Antonio ROSSI

Italy's Antonio Rossi has won Olympic medals at four consecutive Olympics. Having started canoeing at age 15, he débuted at the Olympics in Barcelona, where he immediately captured a bronze medal in the K-2 500, along with Bruno Dreossi. His most successful Games were in Atlanta, where he won two gold medals, one in the K-1 500m, and one in the K-2 1,000, together with Daniele Scarpa. He retained that last title at the Sydney Olympics, albeit with Beniamino Bonomi. The same duo would win Olympic silver in Athens, with just 0.064 seconds separating them from the gold. Rossi's last Olympic appearance was in Beijing, where he carried the Italian flag during the opening. He now contested the K-4 event, but was unable to win a sixth medal, finishing fourth in the final. Apart from the Olympics, Rossi also starred at World Championships. His best event was the K-2 1,000, winning medals in five consecutive championships. After silver in 1993 and 1994, he won his first title in 1995 (all with Scarpa). This was followed in 1997 and 1998 by two more titles, now with Luca Negri. Rossi also won a silver in the K-4 200 (1998) and a bronze in the K-1 500 (1997). Rossi, who married fellow kayaker Lucia Micheli shortly after his Atlanta wins, was voted on the board of the Italian NOC during his active career. He also became involved in regional politics, and was appointed as councillor for sports in his native province of Lecco in 2009. A devout Catholic, Antonio Rossi was also present at the 2000 Jubilee of sports People, where he addressed the pope and was elected as athlete representative of the Jubilee.