Livio Berruti, Rome 1960 Olympic 200m gold medalist, dies at 87 in Turin

Death of 'The Angel'

Livio Berruti, known as "L'Angelo" for his graceful stride, died on 9 August 2026 at the age of 87 in a Turin clinic after a long illness. Born in Turin in 1939, he discovered athletics at the Liceo Cavour in 1955, having previously preferred tennis. He leaves his wife Silvia, whom he married at the age of 60. His funeral will be held in private. After his competitive career, Berruti worked in communications. In 2006, he was one of eight Italians who carried the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympics.

The Rome 1960 gold

Berruti's defining moment came on 3 August 1960, when the 21-year-old attacked the curve of the 200 metres at the Stadio Olimpico and surged to Olympic gold at the Rome Games. Running on a dirt track and wearing his signature sunglasses, he became the first European to break American dominance in Olympic sprinting and the first Italian sprinter to claim Olympic gold. He nearly doubled his medal tally with the relay. His victory made him the face of an Italy experiencing its postwar economic boom; as a reward, he received a Fiat Cinquecento, which he drove back to Turin, picking up the young journalist Gian Paolo Ormezzano along the way. The Rome Olympics, which Berruti himself called magical and unrepeatable, also crowned legends such as Cassius Clay and Nino Benvenuti. A romantic myth linked Berruti to American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, who won three golds in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay; photographs of the "Black Gazelle" with Berruti remained in the Italian collective imagination.

Reactions from the athletics world

Stefano Mei, president of the Italian Athletics Federation (Fidal), learned of Berruti's death in Birmingham, where the European Athletics Championships begin on 10 August. Mei asked European Athletics to allow the Italian team to compete with a mourning symbol on their jerseys on the first day of competition.

“That day changed the history of Italian athletics. He was the first Italian capable of breaking the sprint taboo at the Olympics, demonstrating that even an Italian boy could climb to the top step of the podium in world sprinting.”

Marcell Jacobs, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic 100m champion currently competing in Birmingham, said he would run for Berruti at the European Championships. Jacobs, who like Berruti was a member of the Fiamme Oro sports group, recalled Berruti's words after his Tokyo victory.

“I bow to the memory of his great feat, which he achieved at just 21 years old, like me in the Fiamme Oro. I am also grateful to him for his words after my victory in Tokyo: 'It was an exciting race, it took me back sixty years. I found a worthy heir.' I will run for him, in Birmingham.”

Institutional tributes

Luciano Buonfiglio, president of CONI, ordered flags to fly at half-mast at the CONI headquarters at the Foro Italico and invited all national sports federations to observe a minute of silence in upcoming competitions.

“None of us will ever forget his victory in Rome 1960. Berruti was an unattainable champion, whose feats will remain in the history of our sport: he made Italy dream and with his gold at the Rome Games he made us proud and glad of our Italian identity.”

Turin mayor Stefano Lo Russo remembered Berruti's role when the Olympic torch was lit in Turin in 2006, noting that he embodied the Olympic values of brotherhood and peace.