Marcello Fiasconaro
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Marcello Fiasconaro (born July 19, 1949) is an Italian-South African athlete, who in 1973 set a world record in the 800 m.
Fiasconaro was born at Cape Town, in South Africa, to parents of Italian origin, and there he spent his youth. He began his career as a sportsman playing rugby in his native country, and later started to practice athletics. In 1970, as he was already amongst the fastest 70 men in the world, he accepted the Italian nationality and started to race for the Italian Athletics Federation. In 1971, with 45.7, he set the new Italian record and won the title of Italian Champion: in this period Fiasconaro spoke very little Italian and needed an interpreter to communicate.
In the same year he won a silver medal in the 400 m at the European Championship of Helsinki. His time of 45.59 was beaten in Italy only in 1981. He also gained a bronze medale in the 4x400 m relay. In 1972 he set an indoor world record in the 400 m with 46.1 seconds.
The most outstanding moment in Fiasconaro's career came on June 27, 1973, in Milan. On this date he set a new world record in the 800 m. The time of 1:43.7 was beaten at world level four years later, but it is to date still the Italian record: is this currently the most long-lived athletics record of every genre. After an indoor world title, Fiasconaro moved to playing rugby in Milan for several seasons before move back to South Africa in 1978.
