 5 10 12 2022 Beijing 118 2 7 8 17 13 2026 Milan/Cortina future event Total 42 43 56 141 12

Athletes with most appearances

Partecip.	Athlete	Born	Edition	Period (age 1st / last)	Sport				Tot.
8	Piero D'Inzeo	1923	1948/1976	28 years (25/53)	Equestrian	0	2	4	6
	Raimondo D'Inzeo	1925	1948/1976	28 years (23/51)	Equestrian	1	2	3	6
	Josefa Idem	1964	1984/2012	28 years (20/48)	Canoeing	1	2	2	5
	Giovanni Pellielo	1970	1992/2024	32 years (22/54)	Shooting	0	3	1	4
6	Angelo Mazzoni	1961	1980/2000	20 years (19/39)	Fencing	2	0	1	3
	Andrea Benelli	1960	1988/2008	20 years (28/48)	Shooting	1	0	1	2
	Ilario Di Buò	1965	1984/2008	20 years (19/43)	Archery	0	2	0	2
	Marco De Nicolo	1976	2000/2020	21 years (22/45)	Shooting	0	0	0	0
	Wilfried Huber	1970	1988/2006	18 years (18/36)	Luge	1	0	0	1
	Alessandra Sensini	1970	1992/2012	20 years (22/42)	Sailing	1	1	2	4
	Gerda Weissensteiner	1969	1988/2006	18 years (19/37)	Luge & Bobsleigh	1	0	1	2
	Armin Zöggeler	1974	1994/2014	20 years (20/40)	Luge	2	1	3	6
	Roland Fischnaller	1980	2002/2022	20 years (22/42)	Snowboarding	0	0	0	0
	Natalia Valeeva	1969	1992/2012	20 years (23/43)	Archery	0	0	0	0

Notes: the names highlighted in pink indicate that they are female athletes. Notes: the names in bold indicate that they are still active.

Athletes with most medals

The Italian athlete who won the most medals in the history of the Olympic Games, is the fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti.      Still active

Athlete	Sport	Games				Total
Edoardo Mangiarotti	Fencing	1936–1948–1952–1956–1960	6	5	2	13
Arianna Fontana	Short track speed skating	2006–2010–2014–2018–2022	2	4	5	11
Stefania Belmondo	Cross country skiing	1992–1994–1998–2002	2	3	5	10
Valentina Vezzali	Fencing	1996–2000–2004–2008–2012	6	1	2	9
Giulio Gaudini	Fencing	1928–1932–1936	3	4	2	9
Giovanna Trillini	Fencing	1992–1996–2000–2004–2008	4	1	3	8
Gustavo Marzi	Fencing	1928–1932–1936	2	5	0	7
Manuela Di Centa	Cross country skiing	1992–1994–1998	2	2	3	7
Nedo Nadi	Fencing	1912–1920	6	0	0	6
Giuseppe Delfino	Fencing	1952–1956–1960–1964	4	2	0	6
Armin Zöggeler	Luge	1994–1998–2002–2006–2010–2014	2	1	3	6
Eugenio Monti	Bobsleigh	1956–1964–1968	2	2	2	6
Raimondo D'Inzeo	Equestrian	1956–1960–1964–1972	1	2	3	6
Piero D'Inzeo	Equestrian	1956–1960–1964–1972	0	2	4	6
Oreste Puliti	Fencing	1920–1924–1928	4	1	0	5
Giorgio Zampori	Gymnastics	1912–1920–1924	4	0	1	5
Gabriella Paruzzi	Cross country skiing	1992–1994–1998–2002–2006	1	0	4	5
Klaus Dibiasi	Diving	1964–1968–1972–1976	3	2	0	5
Alberto Tomba	Alpine skiing	1988–1992–1994	3	2	0	5
Antonio Rossi	Canoeing	1992–1996–2000–2004	3	1	1	5
Giancarlo Cornaggia	Fencing	1928–1932–1936	3	1	1	5
Manlio Di Rosa	Fencing	1936–1948–1952–1956	2	2	1	5
Carlo Massullo	Modern pentathlon	1984–1988–1992	1	2	2	5
Silvio Fauner	Cross country skiing	1992–1994–1998	1	2	2	5
Franco Menichelli	Artistic gymnastics	1960–1964	1	1	3	5
Marco Albarello	Cross country skiing	1992–1994–1998	1	3	1	5

Men gold medalist

In this table (sorted by individual totals gold medals), the men who have won gold individual medals at the Olympics (but also at the World Championships).      Still in activity

	Athlete	Sport	Born	Period	Individual						Team						Total
					Olympics			World Ch.			Olympics			World Ch.			Individual			Team			Individual + Team
																										Tot.
1	Gregorio Paltrinieri	Swimming	1994	2013-active	1	1	1	8	5	3	-	-	-	1	1	1	9	6	4	1	1	1	10	7	5	22
2	Armin Zöggeler	Luge	1974	1994–2014	2	1	3	6	3	1	-	-	-	0	2	4	8	4	4	0	2	4	8	6	8	22
3	Jury Chechi	Gymnastics	1969	1989–2004	1	0	1	5	0	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	0	3	-	-	-	6	0	3	9
4	Klaus Dibiasi	Diving	1946	1964–1976	3	2	0	2	2	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	5	4	0	-	-	-	5	4	0	9
5	Alberto Tomba	Alpine skiing	1966	1987–1996	3	2	0	2	0	2	–	–	–	-	-	-	5	2	2	-	-	-	5	2	2	9
6	Gustav Thöni	Alpine skiing	1951	1972–1976	1	2	0	4	0	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	5	2	0	-	-	-	5	2	0	7
7	Giorgio Zampori	Gymnastics	1887	1909–1913	1	0	1	4	1	1	3	0	1	0	0	2	5	1	2	3	0	3	8	1	5	14
8	Leandro Faggin	Cycling	1933	1956–1968	1	0	0	3	3	3	1	0	0	-	-	-	4	3	3	1	0	0	5	3	3	11
9	Vincenzo Maenza	Wrestling	1962	1982–1992	2	1	0	2	1	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	4	2	0	-	-	-	4	2	0	6
10	Edoardo Mangiarotti	Fencing	1919	1936–1960	1	1	2	2	5	2	5	4	0	11	3	3	3	6	4	16	7	3	19	13	7	39
11	Sante Gaiardoni	Cycling	1939	1960–1970	2	0	0	1	3	2	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	3	2	-	-	-	3	3	2	8
12	Raimondo D'Inzeo	Equestrian	1925	1955–1972	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	1	3	-	-	-	3	2	1	0	1	3	3	3	4	10
13	Andrea Benelli	Shooting	1960	1981–2006	1	0	1	2	1	1	–	–	–	7	3	2	3	1	2	7	3	2	10	4	4	18
	Roberto Cammarelle	Boxing	1980	2004–2012	1	1	1	2	0	1	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	1	2	-	-	-	3	1	2	6
15	Paolo Bettini	Cycling	1974	2001–2007	1	0	0	2	1	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	1	0	-	-	-	3	1	0	4
	Zeno Colò	Alpine skiing	1920	1950–1952	1	0	0	2	1	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	1	0	-	-	-	3	1	0	4
17	Maurizio Damilano	Athletics	1957	1980–1991	1	0	2	2	0	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	0	2	-	-	-	3	0	2	5
	Ercole Baldini	Cycling	1933	1956–1964	1	0	0	2	0	2	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	0	2	-	-	-	3	0	2	5
19	Silvio Martinello	Cycling	1963	1995–2000	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	3	2	0	3	0	1	3	2	1	6	2	2	10
	Ennio Mattarelli	Shooting	1928	1961–1973	1	0	0	2	0	1	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	0	1	-	-	-	3	0	1	4
21	Luciano Giovannetti	Shooting	1945	1979–1986	2	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	3	1	0	3	0	0	3	1	0	6	1	0	7
22	Massimiliano Rosolino	Swimming	1978	1998–2007	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	2	2	2	0	2	1	2	4	3	9
23	Carlo Pavesi	Fencing	1923	1950–1960	1	0	0	1	2	1	3	0	0	4	1	0	2	2	1	7	1	0	9	3	1	13
	Daniele Masala	Modern pentathlon	1955	1979–1988	1	0	0	1	2	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	2	2	1	2	1	3	4	3	4	11
25	Mauro Numa	Fencing	1961	1979–1990	1	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	3	2	2	2	1	2	4	2	2	6	3	4	11
	Paul Hildgartner	Luge	1952	1972-1988	1	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	2	1	2	2	0	1	4	1	3	8
26	Aldo Montano	Fencing	1978	2002–2012	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	0	4	2	2	1	0	0	5	4	2	6	4	12
27	Alberto Cova	Athletics	1958	1983–1984	1	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	-	-	-	2	0	0	-	-	-	2	0	0	2
Athletes in team sports
1	Eugenio Monti	Bobsleigh	1928	1956–1968	–	–	–	-	-	-	2	2	2	9	1	0	–	–	–	11	3	2	11	3	2	16
2	Carmine Abbagnale	Rowing	1962	1981–1993	–	–	–	-	-	-	2	1	0	7	4	1	–	–	–	9	5	1	9	5	1	15
3	Giuseppe Abbagnale	Rowing	1959	1981–1993	–	–	–	-	-	-	2	1	0	7	3	1	–	–	–	9	4	1	9	4	1	14
4	Antonio Rossi	Canoeing	1968	1992–2004	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	1	1	3	3	1	–	–	–	6	4	2	6	4	2	12
5	Agostino Straulino	Sailing	1914	1939–1965	–	–	–	-	-	-	1	1	0	4	2	1	–	–	–	5	3	1	5	3	1	9
6	Rossano Galtarossa	Rowing	1972	1992–2012	–	–	–	-	-	-	1	1	2	4	1	3	–	–	–	5	2	5	5	2	5	12
7	Agostino Abbagnale	Rowing	1962	1985–2002	–	–	–	-	-	-	3	0	0	2	2	0	–	–	–	5	2	0	5	2	0	7

Notes: in Khaki the athletes still in activity. For cycling was considered for world championships, only professional events.

Women gold medalist

The most successful Italian female athletes.

Valentina Vezzali

Federica Pellegrini

Josefa Idem

In this table, the women who have won gold individual medals at the Olympics and also at the World Championships. Updated to 16 February 2023.      Still in activity

#	Athlete	Sport	Born	Period	Olympics				World Ch.				Total
								Tot.				Tot.				Tot.
1	Valentina Vezzali	Fencing	1974	1994–2016	3	1	1	5	6	2	4	12	9	3	5	17
2	Federica Pellegrini	Swimming	1988	2004–2019	1	1	0	2	6	3	1	10	7	4	1	12
3	Josefa Idem	Canoeing	1964	1990–2009	1	2	1	4	5	9	6	20	6	11	7	24
4	Stefania Belmondo	Cross-country skiing	1969	1992–2002	2	3	2	7	4	4	1	9	6	5	3	16
5	Deborah Compagnoni	Alpine skiing	1970	1992–1998	3	1	0	4	3	0	0	3	6	1	0	7
6	Alessandra Sensini	Windsurf	1970	1996–2012	1	1	2	4	4	3	1	8	5	4	3	12
7	Paola Pezzo	Mountain bike	1969	1993–2000	2	0	0	2	2	0	2	4	4	0	2	6
8	Arianna Fontana Y	Short track	1990	2006–2022	2	2	3	7	1	6	5	12	3	7	8	19
9	Giovanna Trillini	Fencing	1970	1992–2007	1	1	2	4	2	2	3	7	3	3	5	11
10	Gerda Weissensteiner	Luge	1969	1993–2006	1	0	0	1	1	1	2	4	2	1	2	5
11	Irene Camber	Fencing	1926	1952–1960	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	2	2	0	1	3
Others notables (at least one gold medal at the Olympics or World Championships and at least one medal in the other competition)
12	Deborah Gelisio	Shooting	1976	1993–2007	0	1	0	1	4	1	0	5	4	2	0	6
13	Dorothea Wierer Y	Biathlon	1990	2014–2022	0	0	2	2	3	3	3	9	3	3	5	11
14	Manuela Di Centa	Cross-country skiing	1964	1991–1995	2	2	0	4	0	2	3	5	2	4	3	9
15	Fiona May	Athletics	1969	1995–2001	0	2	0	2	2	1	1	4	2	3	1	6
16	Isolde Kostner	Alpine skiing	1975	1994–2002	0	1	2	3	2	1	0	3	2	2	2	6
17	Antonella Bellutti	Track cycling	1968	1995–2000	2	0	0	2	0	2	0	2	2	2	0	4
18	Federica Brignone Y	Alpine skiing	1990	2011-2023	0	1	2	3	1	2	0	3	1	3	2	6
19	Carolina Kostner Y	Figure skating	1987	2002-2018	0	0	1	1	1	2	3	6	1	2	4	7
20	Sofia Goggia Y	Alpine skiing	1992	2017-2022	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	2	1	2	1	4
21	Chiara Cainero Y	Shooting	1978	2006–2016	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	2	1	2	1	4
22	Sara Simeoni	Athletics	1953	1976–1984	1	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	3
23	Tania Cagnotto	Diving	1985	2004-2016	0	0	1	1	1	1	5	7	1	1	6	8
24	Novella Calligaris	Swimming	1954	1968–1973	0	1	2	3	1	0	2	3	1	1	4	6
25	Simona Quadarella Y	Swimming	1998	2017-2022	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	4	1	1	3	5
26	Antonella Ragno	Fencing	1940	1960–1972	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	3
27	Dorina Vaccaroni	Fencing	1963	1982-1993	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	1	3

Summary by sport

Aquatics

Swimming

Italy first competed in swimming at the 1900 Games, with two swimmers in three events winning no medals.

Athletics

Italy first competed in athletics in 1900. After 121 years from first participation, Marcell Jacobs became the first Italian athlete to win a gold medal in Men's 100 metres at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics on 1 August 2021, with a time of 9"80.

Cycling

Italy first competed in cycling at the 1900 Games, with Enrico Brusoni winning a gold medal in the points race that year. Italy has the second-most gold medals (behind France) and third-most total medals (behind France and Great Britain) in the sport (as of the 2016 Games).

Equestrian

Italy competed in equestrian at the first Games in which the sport was held, in Paris 1900. Six riders competed, including Italy's first female Olympian (Elvira Guerra). Gian Giorgio Trissino won a gold medal in the high jump and a silver in the long jump.

Overall, Italy has won the eighth-most gold medals and eighth-most total medals in the sport.

Fencing

Italy first competed in fencing at the second edition of the Games in 1900. Italy has won more gold medals (49) and total medals (125) in the sport than any other nation. The nation's first medals were in its first appearance, as Italy's men's master sabreurs took gold and silver in that one-time-only event in 1900. Italy won six consecutive gold medals in the men's individual épée from 1932 to 1960 (including medal sweeps in 1936 and 1956), with a 7th in 2008; no other nation has more than 5 total gold medals (France) in the event.

Gymnastics

Italy's first gymnastics appearance was when the nation sent one gymnast to the second Games in 1900; Camillo Pavanello finished 28th in the men's all-around, the only event held that Games.

Sailing

Shooting

Italy's presence at the first Olympics in 1896 consisted of a single shooter, Giuseppe Rivabella, who entered one event and whose score and rank are unknown. The sport has remained a relatively strong one for Italy, which (after the 2016 Games) ranks fourth on the list of most gold medals in shooting with 16.

Tennis

Italy competed in tennis in 1920 and 1924, after which tennis was dropped from the Summer Olympics due to rule disputes. The sport returned in 1988, when Italy resumed sending tennis players to compete. Prior to 2024, Uberto De Morpurgo was the only Italian tennis player to win a medal at the Olympics. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Lorenzo Musetti became the first player in one hundred years to win a medal for Italy.

See also

In Spanish: Italia en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• List of flag bearers for Italy at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Italy
• Italy at the Paralympics
• Italy national athletics team
• Naturalized athletes of Italy