Roberto Frinolli

Roberto Frinolli (born November 13, 1940 in Rome ) is a former Italian hurdler. He became European champion in the 400 meter hurdles in 1966 and was the successor of his compatriot Salvatore Morale . With a height of 1.78 m, his competition weight was 65 kg.

In 1963 Frinolli was the first Italian champion over 400 meter hurdles. 1963 to 1966 as well as 1968 and 1969 he won a total of six championship titles. In 1963 and 1965 he won the Universiade . At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 , Frinolli was sixth in 50.7 s. With the Italian 4 x 400 meter relay , he was eliminated in the run-up.

At the European Championships in Budapest in 1966 , he won in 49.8 s with half a second ahead of the German Gerd Loßdörfer . With the relay, he finished sixth in a national record time of 3: 06.5 minutes.

In 1968 at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , he reached his second Olympic final. He finished eighth in 50.1 s. In the interim he beat the Italian record of Salvatore Morale with 49.14 s. It was not until 1991 that Fabrizio Mori was able to improve this record. In 1972 in Munich , Frinolli took part in the Olympic Games for the third time, but was eliminated in the run-up.

Overall, Roberto Frinolli wore the Italian national jersey 36 times from 1961 to 1972. After his career, Frinolli remained connected to athletics. In 2001 he became the commissioner responsible for technical disciplines at the Italian association. He married the swimmer Daniela Beneck . His son Giorgio became a hurdler, his son Bruno became a long jumper, and both competed internationally for Italy.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics . Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV