Emilio Lunghi

Emilio Lunghi (16 March 1887, in Genoa[1] – 27 September 1925) was an Italian athlete. He won the silver medal in the men's 800 metres race at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, making him the first Italian to win an Olympic medal.

Emilio Lunghi
Personal information
NationalityItalian
Born(1887-03-16)16 March 1887
Genoa
Died27 September 1925(1925-09-27) (aged 38)
Genoa
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Country Italy
SportAthletics
Event(s)Middle-distance running
Medal record
Olympic Games
1908 London 800 metres

Biography

His time in the race was 1:54.2, which beat the previous Olympic record by 1.8 seconds but was still 1.4 seconds behind the time of Mel Sheppard, who took gold and set a new record at 1:52.8. Lunghi had won his semifinal heat with a time of 1:57.2 to advance to the final.

Lunghi also competed in the 1500 metres. His first-round heat also included Norman Hallows; both of the two runners broke the Olympic record in that heat, but Hallows came out on top by running the race in 4:03.4 as opposed to Lunghi's 4:03.8.

After the 1908 Olympics, Lunghi spent a year New York City, and competed as a member of the Irish American Athletic Club while in the U.S., establishing three world's records in the 700 yard, 880 yard and two-thirds of a mile distances.[2]

National titles

Emilio Lunghi won the individual national championship nine times in six different events.[3]

References
  1. other sources report his year of birth: 1886
  2. 1910 Hassan Cigarettes trading card.
  3. ""CAMPIONATI "ASSOLUTI" ITALIANI SUL PODIO TRICOLORE – 1906 2012" (PDF). sportolimpico.it. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.

Notes
  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
  • Greenberg, Stan (1987). Olympic Games: The Records. London: Guinness Books. ISBN 0-85112-896-3.
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
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