19 Facts About Dorando Pietri

Dorando Pietri finished first in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but was disqualified.

On 2 April 1906 Dorando Pietri won the qualifying marathon for the Olympic Games to be held in Athens that same year.

Dorando Pietri was by then the undisputed leader of Italian long distance races from 5000 metres to marathon distance.

Dorando Pietri trained hard for the 1908 Olympics in London.

The effort took its toll and with only two kilometres to go, Dorando Pietri began to feel the effects of extreme fatigue and dehydration.

Dorando Pietri got up with their help, in front of 75,000 spectators.

Dorando Pietri fell four more times, and each time the umpires helped him up.

The American team immediately lodged a complaint against the help Dorando Pietri received from the umpires.

The complaint was accepted and Dorando Pietri was disqualified and removed from the final standings of the race.

Dorando Pietri was very impressed by the effort of the Italian at the stadium, which he commented with the words:.

Composer Irving Berlin dedicated a song to him entitled "Dorando" and Pietri received requests to participate in exhibition races in the United States.

Dorando Pietri won the race as well as a second similar race on 15 March 1909.

Dorando Pietri won 17 of the 22 races on his tour of America.

Dorando Pietri returned to Italy in May 1909 and continued racing professionally in his native country and abroad for two more years.

Dorando Pietri ran his final marathon in Buenos Aires, on 24 May 1910, where he achieved his personal best of 2h 38min 48:2s.

Dorando Pietri invested his earnings in a hotel he opened in collaboration with his brother.

Dorando Pietri was not as successful an entrepreneur as he was athlete, and the hotel went bankrupt.

Dorando Pietri moved to Sanremo, where he directed a car workshop.

Dorando Pietri lived in Sanremo until his death, of a heart attack, at the age of 56.