Dorando Pietri.

Dorando Pietri, often wrongly spelled Petri (October 16, 1885 - February 7, 1942) was an Italian athlete famous as the protagonist of a dramatic epilogue of the marathon race of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years). ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Look up athletics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Modern-day marathon runners Runners in ancient Greece. ... The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IV Olympiad, were held in 1908 in London, England. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ...

Biography

Early years

Pietri was born in Mandrio, a frazione of Correggio, but spent his youth in Carpi (Emilia-Romagna). Here he worked as shop-boy in confectionery. He was 1.59 m high. A frazione, in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other subdivisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere. ... Correggio is a small town in the Province of Reggio Emilia, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in the Po valley. ... Carpi is a town in Emilia Romagna (northern Italy). ... Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ...

In the September 1904 the most famous Italian runner of the time, Pericle Pagliani, took part in a race in Carpi. According to tradition, Pietri was attracted by the event and, still wearing the working dress, run before Pagliani until the arrival. A few days later Pietri debuted in a distance race, arriving second in the 3,000 m of Bologna. Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly, between Reno River and Sàvena River. ...

The following year he scored his first international success, winning the 30 km in Paris. On April 2, 1906 Pietri won the the qualifying marathon for the Olympics Games to be held that year in Athens. However, in the Olympic race he was forced to retire by intestinal ill when he was leading it with 5 minutes of advantage over the followers. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The 1906 Summer Olympics, also called the 1906 Intercalated Games, were held in Athens, Greece. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Greece. ...

In 1907 he won the Italian championships. He was then the undisputed leader of Italian long distance races from the 5,000 meters to marathon.

1908 Olympics

Dorando Pietri trained hard for the 1908 Olympics of London. In a test in Carpi he had run for 40 km in 2 hours and 38 minutes, an extraordinary result for the times. The London marathon amounted to 42.195 km, a distance which became official from 921. 56 racers were at the start, including Pietri and the fellow Italian Umberto Blasi. The day was unusually hot for the British standards. Race was started at 14.33 of July 24, 1908. The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IV Olympiad, were held in 1908 in London, England. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ... July 24 is the 205th day (206th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 160 days remaining. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Pietri began his race with a rather slow pace, but in the second part began a powerful progression which allowed him to overcome all the other runners preceding him. At the 32th kilometer he was second, 4 minutes behind South African Charles Hefferon. When he knew that Hefferson was in crisis, Pietri further increased his pace, overcoming him at the 39th kilometer.

However, with only two kilometers missing, Pietri began to feel the extreme fatigue spent during his remounting effort and the deshidratation. When he arrived into the stadium, he entered the wrong path. When the umpires redirected him on the correct one, he fell down for the first time. He rose again with their help, in face of the trembling 75,000 spectators.

The arrival of Dorando Pietri at the 1908 Olympics marathon.

He fell four times more, and every time was helped by the umpires to stand up. In the end, though totally exhausted, he managed to reach the arrival. Of his total time of 2h 54min 46s, ten minutes were needed for the last 350 meters. Second was American Johnny Hayes. His team presented immediately a complaint against the umpire help received by Pietri, which was accepted. Pietri was disqualified and cancelled from the arrive order of the marathon. Image File history File links Dorando_Pietri. ... Image File history File links Dorando_Pietri. ... John Joseph Johnny Hayes (April 10, 1886 - August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. ...

International celebrity

Pietri's feat touched all the spectators of the stadium. As a compensation for the missing medal, Queen Alexandra gave him a gilded silver cup: proposer of the award was the writer Arthur Conan Doyle who, according to some sources, was the megaphone bearer who supported Pietri next the winning post. Alexandra of Denmark (December 1, 1844 – November 20, 1925) was queen consort of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom 1901–1910. ... Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. ...

Pietri became suddenly an international celebrity. Composer Irving Berlin wrote a song entitled to him, "Dorando". The Italian runner received request to took part in exhibition races in the United States. On November 25, 1908, in New York Madison Square Garden, a match race between Hayes and Pietri was organized: the latter was the winner. The same feat repeated in a second similar race on March 15, 1909. Pietri won 17 of the 22 races he partook to during his American tourney. Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989), born Israel Isidore Baline[1], in Tyumen, Russia (according to other sources[citation needed] possibly Mogilev, now Belarus), was an American composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters in history. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: Big Apple; City that never Sleeps; Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Manhattan Queens Brooklyn Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially simply as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City, United States. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

He returned to Italy in May 1909. He continued the professional activity both in his native country and abroad for two more years. His last marathon was that of Buenos Aires, on May 24, 1910, where he obtained his personal best of 2h 38min 48:2s. 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Coordinates: Found 1536, 1580 Mayor Jorge Telerman Area    - City 203 km²  (78. ... May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

Pietri's last race in Italy was a 15 km held in Parma on September 3, 1911, which he won. His very last race was again a victory, at Göteborg (Sweden), in the October of the same year. He was 26 at the time. In three years as professional runner he had gained 200,000 lire by prizes only, an enormous sum for the epoch. Country Italy Region Emilia-Romagna Province Parma (PR) Mayor Elvio Ubaldi (since May 28, 2002) Elevation 55 m Area 260 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 175,789  - Density 676/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Parmigiani (Parmensi are called the provinces inhabitants) Dialing code... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg  listen? ) is a city and a municipality on the western coast of Sweden, in the County of Västra Götaland. ... ISO 4217 Code ITL User(s) Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, but not Campione dItalia Inflation 2. ...

He invested these incomes in a hotel he opened in collaboration with brother. However, as an entrepreneur he didn't show the same capabilities as runner. He hotel went bankrupt, and he moved to Sanremo, where he directed a car workshop. Country Italy Region Liguria Province Imperia (IM) Mayor Claudio Borea Elevation 15 m Area 54 km² Population  - Total (as of 2004) 56,903  - Density 936/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Sanremesi or Sanremaschi Dialing code 0184 Postal code 18038 Frazioni San Romolo, Poggio, Bussana, Bussana Vecchia, Coldirodi...

Pietri lived in that city until his death, by heart attack, at the age of 56.

External links

• Biography at CIO site