Luigi Beccali

Luigi Beccali (November 19, 1907 - August 29, 1990) was an Italian athlete, winner of 1500 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Born in Milan, Luigi Beccali, as a youth, was fascinated by cycling and track and field athletics, but choose the latter, when he met the coach Dino Nai.

Luigi Beccali, an Italian champion in 1500 m from 1928 to 1931, became a national hero overnight when he won the Olympic 1500 m gold at Los Angeles. While mounted on the victory platform he was the first person to give the Fascist salute.

In 1933, Beccali ran three world records. At first he equalled Jules Ladoumègue's world record 3:49.2, then lowered it to 3:49.0. At the end of the year he also set the 1000 yd world record of 2:10.0.

Beccali won the 1500 m at the first European Championships in 1934, but was overrun by Jack Lovelock at the 1936 Summer Olympics, settling to the third place in 1500 m. He was again third in 1500 m at the European Championships in 1938. He also won the Italian championships from 1934 to 1938 in 1500 m and at 1935 in 5000 m.

After his running career Beccali moved to United States for job reasons and died in Daytona Beach, Florida.