Mario Lanzi was an Italian athlete in the 1930s who specialised in the 800m and also competed over 400m.

Life

Lanzi was born at Castelletto sopra Ticino

Castelletto sopra Ticino

Castelletto sopra Ticino, also referred to by locals as Castelletto Ticino or just Castelletto, is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about 100 km northeast of Turin and about 30 km north of Novara.It is the birthplace of immunologist Serafino...

, in the province of Novara

Province of Novara

Novara is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Novara.It has an area of 1,339 km², and a total population of 365.156 . There are 88 communes in the province.-External links:*...

 (Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

).

He won the silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics

1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...

 in Berlin over 800 m, finishing behind John Woodruff

John Woodruff

John Youie Woodruff was an American athlete and winner of the 800 metres at the 1936 Summer Olympics....

. In his native Italy Lanzi was without any serious rival. However, Lanzi lost the 800 m final at the 1938 European Championships in Athletics

1938 European Championships in Athletics

The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vienna, Austria on 17 and 18 September...

 to Rudolf Harbig

Rudolf Harbig

Rudolf Harbig was a German middle distance runner best known for the 800 metres world record that he set in Milan in 1939.-Life:...

. Lanzi was famous for confusing his opponents by starting 800 m races like a sprinter.

Lanzi died at Schio

Schio

Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza situated North of Vicenza and East of the Lake of Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites and Mount Pasubio.-History:...

 (Veneto

Veneto

Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

), where he had worked as coach, in 1980.