Salvatore Morale

Salvatore Morale began with athletics at his secondary school in Padova. In 1956 he competed at the Italian Championships (second category) in the 400 hurdles. In the three days of racing, he improved from 57.5 to 55.0 and qualified for the National Championships where he surprised to place third in 53.6.

A month later he débuted with the national team in Firenze in the match against France. Morale moved to Roma, where he attended the Faculty of Engineering and joined the Gruppo Sportivo Esercito, a military club. At his first Olympics in 1960 he just missed qualifying in the semi-finals of the 400 hurdles, but he would reach his peak performance between the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.

In 1961 Morale joined Coin Mestrehe and won the 1961 Universiade and in Roma, on 15 October, set the European record for the 400 hurdles (49.7) and 440 yds hurdles (50.1). Morale’s best season was 1962: he was European Champion and his 49.2 equaled Glenn Davis’s world record.

In 1964, despite various injuries, he took bronze at the Olympics behind the American and world record holder Rex Cawley and the Brit John Cooper. Domestically Morale won four Italian titles (1957-58, 1960-61) and earned a total of 22 international caps from 1956-64. After his active athletic career Morale married the Olympic swimmer Anna Beneck. He became the national trainer and filled many technical roles, serving until the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Morale is a member of the Italian Hall of Fame. He was Secretary-General of FIDAL (the Italian Athletics Federation) from 1989-90, executive director of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and vice-secretary-general of the IAAF from 1998-2001.

Personal Bests: 400 – 47.6 (1962); 400H – 49.2 (1962).