Livio Berruti, the Italian sprinter who won the men’s 200 meters at the 1960 Rome Olympics and became the first European to win the event, died Aug. 9, 2026, at 87 in a Turin clinic after a period of illness, according to Corriere della Sera.
As a student at a Turin secondary school, Berruti switched from tennis to sprinting after succeeding in school races. At a 1959 race in Malmö, he defeated American sprinter Ray Norton in the 200 meters, running 20.8 seconds to Norton’s 21.0.
At the Rome Olympics on Sept. 3, 1960, Berruti equaled the 200-meter world record in the semifinal with a hand-timed 20.5 seconds. About two hours later, he won the final in another hand-timed 20.5 seconds, becoming the first European Olympic champion in the men’s 200 meters.
In 1961, Berruti won all 26 races he contested. He returned to the Olympics at the 1964 Tokyo Games, finishing fifth in the 200 meters and seventh in the 4×100-meter relay. At the 1968 Mexico City Games, his third Olympic appearance, he was eliminated in the 200-meter quarterfinals, and Italy’s relay team finished seventh.
