This morning, the great athlete Pietro Mennea passed away. He was nicknamed the Arrow of the South for his speed and his origins in Southern Italy.
Pietro Paolo Mennea was born on June 28, 1952, in Barletta, Italy. His career as a high-level athlete started in 1971 when he won the bronze medal in the 4×100 relay at the European Championships in Helsinki. In 1972, he reached his first Olympic final in the 200 meters at the Games in Munich winning the bronze medal.
In 1974, Pietro Mennea won the gold medal in the 200 m at the European Championships in Rome and the silver medal in the 100 m and in the 4×100 relay.
In 1978, Pietro Mennea won the gold medal in the 100 m and in the 200 m at the European Championships in Prague.
In 1979, at the World University Games in Mexico City, Pietro Mennea became a legend establishing the world record in the 200 m with 19.72 seconds, the first under 20 seconds. It was beaten only in 1996 and is still the European record.
In 1980, Pietro Mennea won the gold medal in the 200 m and a bronze medal in the 4×400 relay at the Olympic Games in Moscow.
In 1983, Pietro Mennea won the bronze medal in the 200 m and the silver medal in the 4×100 relay in the first edition of the World Championships in Athletics.
In 1984, Pietro Mennea reached his last final in the 200 meters in the Olympics in the Los Angeles Games.
Pietro Mennea participated in his last Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and carried the flag for the Italian team during the opening ceremony.
Despite his extraordinary sporting career, Pietro Mennea took great care of his education, earning degrees in political science, law, sport science, and in literature.
After the end of his sport activity, Pietro Mennea practiced as a lawyer and a physical education teacher and was active in politics as a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004.
With a body that appeared as not extraordinary, Pietro Mennea had an excellent progression in the race which, combined with great determination and great training work, allowed him to become one of the greatest sprinters in history.
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PIETRO MENNEA, “FRECCIA DEL SUD”
Pietro ran at the Moscow Games
as if he were an arrow shot in the wind
by an ancient Roman warrior.
As he took the outside curve against his break-away opponents,
Tawny-flexed Pietro looked like a sleek train
that one used to see moving on the tracks
from Sicily to Milan.
A man of his times, human like all of us,
The eternal Roman sprinter would say after taking human growth hormones,
“I realized in my life I was looking for everything, except for that”
In the month of March he died, the early spring winds
beckoning him home.
Luis Lázaro Tijerina, Burlington, Vermont, United States