Antonella Bevilacqua

Italian high jumper Antonella Bevilacqua was born in Southern Italy. Coached by Maria Sigillino, she cleared 1.58 at the age of 13. She débuted in the national team in 1991, and the following year competed at the Barcelona Olympics but did not advance from the qualification round. She was sixth at the 1993 Stuttgart World Championships (1.94) and seventh at Athens in 1997 (1.93). Bevilacqua became the new face of the Italian athletics, but declined many offers to work as a model.

Bevilacqua’s best year was 1996 when she finished fourth at the Atlanta Olympics with a personal best 1.99. She had not missed a height up to that mark, and only failed when the bar went to 2.01. However, following performances at Milano and Bologna prior to the Olympics, she tested positive for ephedrine and was stripped of her fourth place. She believed the substance, recommended by her herbalist, was ginseng-based but, in reality, contained ephedrine. However, a year later at the Bari Mediterranean Games, Bevilacqua won the gold medal with 1.95 and had the satisfaction of beating Atlanta silver-medallist Niki Bakogianni of Greece, and also Britta Bilac of Slovenia.

In indoor competition, Bevilacqua set a new Italian record of 1.98 at Athens in 1994, beating the 13-year-old record of Sara Simeoni. Bevilacqua’s mark remained unbeaten until 2007, when Antonietta Di Martino became the first Italian woman to clear 2 metres indoors. Domestically, Bevilacqua won six Italian outdoor titles (1991-94, 1996-97 and 2003) and seven indoor (1991, 1993-94, 1996-97, 2000 and 2004). Between 1991-2004 she made 29 international appearances, despite two years of inactivity (1995 and 1998) because of injuries.

Personal Best: HJ – 1.98i (1994).