Rita Bottiglieri

Italian Rita Bottiglieri competed in the 400 m at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal, where she reached the second round. A two-time medalist at the 1975 Mediterranean Games, Bottiglieri won gold in the 100 m (11.79) and silver in the 400 m (53.34). At the European Indoor Championships she won two medals, in 1977 in San Sebastian (60 m bronze in 7.34 seconds, 60 m hurdles in 8.39), and the 400 m silver in 1978 in Milan. At the 1977 World Cup in Düsseldorf, she ran the first leg of the 4x400 m for Team Europe.

Domestically, Bottiglieri won nine national titles: three in the 100 m (1975-77), three in the 200 m (1975-77), two in the 200 m indoor (1975, 1978), and one in the pentathlon (1974). She set national records in the 400 m hurdles in Brescia on 17 October 1976 (58.1) and in Bologna on 10 September 1980 (56.76).

Bottiglieri represented Italy international 23 times from 1976-80. Nicknamed by the media “the athlete everywhere”, Bottiglieri, who was nationally ranked number one in five of her nine events, had her career cut short by a serious injury. After 30 years, she still remained in the Italian top-10 in five of her events. Bottiglieri remained involved in sports and was a member of the Italian Olympic Committee and involved with the Institute of Medicine and Science of Sports.

Personal Bests: 100 – 11.46 (1977), 200 – 23.15 (1977), 400 – 52.24 (1977), 100H – 13.95 (1974), 400H – 56.76 (1980), LJ – 6.44 (1976).