Andrea Benelli

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Andrea Benelli as Olympic champion 2004

Andrea Benelli (born June 28, 1960 in Florence ) is a former Italian marksman in the discipline of skeet . In 1996 he was Olympic third and in 2004 Olympic champion in this discipline. He was twice world champion in singles and seven times with the Italian team. At European Championships, he won one title in the individual and six titles in the team.

Athletic career

Andrea Benelli began shooting sports in 1977. In 1978 he was runner-up in the European Junior Championships, and in 1979 he won the junior title.

Benelli competed for the Laterina Sporting Club . His father Luciano was Italian champion in 1977, Andrea Benelli won four Italian championship titles.

Olympic games

Benelli took part in the Olympic Games six times. In 1988 in Seoul he finished 20th, in 1992 in Barcelona he came in 25th. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , he hit 123 of 125 targets in the qualification and 24 of 25 targets in the final. He won the bronze medal behind his compatriot Ennio Falco and the Pole Mirosław Rzepkowski . Four years later at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney he reached 122 targets in qualifying and ten out of ten targets in the shootout. After 24 hits in the final, he finished fifth. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the Finn Marko Kemppainen scored 125 targets in qualifying, Benelli hit 124 targets. Kemppainen missed once in the final, Benelli hit all 25 targets, so it came to the shootout for the gold medal. Benelli hit all five targets in the shootout, Kemppainen missed one target. That made Benelli Olympic champion at the age of 44, ahead of Kemppainen and Juan Miguel Rodríguez . Four years later, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Benelli finished 24th.

World championships

In 1981 Andrea Benelli won the team title at the World Championships in Tucumán together with Celso Giardini , Italo Cianfarani and Luca Scribani Rossi . In 1985 in Montecatini Terme, Benelli finished fifth in the singles, the Italian team with Giardini, Benelli and Sribani Rossi won silver behind the US team. In 1986 in Suhl, Matthew Dryke from the United States won, Benelli received the silver medal. Giardini, Benelli and Scribani Rossi won the team competition. In 1987 in Valencia Andrea Benelli won the individual title ahead of Matthew Dryke. The team from the GDR won the team competition ahead of the Italians. 1989 in Montecatini Terme Benelli finished eighth in the individual competition, the Italian team with Benelli, Claudio Giovannangelo and Bruno Rossetti won the team competition. In 1990 in Moscow Benelli won the individual competition for the second time, the team won no medal.

At the World Championships in Barcelona in 1993 Andrea Benelli took fourth place in the individual standings, the team with Benelli, Giovannangelo and Rossetti won the title. In 1994 in Fagnano Olona, ​​Benelli missed the individual finals in eighth place, the team with Benelli, Ennio Falco and Bruno Rossetti won the title as in the previous year. In 1995 Benelli finished fifth in the individual standings in Nicosia, the team in the same line-up as in the previous year won silver behind the Romanians. In 1997 and 1998 Benelli did not reach the individual finals and the team did not reach the medal ranks. In 1999 in Tampere Benelli won bronze behind his compatriot Pietro Genga and the British Drew Harvey . The team with Genga, Benelli and Falco won the title.

In the 2000s, Benelli did not reach a single finals at world championships. With Genga and Falco he won bronze in the team competition in Nicosia in 2003. In 2005 in Lonato he also won bronze with Valerio Luchini and Ennio Falco. In the same line-up, the Italian team won gold in 2006 in Zagreb.

European championships

Andrea Benelli reached the individual finals seven times at European Championships. In 1990 he was fifth in Uddevalla, in 1993 he was fourth in Brno, and in 1994 in Lisbon he won the title. In 1995 in Lahti and 1998 in Nicosia, he took fifth place. In 2000 in Montecatini, he finished third behind Pietro Genga and the Czech Jan Sychra . In 2007 Benelli finished sixth again in Granada.

In 1986, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2005, Benelli won the title of European team champion. In 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1993 he won silver, in 1988, 1997, 1998 and 2003 bronze.

World cup

Benelli won the World Cup final in 1997, second in 1996 and 2004 and third in 1998. In the World Cup he won four competitions between 1986 and 2008, six times he was second and four times third. In 1996 he had a perfect match in Suhl with 150 out of 150 targets, which is why he traveled to Atlanta as a world record holder for the Olympic Games.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Qualification of the Olympic Games 2000 at SportsReference
  2. ^ Finals of the 2004 Olympic Games at SportsReference
  3. ↑ In the years not represented by sport-komplett.de from 2004 onwards, Benelli could have won another silver and bronze medal in the team ranking, these medals are missing from the sum at SportsReference
personal data
SURNAME Benelli, Andrea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian marksman
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence