Pietro Mennea

Biography Early life Mennea, who was born in Barletta, in the Italian region of Puglia, started his long international athletic career in 1968 when he took part in a junior race in Termoli and he was registered in AVIS Barletta club; in 1971, he won the first of his 14 Italian outdoor titles in the 100 and 200 m. He went on to win two indoor titles in 60 m and 400 m, along with five Mediterranean Games gold medals in 100 m and 200 m. He competed at the European Championships with a third place in the 4 × 100 m relay. He made his Olympic debut at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he made the final of the 200 m, his strongest event. He finished in third place, behind Valeri Borzov and Larry Black. Three more consecutive Olympic 200 metre finals would follow later in his career, the longest run ever in this event.

At the 1974 European Championships, Mennea claimed the 200 m gold in front of his home crowd in Rome, while also placing second behind Borzov in the 100 m and the 4 × 100 m. After some poor performances in the 1976 Olympic season, Mennea decided to skip the Olympics, but when the Italian public protested Mennea went to Montreal. He finished fourth in the 200 m and sixth in the 4 × 100 m relay. In 1977, he finished second in the world cup 200, where a photo finish separated him from Clancy Edwards of the United States. He successfully defended his European 200 m title in 1978 but displayed his capabilities in the 100 metres by also winning that event in Prague.

200 metres world record In 1979, Mennea placed first in the 100 metres and second in the 200 m behind Allan Wells of Great Britain in the European Cup. Later in the year, aged 27, he took part in the World University Games, which were held on the high-altitude track of Mexico City. On 12 September 1979, he won the 200 metres with a time of 19.72. His time set a new world record, beating Tommie Smith's time of 19.83 set on the same track in the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Last years In 1983, in Cassino, he clocked a manual 14.8 seconds in 150 metres, a world best time that he held until it was bettered by Usain Bolt in Manchester in 2009. Mennea, known in Italy as the ("the Arrow of the South"), then announced his retirement, allowing himself more time for his studies. However, he came back from retirement soon and won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki. A year later, he competed in his fourth consecutive Olympic 200 m final, becoming the first person to do so. The defending champion finished in seventh, and retired from athletics for a second time afterwards. Again, Mennea made a comeback, and competed in his fifth Olympics in Seoul, where he was the flag bearer: he qualified for the quarterfinals of the 200 m, but he decided to withdraw from the competition and did not take part into the next round.

Mennea admitted that he had used human growth hormone once during the last year of his career. In an interview to an Italian newspaper in 1987 he told that in 1984, during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, an American physiotherapist proposed a doping treatment to him. Back in Italy he tried two injections of human growth hormone but the crisis of conscience he got was so important that it induced him to retire from activity: "I realized that in my life I was looking for everything, except for that." Although the usage of the substance is banned in modern-day competition, it was not banned at the time by the IAAF.

After athletics After his athletic career, Mennea worked as a lawyer and a sports agent.

Death Mennea died on 21 March 2013, in a Rome hospital from pancreatic cancer. He was sixty years old.

Achievements

Track records As of 6 September 2024, Mennea holds the following track records for 100 metres and 200 metres.

100 metres LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDate Bari 9.99 +7.2 13/09/1978

200 metres LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDateNotes Barletta 19.96 0.0 17/08/1980 Dar El Beïda 20.30 +3.2 15/09/1983 Mexico City 19.72 +1.8 12/09/1979 This was the world record for 16 years 9 monthsand remains the European record. Riccione 20.34 +2.1 26/08/1984

Personal bests Outdoor 100 metres: 10.01 (+0.9 m/s; Mexico City, 4 September 1979) 200 metres: 19.72 (+1.8 m/s; Mexico City, 12 September 1979) AR, NR 300 metres: 32.23 ( Rieti, 21 July 1979) 400 metres: 45.87 ( Formia, 15 May 1977)

Honors and awards On 24 May 2012, the Mayor of Durrës, Vangjush Dako, bestowed upon Mennea the title of honorary citizen of Durrës. Furthermore, President of Albania Bamir Topi awarded Pietro Mennea with the "Medal of Gratitude" with citation: "For value and contribution as the former World record holder in Athletics and major figure in the Foundation "Pietro Mennea", created to help sport and research". The 2016 edition of "Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS Fest" was dedicated to his memory. He also is in the FICTS "Hall of Fame". Asteroid 73891 Pietromennea was named in his honor.