Italy at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Italy at the 1932 Winter Olympics
IOC code	ITA
NOC	Italian National Olympic Committee
Website	www.coni.it  (in Italian)
in Lake Placid
Competitors	12 (men) in 4 sports
Flag bearer	Erminio Sertorelli
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026

Italy participated at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, held between 4 and 13 February 1932. The country's participation in the Games marked its third appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in the inaugural 1924 Games.

The Italian team consisted of 12 athletes who competed across four sports. Cross-country skier Erminio Sertorelli was the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony. Italy had not won any medals in the previous Winter Games, and did not win any medals in the 1932 event.

Background

The Italian National Olympic Committee was formed in 1908 for the 1908 Summer Olympics, and was only recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1915. However, competition records indicate later that Italian athletes competed in the inaugural edition of the Summer Olympics in 1896. ^[1] The nation competed in the inaugural Winter Olympics held in 1924 in France. This edition of the Games marked the nation's third appearance at the Winter Games. ^[1]

The 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, held between 4 and 13 February 1932. ^{[2] [3]} The Italian delegation consisted of 12 athletes competing across four sports. ^{[4] [5]} Cross-country skier Erminio Sertorelli was the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony. ^[6] Italy had not won any medals in the previous Winter Games, and did not win any medals in the 1932 event. ^{[1] [7] [8]}

Competitors

There were 12 athletes (all men) who took part in the medal events across four sports. ^[4] Individual athletes competed across multiple sports. Severino Menardi took part in three events across three different sports. ^[5]

Sport	Men	Women	Athletes
Bobsleigh	4	0	4
Cross-country skiing	6	0	6
Nordic combined	3	0	3
Ski jumping	3	0	3
Total	12	0	12 [a]

Bobsleigh

Main article: Bobsleigh at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Bobsleigh competitions were held between 8 and 15 February at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Recreation Area in Lake Placid. ^{[9] [10]} Italy entered four athletes across two events in the competition. ^{[4] [5]} In the two-man event, the best placed team of Teofilo Rossi di Montelera and Italo Casini finished sixth. ^[9] In the subsequent four-man event, the German team of di Montelera, Casini, Agostino Lanfranchi, and Gaetano Lanfranchi again finished sixth with a combined time of just over eight minutes and 24 seconds across four runs. ^[10]

Sled	Athletes	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Run 3		Run 4		Total
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
ITA-1	Italo Casini Teofilo Rossi di Montelera	Two-man	2:15.45	6	2:08.10	5	2:06.58	6	2:06.20	6	8:36.33	6
ITA-2	Agostino Lanfranchi Gaetano Lanfranchi		2:20.08	10	2:13.47	8	2:08.00	7	2:09.11	7	8:50.66	8

Sled	Athletes	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Run 3		Run 4		Total
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
ITA-1	Agostino Lanfranchi Gaetano Lanfranchi Italo Casini Teofilo Rossi di Montelera	Four-man	2:07.87	5	2:06.62	5	2:07.94	7	2:01.78	6	8:24.21	5

Cross-country skiing

Gino Soldà competed in the men's 18 km event

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Cross-country skiing competitions were held between 10 and 13 February at James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid. ^{[11] [12]} The Italian trio of Severino Menardi, Gino Soldà, and Andrea Vuerich competed in the men's 18 km event with Vuerich the best placed finisher. ^{[5] [11]} Amongst the trio of Francesco de Zulian, Giovanni Delago, and Erminio Sertorelli who competed in the men's 50 km event, only Sertorelli completed the course in 12th place. ^{[5] [12]}

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Andrea Vuerich	Men's 18 km	1'38:42	25
Gino Soldà		1'39:43	26
Severino Menardi		1'43:04	34
Erminio Sertorelli	Men's 50 km	4'59:00	12
Francesco de Zulian		DNF	–
Giovanni Delago		DNF	–

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Nordic combined competitions were held between 10 and 11 February at James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid. ^[13] The competition consisted of two events–Normal hill ski jumping and 18 km cross-country skiing, and the final results were determined based on points from both the events. ^[13] Menardi was joined by ski jumpers Ingenuino Dallagio and Ernesto Zardini for the event. ^[4] Of the trio, Zardini was the closest to the medal placings after finishing 12th amongst the 33 finishers. ^{[5] [13]}

Athlete	Event	Cross-country			Ski Jumping				Total
		Time	Points	Rank	Distance 1	Distance 2	Total points	Rank	Points	Rank
Ernesto Zardini	Individual	1'43:22	163.50	20	51.0	51.5	198.7	13	362.20	12
Ingenuino Dallagio		1'46:29	150.00	23	47.5	52.0	196.0	16	346.00	17
Severino Menardi		1'43:04	165.00	19	36.0	45.5	167.7	26	332.70	21

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Ski jumping competitions were held between 10 and 11 February at James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid. ^[14] The same trio of Dallagio, Menardi and Zardini, who competed in the Nordic combined event, participated in the event. ^[4] Of the trio, Zardini was again the best placed finished in 14th place in the overall classification. ^{[5] [13]}

Athlete	Event	Jump 1			Jump 2			Total
		Distance	Points	Rank	Distance	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Ernesto Zardini	Individual	53.0	92.5	20	65.0	104.2	11	196.7	14
Ingenuino Dallagio		58.5	101.4	11	53.0	93.5	22	194.9	16
Severino Menardi		36.5	70.2	30	56.5	91.4	24	161.6	27

Notes

1. Overall count will not add upto the individual tally as there are athletes who competed in multiple sports.

References

1. "Italy at the Olympics". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
2. "Lake Placid 1932". Olympics.com . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
3. "1932 Winter Olympics". Olympedia . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
4. "Italy at the 1932 Winter Olympics". Olympedia . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
5. "Italy at 1932 Winter Olympics". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2001.
6. "Flag bearers at the 1932 Winter Olympics". Olympedia . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
7. George Lattimer (1932). Official Report III Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1932 (PDF). Third Olympic Winter Games Committee. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
8. "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 1 June 2008.
9. "Bobsleigh, two men". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
10. "Bobsleigh, four men". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
11. "Cross-country skiing, 18km". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
12. "Cross-country skiing, 50km". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
13. "Nordic combined men". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
14. "Ski jumping, Large hill individual men". Olympedia . Retrieved 1 June 2024.