Giancarlo Marinelli

For his all sporting life (1933-50) Giancarlo Marinelli played for Virtus Bologna. After World War II he won four consecutive Italian titles (1946-49) and, with the Italian national team, he collected 39 caps, scoring 152 points. His first international appearance was in the match against Bulgaria at the 1935 European Championships where Italy finished seventh. He competed twice at the Olympic Games, in 1936 and 1948.

Marinelli competed for Italy at the 1939 European Championships, winning a silver medal behind Lithuania, and repeated that silver medal in 1946, losing to Czechoslovakia (34-32) in the final. In this tournament Marinelli, along with his teammate Venzo Vannini, was named to the all-star team.

In the 1950s the Italian team was in technical crisis, having difficulty finding good coaches. In the 1952 Olympic year Marinelli was at the helm of Italy for only four months, but was then replaced by Amerigo Penzo. Marinelli returned for the winning Trofeo Mairano but was replaced again by the 1948 Olympian Vittorio Tracuzzi for the Helsinki Olympics, where Italy was eliminated in the preliminary rounds.