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 been a big part of the modern Olympic Games! Italian athletes have competed in almost every Olympics since the first one in 1896. The only time they didn't officially send a team was in the 1904 Summer Olympics.

Italy has done really well over the years. They have won 141 medals at the Winter Olympic Games and 618 medals at the Summer Olympic Games. With a total of 259 gold medals, Italy is the sixth most successful country in Olympic history. Only the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain, and France have won more. Italy also has one of the longest streaks of winning medals, earning at least one medal in 40 straight Olympic Games since 1936 Summer Olympics.

The Italian National Olympic Committee was started in 1914. Italy is especially good at fencing, being the most successful country in this sport at the Olympics as of 2020. In the Winter Olympics, Italy has won 141 medals, including 42 gold medals. They are strong in sports like cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, and luge. Famous Italian Winter Olympians like Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni have each won three gold medals in Alpine skiing!

Italy as an Olympic Host

Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times. They are also planning to host the 2026 Winter Olympics!

Olympic Medal Achievements

Flag used by Italy from 1896 to 1946

Italy has won many medals over the years. The International Olympic Committee officially counts 618 medals for Italy at the Summer Olympics.

In the Summer Games, Italy has ranked as high as 2nd place in 1932. They also finished 3rd in 1960 and 4th in 1936. In the Winter Games, Italy's best ranks were 4th in 1968 and 1994.

Italy is ranked 1st in fencing for all-time medals. They are also 2nd in cycling, 3rd in luge, 4th in boxing and shooting, and 5th in alpine skiing.

      Host country

Summer Games Medals 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

Winter Games Medals 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

Top Italian Olympians

Athletes with Most Appearances

These Italian athletes have competed in the most Olympic Games.

Games Played	Athlete	Born	Years Active	Period (age 1st / last)	Sport				Total Medals
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: Names highlighted in pink are female athletes. Notes: Names in bold mean they are still active.

Athletes with Most Medals

The Italian athlete with the most Olympic medals is 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

Top Female Gold Medalists

These are the Italian women who have won gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships.

The most successful Italian female athletes.

Valentina Vezzali

Federica Pellegrini

Josefa Idem

     Still active

#	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
Other Notable Athletes
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

Italy's Performance in Specific Sports

Aquatics: Swimming

Italy first competed in swimming at the 1900 Games. They didn't win any medals in their first few appearances.

Athletics

Italy first competed in athletics in 1900. After many years, Marcell Jacobs made history by winning Italy's first gold medal in the Men's 100 meters at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. He ran it in just 9.80 seconds!

Cycling

Italy first competed in cycling at the 1900 Games. Enrico Brusoni won a gold medal in the points race that year. Italy has won the second-most gold medals in cycling, after France. They are third in total medals, behind France and Great Britain.

Equestrian

Italy competed in equestrian sports at the first Games where it was held, in Paris in 1900. Six riders from Italy competed, including Elvira Guerra, who was Italy's first female Olympian. Gian Giorgio Trissino won a gold medal in high jump and a silver in long jump. Overall, Italy has won the eighth-most gold medals and total medals in equestrian sports.

Fencing

Italy first competed in fencing at the second Olympics in 1900. Italy has won more gold medals (49) and total medals (125) in fencing than any other country! Their first medals were in 1900. Italy won six gold medals in a row in the men's individual épée from 1932 to 1960. They even swept the medals (won gold, silver, and bronze) in 1936 and 1956.

Gymnastics

Italy's first gymnastics appearance was in 1900, when one gymnast, Camillo Pavanello, competed. He finished 28th in the men's all-around event.

Sailing

Shooting

Italy's first Olympic athlete ever was a shooter, Giuseppe Rivabella, in 1896. Shooting has always been a strong sport for Italy. They rank fourth in the world for most gold medals in shooting, with 16.

Tennis

Italy competed in tennis in 1920 and 1924. After that, tennis was removed from the Olympics for a while. When it returned in 1988, Italy started sending tennis players again. Before 2024, Uberto De Morpurgo was the only Italian tennis player to win an Olympic medal. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Lorenzo Musetti became the first Italian tennis player in 100 years to win a medal!

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