Massimo Magnani

Massimo Magnani, formerly a middle-distance runner with a 10,000 m personal best of 29:10.0, moved up to the marathon in 1973 and, under the direction of coach Gian Paolo Lenize, had a début of 2-29:31. Finishing third at the 1976 Italian Olympic Trials, Magnani went on to race at the Olympic Games in Montréal where he finished 13th, moving up to eighth at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moskva.

From 1997-2000, Magnani oversaw the road race department for FIDAL (Italian Athletics Federation) and was their technical director from 2013-16. After Rio 2016, he resigned and by 2018 was one of the founders of Smart Atletica, a project to revive Italian athletics. Magnani first pursued a career as a physical education teacher, coach and manager. He was a sports administrator for several international events including cross-country World Championships, the 2009 European Indoor Championships, 2006 Olympic Winter Games venue manager, and technical director at the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Doha.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-11:02 (1985).