Silvia Salis

Fausto Brizzi

​

(m. 2020)​

Silvia Salis
Salis in 2025
Mayor of Genoa
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 May 2025
Children	1
Alma mater	Link Campus University
Occupation	Politician sports manager athlete
Sports career
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb)
Country	Italy
Sport	Athletics
Event	Hammer throw
Club	G.S. Fiamme Azzurre
Sports achievements and titles
Personal best	71.93 m (2011)
Medal record Mediterranean Games 2009 Pescara Hammer Throw 2013 Mersin Hammer Throw European Cup Winter Throwing 2009 Tenerife Hammer Throw 2010 Arles Hammer Throw

Silvia Salis (born 17 September 1985) is an Italian politician, former sports manager and retired hammer thrower. In May 2025, she was elected Mayor of Genoa. ^[1]

Since 2021, she has served as Deputy vice-president of the National Council of the Italian National Olympic Committee. ^[2]

Biography

Early life

Silvia Salis was born in Genoa, Liguria, and grew up in the district of Sturla. Her father, Eugenio, originally from Sorso, Sardinia, worked as a groundskeeper at the Villa Gentile athletics field and was an active member of the Italian Communist Party. Her mother was employed by the municipality.

Youth career

Salis began training in athletics in 1993 at the age of eight. Initially interested in the long jump, she eventually shifted her focus to throwing events under the guidance of coach Valter Superina, himself a former hammer thrower.

Salis’s first national successes came in 2001, when she won youth titles and represented Italy at the World Youth Championships in Debrecen. Over the following years, she claimed multiple Italian junior and under-23 titles and took part in major international competitions, including the European and World Junior Championships, as well as the European U23 Championships.

Rise to the National Team and the Beijing Olympics

Salis made her senior debut with the Italian national team at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, though she did not advance to the final. In 2007, she finished fourth at the European U23 Championships and ninth at the Universiade in Bangkok. The following year she won several national medals, including gold at the university championships and silver at both the indoor and outdoor national competitions. Internationally, she placed seventh at the European Winter Throwing Cup in Split and fifth at the European Cup in Annecy. In 2008 she surpassed the 70-meter mark for the first time, qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. However, she did not reach the final.

International breakthrough and medals (2009–2011)

In 2009, Salis won two national titles and earned a bronze medal at the European Winter Throwing Cup in the Canary Islands. That summer, she won gold at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara. She also placed fifth at the Universiade in Belgrade and competed at the World Championships in Berlin without reaching the final. Over the next two years, she continued to dominate at the national level, claiming both winter and summer titles. Internationally, she finished seventh at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona and took silver at the Winter Throwing Cup in Arles. In 2011, she set her personal best of 71.93 meters at a meet in Savona, a mark that ranked sixth all-time in Italy. ^[3] That season also included top-eight finishes at the Winter Throwing Cup in Sofia, the European Team Championships in Stockholm, and the World Championships in Daegu, where she placed eighth.

London Olympics and final seasons (2012–2015)

Salis began 2012 with three national titles—indoor, outdoor, and university—but experienced setbacks internationally. She finished ninth at the European Winter Throwing Cup in Montenegro and failed to register a valid throw in qualification at the European Championships in Helsinki. At the London Olympics, she did not progress beyond the qualification round, registering only one legal throw that hit the cage and landed at 10.84 meters.

In the years that followed, she remained a prominent figure in national competitions. In 2013 she was seventh at the European Team Championships in Gateshead. In 2014, she won another national title and placed fourth at the European Winter Throwing Cup in Leiria and fifth at the European Team Championships in Braunschweig. She continued competing in 2015, winning her tenth national title at the Italian Championships in Turin and finishing seventh again in Leiria.

Transition to Sports administration

In April 2016, Salis retired from competition due to injury. She soon transitioned into a leadership role, becoming a sports executive for the Fiamme Azzurre, the police sports group she had long represented. Later that year, she was elected to the Federal Council of the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL). In 2017, she joined the National Council of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), and in May 2021, she was elected Deputy Vice President of CONI.

Political career

Salis during her electoral campaign for the mayoral elections in the municipality of Genoa

On 26 May 2025, she was elected Mayor of Genoa, defeating the centre-right candidate Pietro Piciocchi. Salis entered politics in early 2025 when she was announced as the centre-left coalition’s candidate for mayor of Genoa in the local elections. Her candidacy was backed by the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, the Green and Left Alliance, and several civic lists, including one bearing her name, "Silvia Salis Sindaca".

Personal life

She graduated from Link Campus University with a bachelor's degree on political science in 2018.

She married the writer and director Fausto Brizzi in 2020, and their first child was born on 5 October 2023. ^[4]

Records

Progression

Year	Performance	Location	Date	World Rank
2015	70.42 m	Rieti	15 June
2014	70.48 m	Lucca	22 February
2013	69.68 m	Halle	25 May	40ª
2012	70.20 m	Lucca	25 February	45ª
2011	71.93 m	Savona	18 May	15ª
2010	71.25 m	San Benedetto del Tronto	7 March	18ª
2009	71.77 m	Los Realejos	14 March	19ª
2008	70.42 m	Savona	8 July	30ª
2007	66.19 m	Padova	27 July	78ª
2006	65.61 m	Genova	20 May	68ª
2005	64.96 m	Padova	2 July	75ª
2004	61.70 m	Ascoli Piceno	28 February	136ª
2003	58.24 m	Tampere	24 July	217ª
2002	55.33 m	Savona	4 May	287ª
2001	52.80 m	Genova	15 September	345ª

Palmarès

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing   Italy
2003	European Junior Championships	Tampere, Finland	10th	56.14 m
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	12th	53.76 m
2005	European U23 Championships	Erfurt, Germany	13th (q)	59.59 m
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	28th (q)	61.69 m
2007	European U23 Championships	Debrecen, Hungary	4th	64.92 m
	Universiade	Bangkok, Thailand	9th	62.18 m
2008	Olympic Games [5]	Beijing, China	42nd (q)	62.28 m
2009	Mediterranean Games	Pescara, Italy	1st	70.39 m
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	18th (q)	68.55 m
	Universiade	Belgrade, Serbia	5th	68.74 m
2010	European Cup Winter Throwing	Arles, France	2nd	69.43 m
	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	7th	68.85 m
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	9th	69.88 m
2013	Mediterranean Games	Mersin, Turkey	3rd	62.52 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	24th (q)	66.80 m

National titles

She has won the individual national championship eight times. ^[6]

• 3 wins in the hammer throw (2010, 2011, 2012)
• 5 wins in the hammer throw at the Italian Winter Throwing Championships (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)

Detailed Championship titles

National Titles Year Competition Location Event Performance 2001 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Pietrasanta Hammer throw (youth) 45.38 m Italian Youth Championships Fano Hammer throw 56.89 m 2002 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Ascoli Piceno Hammer throw (youth) 52.44 m Italian Senior Championships Viareggio Hammer throw 55.23 m Italian Youth Championships Turin 50.33 m 2003 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Gioia Tauro Hammer throw (junior) 57.09 m Italian Junior and Under-23 Championships Grosseto Hammer throw 54.17 m 2004 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Ascoli Piceno Hammer throw (junior) 61.70 m 2005 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Vigna di Valle Hammer throw 63.67 m Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships (Under-23) Vigna di Valle 63.67 m Italian Junior and Under-23 Championships Grosseto 64.13 m Italian Senior Championships Bressanone 64.67 m 2006 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Ascoli Piceno 63.61 m Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships (Under-23) Ascoli Piceno 63.61 m Italian Senior Championships Turin 62.52 m 2007 Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships Bari 64.46 m Italian Senior and Junior Winter Throwing Championships (Under-23) Bari 64.46 m Italian University Championships Jesolo 63.92 m Italian Senior Championships Padua 66.19 m Italian Junior and Under-23 Championships Bressanone 65.87 m 2008 Italian Winter Throwing Championships San Benedetto del Tronto 66.84 m Italian University Championships Pisa 69.67 m Italian Senior Championships Cagliari 69.72 m 2009 Italian Winter Throwing Championships Bari 67.63 m Italian University Championships Lignano Sabbiadoro 68.53 m Italian Senior Championships Milan 68.59 m 2010 Italian Winter Throwing Championships San Benedetto del Tronto 71.25 m Italian Senior Championships Grosseto 70.23 m 2011 Italian Winter Throwing Championships Viterbo 67.45 m 2012 Italian Winter Throwing Championships Lucca 70.20 m Italian University Championships Messina 65.15 m Italian Senior Championships Bressanone 70.18 m 2014 Italian Winter Throwing Championships Lucca 70.48 m 2015 Italian Winter Throwing Championships Lucca 69.36 m Italian Senior Championships Turin 67.51 m

Other international competitions

Year	Championship	Country	Placement	Event	Performance
2008	European Cup Winter Throwing	Croatia (Split)	7th	Hammer throw	67.17 m
	European Cup	France (Annecy)	5th		70.05 m
	Meeting Internazionale Città di Rieti	Italy (Rieti)	5th		69.59 m
2009	European Cup Winter Throwing	Spain (Los Realejos)	3rd (Bronze)		71.77 m
2010	European Cup Winter Throwing	France (Arles)	2nd (Silver)		69.43 m
	IAAF World Challenge Dakar	Senegal (Dakar)	5th		68.36 m
2011	European Cup Winter Throwing	Bulgaria (Sofia)	6th		68.58 m
	European Team Championships	Sweden (Stockholm)	8th		66.55 m
2012	European Cup Winter Throwing	Montenegro (Bar)	9th		65.66 m
2013	European Team Championships	United Kingdom (Gateshead)	7th		64.76 m
2014	European Cup Winter Throwing	Portugal (Leiria)	4th		68.75 m
	European Team Championships	Germany (Braunschweig)	5th		67.98 m
2015	European Cup Winter Throwing	Portugal (Leiria)	7th		68.85 m

Bibliography

• Silvia Salis (2022). La bambina più forte del mondo (in Italian). Salani Editore. p. 176. ISBN   9788831011358.

Electoral history

2025 Genoa mayoral election

Candidate		Party	Coalition	First round
				Votes	%
	Silvia Salis	Ind	PD-AVS-M5S-IV-A-Volt	124,720	51.48
	Pietro Piciocchi	FdI	FdI-FI-L-NM-UDC	107,091	44.20
	Others			10,449	4.32
Eligible voters				479,974	100.00
Voted				249,115	51.90
Blank or invalid ballots				6,855
Total valid votes				242,260

References

1. "Chi è Silvia Salis, da lanciatrice di martello alle Olimpiadi a sindaca di Genova". RAI News . Retrieved 27 May 2025.
2. "CONI | Giunta Nazionale". CONI . Retrieved 27 May 2025.
3. "Silvia Salis". iaaf.org. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
4. "Silvia Salis martella i pregiudizi: 'Con Fausto Brizzi sono felice'" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport . Retrieved 25 February 2019.
5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Silvia Salis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
6. ""CAMPIONATI "ASSOLUTI" ITALIANE SUL PODIO TRICOLORE – 1923 2012" (PDF). sportolimpico.it. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2014.

External links

• biography portal
• politics portal
• athletics portal

• Silvia Salis at World Athletics
• Silvia Salis at the Italian Athletics Federation (in Italian)
• Silvia Salis at Olympics.com
• Silvia Salis at Olympedia
• Media related to Silvia Salis at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Marco Bucci	Mayor of Genoa since 2025	Incumbent