Salvatore Rinella

Salvatore Rinella
Personal information
Full name Salvatore Marcello Rinella
Nationality  Italy
Born 27 February 1975
Palermo, Italy
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 12 in)
Weight 74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Sport Wrestling
Style Freestyle
Club Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro[1]
Coach Mauro Massaro[1]

Salvatore Marcello Rinella (born February 27, 1975 in Palermo) is a retired amateur Italian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category.[2] He won three bronze medals in the 69 and 74-kg division at the Mediterranean Games (1997, 2001, and 2005), and also represented his nation Italy at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Having worked as a police officer for Polizia di Stato, Rinella trained full-time for the wrestling squad at Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro in Rome, under head coach Mauro Massaro.[1][3]

Rinella qualified for the Italian squad in the men's 74 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, Rinella received a ticket to the Olympics by defeating Tajikistan's Yusup Abdusalomov for a third spot at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.[4][5] He easily ousted Australia's Ali Abdo in his opening match on technical superiority, but fell behind Belarus' Murad Haidarau by a 2–4 deficit at the end of the prelim pool. Finishing second in the pool and seventh overall, Rinella's performance was not enough to advance him to the quarterfinals.[6][7]

In 2005, Rinella overcame his Olympic setback with a third career bronze medal in the same class at the Mediterranean Games in Almería, Spain.[8] He also sought his bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but failed to earn a spot from the Olympic Qualification Tournament, effectively ending his sporting career.

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