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<p>List of popular male athletes from Italy, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Italy has a rich history of competing in sports, and these are the famous males that make that competition so exciting. Some of the best Italian male athletes in the world are listed below, some of who have represented Italy in the Olympics. You can click on the names of these talented male athletes of Italy in order to get more information about each one, such as the birthplace of the athlete and when they were born.</p><p>Athletes on this list include Carlo Parola and Claudio Ranieri.  </p>This list answers the questions, "What famous male athletes are from Italy?" and "Who are the greatest male Italian athletes?"

Famous Male Athletes from Italy | List of Italy Male Athletes

Famous Male Athletes from Italy

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Best Rankings of Sports Teams and Players, Interesting Sports Facts, and Moments in Sports

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Rocky Marciano

Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969), best known as Rocky Marciano (), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only Heavyweight champion to have retired undefeated as champion. His six title defenses were against Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell and Archie Moore. 
Known for his relentless fighting style, formidable punching power, stamina, and exceptionally durable chin, Marciano has been included by boxing historians in lists of the greatest boxers of all time, and is currently ranked by BoxRec as the eighth greatest heavyweight boxer in history. His knockout-to-win percentage of 87.76% remains one of the highest in heavyweight boxing history.

Joe Calzaghe

Joseph William Calzaghe,  ( kal-ZAH-gee; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, Ring magazine and lineal super-middleweight titles, and the Ring light-heavyweight title.Calzaghe is the longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion in boxing history, having held the WBO title for over 10 years and making 21 successful defences (the most in super-middleweight history) before moving up to light-heavyweight. As his super-middleweight and light-heavyweight reigns overlapped, he retired with the longest continual time as world champion of any active boxer at the time. He was also the first boxer to unify three of the four major world titles (WBA, WBC, and WBO) at super-middleweight, and was the first Ring champion in that weight class.
Between 2006 and 2008, Calzaghe was ranked by The Ring as one of the world's top ten active boxers, pound for pound, reaching a peak ranking of third in January 2009. He retired in February 2009 with an undefeated record, and as a reigning world champion. BoxRec currently ranks Calzaghe as the best super-middleweight of all time.Calzaghe was often referred to as the "Pride of Wales" or the "Italian Dragon", the latter being a play on the moniker "Italian Stallion" and a reference to his multiple heritages (the dragon being both a prominent Welsh emblem that appears on the Welsh flag and a figure in Sardinian myth).
In 2007, Calzaghe won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, making him the first Welsh winner of this award since David Broome in 1960. Calzaghe was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Brandon Vera

Brandon Michael Vera (born October 10, 1977) is an American-born Filipino mixed martial artist currently signed with ONE Championship. A professional competitor since 2002, he has formerly competed for the UFC and the WEC. Vera is the 2005 WEC Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, and is currently the ONE Championship Heavyweight Champion.

Clemente Russo

Clemente Russo (born 27 July 1982) is an Italian amateur boxer best known for winning Gold at the 2007 and 2013 World Amateur Boxing Championships at heavyweight (201 lbs limit). He currently boxes for the Italia Thunder team in the World Series of Boxing league. He also signed up for the new AIBA professional league, the APB, which launched in autumn 2013.

Jake LaMotta

Giacobbe "Jake" LaMotta (July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017) was an American professional boxer, world middleweight champion, and stand-up comedian. Nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" or "Raging Bull", LaMotta was a rough fighter who was not a particularly big puncher, but he would subject his opponents to vicious beatings in the ring. With use of constant stalking, brawling and inside fighting, he developed the reputation for being a 'bully'; he was what is often referred to today as a swarmer and a slugger.
Due to his hard style of fighting, LaMotta often got as much as he was giving in an era of great middleweights. With a thick skull and jaw muscles, LaMotta was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishment over the course of his career, and is thought to have one of the greatest chins in boxing history. LaMotta's six-fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the most notable in the sport, but LaMotta won only one of the bouts. Although each fight was close, LaMotta dropped Robinson to the canvas multiple times. LaMotta, who lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He was managed by his brother Joey LaMotta.

Manu Ginóbili

Emanuel David Ginóbili (English: , Spanish: [ˈmanu ʃiˈnoβili]; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine retired professional basketball player. Over a 23-season professional career, he became one of only two players to have won a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal. A four-time NBA champion, Ginóbili was a member of the San Antonio Spurs for his entire NBA career. Along with Spurs teammates Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, he was known as one of the "Big Three".
Ginóbili comes from a family of professional basketball players. He spent the early part of his career in Argentina and Italy, where he holds dual citizenship, and won several individual and team honors. His stint with Italian club Kinder Bologna was particularly successful; he won two Italian League MVP awards, the EuroLeague Finals MVP and the 2001 EuroLeague championship and Triple Crown. Selected as the 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, Ginóbili joined the Spurs in 2002, and soon became a key player for the team. In addition to his four NBA championships, Ginóbili was named an All-Star in 2005 and 2011, and has been selected twice for the All-NBA Team. In 2007–08, he was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Ginóbili announced his retirement on 27 August 2018.

Carlos Delfino

Carlos Francisco Delfino (born August 29, 1982) is an Argentine-Italian professional basketball player who last played for Lavoropiù Bologna of the Serie A2 second tier national league. He holds dual citizenship in both Italy and Argentina. Standing at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), he plays at the small forward and shooting guard positions. He is also noted for his defense and three point shooting skills.

Giuseppe Gibilisco

Giuseppe Gibilisco (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe dʒibiˈlisko]; born January 5, 1979 in Syracuse) is an Italian bobsledder and former pole vaulter, who won the 2003 World Championships with a personal best of 5.90 m. He followed this with a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics.

Bud Spencer

Carlo Pedersoli (October 31, 1929 – June 27, 2016), known professionally as Bud Spencer, was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and Spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partner Terence Hill. The duo "garnered world acclaim and attracted millions to theater seats". Spencer and Hill appeared in, produced and directed over 20 films together.
A successful swimmer in his youth, he obtained a law degree and registered several patents. Spencer also became a certified commercial airline and helicopter pilot, and supported and funded many children's charities, including the Spencer Scholarship Fund.

Andrés Nocioni

Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born November 30, 1979) is an Argentine-Italian retired professional basketball player. Early in his career he played as a small forward, but spent the latter years of his career as a power forward. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Nocioni won a EuroLeague title in 2015, earning the EuroLeague Final Four MVP Award in the process.
A regular member of the Argentine national team, Nocioni was a part of the team that won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He also helped the Argentine national team to win the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. His jersey number 13 was retired by the Argentinian Basketball Confederation.

Fabricio Oberto

Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (American Spanish: [faˈβɾisjo oˈβeɾto]; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player. At 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 256 pounds (116 kg), he played as a center. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began playing professionally in 1993, and later played overseas with teams in Spain and Greece. In 2005, Oberto signed with the San Antonio Spurs, a team of the American National Basketball Association, and won a championship with the Spurs in 2007. He is also a former member of the senior Argentina national basketball team.

Hernán Crespo

Hernán Jorge Crespo (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾˈnaŋ ˈxoɾxe ˈkɾespo]; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Argentine Primera División club Banfield. A prolific striker, he has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At international level, Crespo scored 35 goals and is Argentina's fourth highest goalscorer behind only Sergio Agüero, Gabriel Batistuta and Lionel Messi. He played in three FIFA World Cups: 1998, 2002, 2006. At club level, Crespo was the world's most expensive player, when he was bought by Lazio from Parma in 2000 for €56 million (£35.5 million). He was top scorer in the 2000–01 Serie A with 26 goals, playing for Lazio.
Crespo's awards include three Serie A scudetti, a Copa Libertadores, a Premier League title and an Olympic Games silver medal. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Crespo never received a red card during his career.

Matteo Ferrari

Matteo Ferrari (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtɛːo ferˈraːri]; born 5 December 1979) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a defender . He played top-flight football for several Italian clubs in Serie A, Everton of the Premier League, and for the Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer. He was usually deployed as a centre-back, although he was capable of playing anywhere along the back-line.
Ferrari played for Italy at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004, winning Bronze at the latter edition of the tournament. He also made 11 full international appearances for his country between 2002 and 2004, featuring in the Italian squad that took part at Euro 2004.

Armin Zöggeler

Armin Zöggeler OMRI (born 4 January 1974) is a retired Italian luger and double Olympic champion. He is one of the most successful men in the sport, nicknamed Il Cannibale ("The Cannibal"), for his notable series of victories, or The Iceblood Champion, for his always cold, rational approach to the races. Fellow luger Tucker West described Zöggeler as the sport's equivalent of Michael Jordan.At the Winter Olympic Games, Zöggeler has won six medals in six consecutive Olympics – and this is a record in sport. He also has sixteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships. At the FIL European Luge Championships, Zöggeler has earned eighteen medals.
In June 2019 he was inducted in the FIL Hall of Fame.

Gus Mercurio

Augustino Eugenio Mercurio  (10 August 1928 – 7 December 2010) better known as Gus Mercurio, was an American-born Australian character actor who appeared in radio, television and film.

Oswald Haselrieder

Oswald Haselrieder OMRI (born 22 August 1971 in Völs am Schlern, South Tyrol) is an Italian luger of Austrian descent who competed internationally from 1988 to 2010. He achieved success at junior level, taking two bronze medals in singles and a gold in doubles at the World Junior Championships, the latter achieved in partnership with Dietmar Pierhofer. Haselrider and Pierhofer continued to compete together until 1995, when they split up and Haselrieder joined forces with Gerhard Plankensteiner. Haselrieder went on to win the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin after competing in three previous Winter Olympic Games: in 1992 in the singles event and in doubles in 1998 and 2002. He went on to compete in a fifth Olympics in 2010: he retired soon afterwards after sustaining an injury in training in March of that year.Haselrieder also won four medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with one gold (Men's doubles: 2009) and three bronzes (Men's doubles: 1996, Mixed team: 1996, 1997). At the FIL European Luge Championships, he won seven medals with one silver (Men's doubles: 1996) and six bronzes (Men's doubles: 2002, 2008 (tied with Germany); Mixed team: 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008). He also won four Italian national titles in doubles.Haselrieder's best overall Luge World Cup finish was second in men's doubles in 1996-7. He took a total of five World Cup race wins in doubles competition.He was made a knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006. After his retirement, he became a member of technical staff for the Italian national luge team.His wife, Doris, competed as a natural track luger for Italy in the early to mid-1990s.

Luciano Figueroa

Luciano Gabriel "Lucho" Figueroa Herrera (Spanish pronunciation: [luˈsjano fiɣeˈɾoa]; born 19 May 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who last played as a forward for Johor Darul Ta'zim of the Malaysia Super League. He is currently working as team manager and head coach for Johor Darul Ta'zim.



Pietro Piller Cottrer

Pietro Piller Cottrer (born 20 December 1974) is an Italian former cross-country skier who won gold medal in the 4 x 10 km relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was born at Sappada, province of Belluno.

Gerhard Plankensteiner

Gerhard Plankensteiner (born 8 April 1971 in Sterzing, South Tyrol) is an Italian luger who competed from 1986 to 2010. Together with Oswald Haselrieder he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Plankensteiner also won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with two golds (Men's doubles: 2009, Mixed team: 1989) and five bronzes (Men's doubles: 1996, Mixed team: 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997). At the FIL European Luge Championships, he won six medals with one silver (Men's doubles: 1996) and five bronzes (Men's doubles: 2002, 2008 (tied with Germany); Mixed team: 1996, 2000, 2008).
Plankensteiner's best overall Luge World Cup finish was second in men's doubles in 1996-7.

Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro  (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo kannaˈvaːro]; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and current manager of Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. Cannavaro is considered to be one of the greatest defenders of all time. He spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Napoli before spending seven years at Parma, with whom he won two Coppa Italia titles, the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana, and the 1999 UEFA Cup. After spells at Internazionale and Juventus, he transferred (along with manager Fabio Capello) from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2006, with whom he won consecutive La Liga titles in 2007 and 2008. After returning to Juventus for one season in 2009–10, he joined Al-Ahli in Dubai, where he retired from football in 2011 after an injury-troubled season.
Cannavaro has also achieved success with the Italy national team. He was part of the Italy team which won consecutive UEFA European Under-21 Championships in 1994 and 1996. After earning his first senior cap in 1997, he helped his national team to the final of UEFA Euro 2000, being named in the team of the tournament, and became captain in 2002, following Paolo Maldini's retirement. Cannavaro led Italy to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and was given the nickname "Il Muro di Berlino" ("The Berlin Wall") by the Italian supporters due to his defensive performances, which saw Italy keep five clean sheets and concede only two goals, neither of which were in open play. He was awarded the Silver Ball after being named the tournament's second-best player. In 2009, Cannavaro overtook Maldini as the most capped player in the country's history. He retired from international football on 25 June 2010 following Italy's failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup, having amassed 136 caps and 2 goals for the senior national team. In total, he has represented Italy at four World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He is currently Italy's second all-time appearance holder, behind Gianluigi Buffon.
Cannavaro was named the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the Ballon d'Or award in 2006 which made him the only defender to win the award in a decade and only the third of all time after Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer. In 2006 and 2007 Cannavaro was named in the FIFA World XI. In 2007, he was in the six man shortlist for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. His younger brother Paolo was also a professional footballer, and currently serves as a member of Guangzhou Evergrande's coaching staff under the direction of his older brother Fabio.
After his retirement, Cannavaro became a member of the coaching staff of Al-Ahli, notably as global ambassador and technical director from 2011 to 2013, and as an assistant coach from 2013 to 2014. In November 2014, he was appointed as head coach of Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. On 9 June 2016 he signed a contract with second-tier Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian as manager where he lead the team to the league title. He returned to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2017.

Bruno Zarrillo

Bruno Zarrillo (born September 5, 1966) is an Italian-Canadian retired professional ice hockey winger.



Wilfried Huber

Wilfried Huber (born 15 November 1970, Bruneck, South Tyrol) is an Italian luger and coach who competed from 1985 to 2010. Together with Kurt Brugger, he won the men's doubles event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. He competed in both doubles and singles, but enjoyed his greatest success in doubles in partnership with Brugger. He made his debut in the Luge World Cup in 1986-87 season. He also took two medals at the World Junior Championships in Olang in 1988, a silver and a bronze. He competed in six Winter Olympics, in 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006: he was aiming to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics, however he was not selected by the Italian team's head coach Walter Plaikner, and retired at the end of the season.Huber also won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships, including two silvers (Men's doubles: 1990, Mixed team: 1995) and five bronzes (Men's singles: 1993, Men's doubles: 1993, 1995; Mixed team: 1996, 1997). At the European Luge Championships, he won five medals with one gold (Mixed team: 1994), three silvers (Men's doubles: 1992, 1994; Mixed team: 1998) and one bronze (Mixed team: 1996).
In the Luge World Cup, Huber's finished second overall four times in the men's doubles championship (1989–90, 1992-3, 1994-5, 1997-8) and third overall once in the men's singles championship (1996-7).
After retiring from competition, he joined the coaching staff of the Italian national luge team.He also had siblings who were involved in bobsleigh and luge. Günther won gold in the two-man bobsleigh event (shared with Canada) at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Norbert won two Winter Olympic medals in men's doubles luge in the 1990s: in 1994 he took the silver behind his brother. Arnold won the men's singles world championships at Winterberg in 1991.

Zé Elias

José Elias Moedim Júnior (born 25 September 1976), commonly known as Zé Elias, is a Brazilian former footballer. A defensive midfielder, he played for 12 teams in seven countries. He is a football analyst for ESPN Brasil.

Carter Trevisani

Carter Vincent James  Trevisani (born June 15, 1982 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey player, currently playing for the HC Asiago of the Serie A and is a defenceman and has been named to play for Italy internationally four times.

Andrea Barzagli

Andrea Barzagli  (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa barˈtsaʎʎi, -ˈdza-]; born 8 May 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
A four-time member of the Serie A Team of the Year, Barzagli is regarded as one of the best and most consistent defenders of his generation.After playing for several smaller Italian clubs in the lower divisions of Italian football in his early career, he made his Serie A debut with Chievo in 2003, and eventually came to prominence while playing for Palermo. In 2008, he was signed by German side VfL Wolfsburg, where he remained for two and a half seasons, winning a Bundesliga title in 2009. In 2011, he returned to Italy, joining Juventus, where he later won eight consecutive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2019, among other trophies, including four consecutive Coppa Italia titles between 2015 and 2018.
At international level, he represented the Italian national football team on 73 occasions between 2004 and 2017, taking part at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games where he obtained a bronze medal, at two FIFA World Cups (2006 and 2014), three UEFA European Championships (2008, 2012, and 2016), and at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where himself and the team also won bronze. He was most notably a member of the Italian 2006 World Cup winning squad, as well as a starting member of the Italian squad that reached the UEFA Euro 2012 final.

List of popular male athletes from Italy, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Italy has a rich history of competing in sports, and these are the ...