Dead Gianfranco Dalla Barba, gold medalist in Los Angeles

Died Gianfranco Dalla Barba

Gianfranco Dalla Barba, champion, doctor, iconic figure of the national fencing movement, has left us: this is announced by the Italian Fencing Federation, which mourns the passing of the’Olympian.

A native of Padua, born in 1957, Gianfranco Dalla Barba è was a giant of Italian saber winning the team gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games with his friends and teammates Angelo Arcidiacono, Marco Marin, Dino Meglio and Giovanni Scalzo.

Four years later he sal’d again on the Olympic podium with a bronze medal in Seoul 1988 penned by almost the same team (there was Massimo Cavaliere along with him, Marin, Meglio and Scalzo), and then three silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships, and much more in a glittering palmares, before d’d embarking on a brilliant career as a neuropsychiatrist.

Petrarchan, reserved, genteel, he leaves a deep sorrow in the hearts of those who knew him. An example to so many younger athletes.

"Gianfranco Dalla Barba è was an authentic example of Dual Career, establishing himself as a great saber and excellent professional in the medical field that saw him engaged and appreciated for many years even abroad. As a gold medalist on the platform and off. Ours loses a champion with a capital initial and I a friend with whom I shared unforgettable years", the memory of Federal President Paolo Azzi.