Pietro Ivanov

Rower Pietro Ivanov was very tall at over 180 cm. He was a member of the Canottieri Diadora of Zara eights that won the European title for Italy at Como in 1923 and the surprise Olympic bronze a year later in Paris. However, the crew disbanded after the Paris Games, but Ivanov continued to have a rowing career when he became coach of the newly founded Canottieri Krka of Sebenico (Šibenik), Yugoslavia. Under his guidance they became a dominant force in what is now Croatia in the late-1920s/early-1930s, and won three successive national titles in 1927-29. Representing Yugoslavia at the 1933 European Championships in Budapest, Canottieri Krka won the bronze medal behind Hungary and Italy. Ivanov went on to coach the Yugoslavian team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

At the outbreak of World War II, Ivanov´s wife and daughter fled Yugoslavia to Italy, but he remained and suffered violence and harassment as an Italian. He agreed to enlist in Tito’s troops, but eventually escaped and joined his family.

Ivanov eventually settled in Civitavecchia, a city razed to the ground during the War, but where work could be found. Sadly, he was forced to sell his Olympic and European medals. He passed away in 1961 of bronchial asthma.