Giuseppe Tonani

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameGiuseppe Luigi•Tonani
Used nameGiuseppe•Tonani
Nick/petnamesErcole Proletario
Born2 October 1890 in Lodi Vecchio, Lodi (ITA)
Died1 October 1971 in Milano, Milano (ITA)
Measurements109 kg
AffiliationsAPEF Milano, Milano (ITA)
NOC Italy
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Giuseppe Tonani was best known as a weightlifter, winning gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics in the heavyweight class, and placing seventh in 1928 at Amsterdam. He also competed for Italy in the tug-of-war at the 1920 Antwerpen Olympics. Tonani was an eight-time Italian weightlifting champion, winning his last title at 47-years-old.

Tonani was a registered member of the Associazione Proletaria di Educazione Fisica (APEF), also known as “La fucina dei muscoli rossi” (The forge of the red muscles), and he was a proletarian with his ideas, in life, and in his habits. Tonani received the gold medal of CONI (Italian Olympic committee), a gold medal from the Italian Sport Merit, and was named an honorary member of the Italian Weightlifting Federation. In his later years he managed a farm near Pavia in northern Italy.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1920 Summer Olympics Tug-Of-War ITA Giuseppe Tonani
Tug-Of-War, Men (Olympic) Italy 5
1924 Summer Olympics Weightlifting ITA Giuseppe Tonani
Heavyweight, Men (Olympic) 1 Gold
1928 Summer Olympics Weightlifting ITA Giuseppe Tonani
Heavyweight, Men (Olympic) 7