Gianni Mariggi

A graduate in economics, Gianni Mariggi became involved in the sporting life of his home city of Novara with particular attention to its football and roller hockey teams. In 1965 he was made President of the Italian Roller Hockey Federation and enacted a policy of promoting the building of almost 100 indoor stadiums. Later he joined the Italian National Olympic Committee and became President of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports.

Mariggi was a close friend of the IOC President Samaranch. Mariggi retired from public life after the successful staging of the 1984 World Roller Hockey Championships in his hometown of Novara.

Mariggi was awarded the Olympic Order in Silver in 1988. The citation described him as “a well-known and highly respected journalist with an extensive knowledge of sport, whose work has done much to spread the Olympic ideal amongst the young people of Italy”.