Guido Caroli

Guido Caroli represented Italy in three editions of the Olympic speed skating tournament. Competing for Circolo Pattinatori in Milano, he later became a coach and eventually a car salesman. At the 1956 Games in Cortina, in his third Olympics, he was chosen to light the Olympic Flame. While skating from the entrance of the stadium to the cauldron, he tripped over a television broadcast wire laid across the track. He fell to the ice but got up, resumed skating with the Olympic Torch and then lit the Olympic Flame. He later received compliments from Giovanni Gronchi, President of the Italian Republic, for his efforts to protect the Olympic Torch.

By that point, however, he was on his third edition of the Games, having come in 31st and joint-36th in the 5000 and 1500 metres events respectively in 1948 and 28th in the 10,000 metres in 1952. He also competed at the 1951 World Championships, as well as the European Championships in 1950, 1952, and 1954, but never reached the podium. In Cortina d’Ampezzo, he would finish 33rd in the 500 metres and joint-42nd in the 1500 metres. Domestically, given the strong competition in those years from the Olympians Enrico Musolino and Guido Citterio, he still managed to win two Italian titles in the overall standings, in 1947 in Bardonecchia and in 1955 on Lake Misurina, the same place where the Olympic competitions took place a year later.

Personal Bests: 500 – 42.9 (1955); 1500 – 2:19.4 (1955); 5000 – 8:45.0 (1956); 10000 – 17:35.2 (1956).