Marino Morettini

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Marino Morettini

Marino Morettini (born February 1, 1931 in Vertova ; † December 10, 1990 in Milan ) was an Italian cyclist , Olympic champion and world champion.

Life

Marino Morettini was one of the strongest track sprinters in Italy in the 1950s, together with Antonio Maspes and Enzo Sacchi . He grew up in Caravaggio . A sports-loving friend became aware of his athletic abilities and bought him a bicycle. At the age of 20 he was nominated for the UCI track world championships in Milan in 1951 , after becoming Italian champion in the sprint of amateurs in 1950 and 1951 . At the World Cup, he finished third behind Sacchi (1st) and Russell Mockridge (2nd).

In 1952, Morettini started at the Olympic Games in Helsinki and won the gold medal in the team pursuit and the bronze medal in the 1000-meter time trial with the Italian track four . In the same year he was runner-up in the sprint championships in Paris and world champion in Zurich the following year. In 1954 he became a professional driver.

After these successes, his friend Fausto Coppi tried in vain to get Morettini to drive on the road. In the following years he took third place at the Grand Prix des Paris .

In 1961 Morettini resigned from cycling and in 1966 opened a restaurant in a wing of the Castello Zineroni Casati in Spino d'Adda . In 1990 he died of liver cancer in a Milan hospital and was buried in his hometown of Caravaggio. In 2000, the place where Caravaggio's “Centro Sportivo” is located was named “Piazza Marino Morettini”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Luciano Boccaccini, Giovanni Tarello: Annuario Storico Del Ciclismo Italiano . Publialfa Edizion, Milan 1994, p. 254 (Italian).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Morettini, Marino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Vertova
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 1990
Place of death Milan