Disma Ferrario

Disma Ferrario began practicing athletics in 1919 and in just one year was among the best in Italy. When he was in the military he was planning to watch a 400 metre race among soldiers, but the colonel forced him to run, and Ferrario immediately proved his worth.

Ferrario stood out for the first time at the 1920 Italian Championships in Roma when, at 21, he finished second in the 1,500 metres behind the better known Ernesto Ambrosini. In June 1921 he looked good in a race in Praha, finishing in third place with 4:11.2 behind Vaclav Vohralik, fourth the year before at the Olympics, and the Frenchman André Audinet. In 1922 the Italian best over the 1,500 distance was again Ambrosini with Ferrario second at the Nationals in Busto Arsizio, beaten by Ferruccio Bruni.

Ferrario’s best year was 1923. He ran four times below the Italian record, and on 6 June in Paris beat Emilio Lunghi’s mark set at the 1908 London Olympics. On 11 July in København he set the Italian record for 2,000 metres (5:37.0), then in Berlin he defeated Otto Peltzer, and finally in Wien (Vienna) in September he was beaten by six metres by the Swiss Willy Scharer, who would win silver at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Internationally Ferrario won three caps but failed to survive the heats in Paris.

Ferrario won three consecutive Italian titles at 1,500 m (1923-25), always with the team shirt of Milano’s Gruppo Sportivo Officine Meccaniche. He essentially ended his career in 1928 when, at the Nationals, he was beaten by more than 10 seconds by the new Italian middle distance star, Luigi Beccali.

Personal Best: 1500 – 4:00.8 (1928).