Angelo Vanzin

Angelo Vanzin was an Italian rower who was a member of the famed coxed fours of the Moto Guzzi club, a company for which he worked, that won the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In the final with Sweden and Finland the Italian crew was in command from start to finish.

Returning home to Italy was an effort that took 34 days on board the Neptunia, as the Suez Canal crisis forced the ship to round the Cape of Good Hope. Once home, however, Vanzin and his crewmates were received by the Pope and honored in triumph in the Flaminio Stadium before the football match between Roma and Udinese. He also received a Zigolo 125 model motorcycle and a promotion with an increase in salary from Moto Guzzi.

In other events Vanzin placed fourth in coxed eights at the 1953 European Championships, bronze in the 1956 European coxed fours, and won the 1957 European coxed eight title, always with the Moto Guzzi crew. Between 1952 and 1963 he won nine Italian titles (coxless fours, coxed fours, eights). Vanzin was awarded a Gold Medal by the Italian Olympic Committee for his rowing achievements.