Francesco Panetta is a former Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 long-distance runner, who won several medals at international championships in the 1980s. His greatest achievement was the victory at the World Championships' final

1987 World Championships in Athletics

The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987.-Track:1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995...

 over 3000m steeplechase in Rome 1987. The previous year he had won a silver medal at the European Championships

1986 European Championships in Athletics

The 14th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 to 31 August 1986 at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, a city in West Germany.-Track:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Field:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Track:...

 in Stuttgart only narrowly losing to the East German runner Hagen Melzer

Hagen Melzer

Hagen Melzer is a former German middle and long distance runner who specialized in the 3000 m steeplechase....

. In the 1988 Olympic Final Panetta came ninth. In 1990 he won a European Championship

1990 European Championships in Athletics

The 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, a city in Croatia .It was the last participation of East Germany ....

gold medal in Split.

Panetta set several Italian records throughout his career (including 3000m and 10000m). In 1987 he ran the 3000m steeplechase in 8:08.57 min.