Galliano Rossini

A five time Olympian, Galliano Rossini’s finest hour came at the Melbourne Olympics where he won the gold medal in trap shooting with a clear victory and an Olympic record score. The extrovert marksman narrowly failed to retain his title on home soil in 1960 as he was beaten by a single clay in windy conditions, A quest for a third medal four years later in Tokyo was thwarted when he finished last in a three way shoot off for the silver and bronze medals. Bookending his Olympic career were a 7th place finish in 1952 and 13th in 1968.

Rossini was also nine times a medallist at the World Shooting Championships. His three gold medals all came in the team trap (1954, 1959, 1967), an event in which he also won two silvers and a bronze between 1952 and 1970. In individual competition he was second in 1954 and 1958 and third in 1959. He also won the double of individual and team gold at the 1955 Mediterranean Games, to which he added another team gold in 1963, a European title in 1954, and was national champion in Italy seven times between 1953 and 1963.

Rossini continued to compete in veteran’s events for many years after he ceased to compete internationally and was used in an advertising campaign for petrol alongside multiple times world motorcycling champion Giacomo Agostini. Rossini, who was distantly related to the composer Giacomo Puccini, died suddenly in November 1987 at only 60 because of unexpected complications from a viral infection. The local sports complex in the town of Ancona was renamed in his honour after his death.