Foil, Individual, Men

Fabio Dal Zotto celebrated his 19th birthday on the opening day of the 1976 Olympics. A bronze medallist at the World Youth Championships earlier in 1976, he was included in the Italian team only to gain experience for future Olympics. Things did not start well for him as he came within a single hit of elimination in the first phase of the competition but from then on his form improved and he moved into the final stage by placing second in the semi-final. Dal Zotto won four of his five bouts in the final pool which tied him with former World Champion Aleksandr Romankov of the USSR. Much to everyone surprise the Italian then proceeded to defeat his Russian opponent with little difficulty and claim the Olympic title. France’s Bernard Talvard was the bronze medallist.

Dal Zotto appeared on the brink of a glittering career but this was to be his only major championship title. He was a regular member of Italian medal winning teams until a dispute with a teammate at a training camp led to him withdrawing from consideration for the Moskva Olympics. Recalled for the 1981 World Championships he was expelled from the team for breaches of discipline.