Ennio Mattarelli was an Italian trap shooter who was Italy’s first gold medallist at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, three years after he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Oslo. Orphaned at the age of five, Mattarelli was brought up by his grandfather Silvio, and started work at the age of 14. He did not take up clay pigeon shooting until the age of 26 and his first competitive prize was a selection of hams and salami. He later worked for an arms company and developed his shooting skills without any professional training or coaching. He went into the Olympic competition with 7 wins from his previous 10 tournaments and, at Tokyo, he won trap gold with an Olympic record of 198 out of 200.
Mattarelli went on to win team gold at the 1967 World Championships in Bologna, and team and individual gold at San Sebastian in 1969. He also won three more team medals (two silver and one bronze) and an individual bronze at the Worlds. Sadly, thieves later stole his medal collection from his home in Bologna. From 1989-92 Mattarelli was coach of the Italian national team, in addition to designing sporting and hunting rifles. In 1988 he opened a factory manufacturing clay pigeon launchers that bore his name, and which he supplied for the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics. All major trap and skeet competition worldwide have also used his equipment and the name of Ennio Mattarelli remained associated with the sport, long after his competitive days ended.
Italy