Franco Bertinetti secured the gold medal in the team épée for Italy in Helsinki after beating Sweden 8-5, winning more victories than anyone (10) in the final pool. He then repeated this success at Melbourne with six wins in the preliminary heats. After the defeat against Belgium (8-8, but 63-67 on touches), in which he had only won one of his four bouts, he was replaced by Edoardo Mangiarotti in the final pool. Bertinetti also won five World Championship team golds (1953, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958), plus one silver and two bronze medals in the individual events, all of them in the épée event, which became his weapon on the advice of Luigi Cantone, the gold medal winner in London in 1948, after having started with the foil. His father, Marcello, also won two Olympic golds. His son was also called Marcello (nicknamed Cito), and came fourth in the team sabre event at the World Championships in 1973, then came seventh in the same event at the 1976 Olympics (as well as being individual Italian champion in 1973). In honor of his sporting achievements, Bertinetti was awarded a Gold Medal by the Italian Olympic Committee.
Italy