Claudio Pollio

Claudio Pollio was discovered by Luigi Marigliano, and then joined the Sports Group of the Napoli Fire Brigade in 1975 at the Federal Center of Savona. That year he won his first Italian title as a light-flyweight and placed second in the Mediterranean Games in Algiers.

Missing a year due to viral hepatitis, Pollio finished sixth at the 1978 World Championships in Mexico City and fifth in the subsequent edition in San Diego. He also added a gold medal at the 1978 Mediterranean Games in Split. At the 1980 Moskva Olympics Pollio defeated Soviet Sergey Kornilayev to win the historic first Italian gold medal in freestyle.

Unemployed at the time of his gold medal, the President of the Italian Republic Sandro Pertini contacted him and a few hours later he was employed at the Banca di Roma. Pollio eventually ended his career with seven Italian titles, and also placed second at the 1981 European Championships.