Nations 200
Athletes 6817 (6579 Uomini; 4068 Donne)
Italian athletes 361 (246 Uomini; 115 Donne)
An Olympics in the name of brotherhood between races and nations. Afghanistan was missing, whose Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC for violation of the Olympic Charter on Human Rights; the Olympic Flame was lit by Cathy Freeman, Australian sprinter twice world athletics champion and who would go on to win gold in the 400 metres, a symbol of the renewed Australian national spirit due to her aboriginal origins. The programme included 300 events and the number of athletes taking part exceeded 10,500 for the first time. The German, Birgit Fischer set an individual record of victories: in the Kayak Canoe winning two gold medals (K4 500 and K2 500) 20 years after her first success in Moscow in 1980. But she was not the only one to show an attachment to the podium: the Japanese judoka Ryoko Tani also won gold in the 48 kg after the silvers obtained in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996. But the most constant of all was the English rower Steven Redgrave who won his fifth consecutive Olympic gold (1984-2000). Swimming was the big revelation for Italian athletes. Domenico Fioravanti won two gold medals (100 and 200 breaststroke), the first ever in swimming for Italy, to which were added the three medals of Massimiliano Rosolino (gold in the 200m medley, silver in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 200m freestyle). Davide Rummolo also joined the line up of Italians on the swimming podium with bronze in the 200m breaststroke. Antonella Bellutti brought home her second gold after Atlanta in the cycling points race, while standing on top of the podium was also Alessandra Sensini in the Mistral class sailing race. Jury Chechi was forced to miss this event once again due to injury, just like in Barcelona, but he would not give up his dream. Valentina Vezzali improved her Olympic CV, winning gold after silver at the previous Games and leading the foil team to victory. Other gold medals in the name of continuity come from Paola Pezzo in mountain biking, the pair Bonomi - Rossi and Josefa Idem in Kayak.
Domenico Fioravanti gold Swimming 100 m breaststroke
Domenico Fioravanti gold Swimming 200 m breaststroke
Angelo Mazzoni, Maurizio Randazzo, Paolo Milanoli, Alfredo Rota gold Fencing Epee team
Pino Maddaloni gold Judo 73 kg
Antonella Bellutti gold Cicling Road point race
Valentina Vezzali gold Fencing Foil individual
Massimiliano Rosolino gold Swimming 200 m individual medley
Paola Pezzo gold Cicling Road mountain bike
Giovanna Trillini, Diana Bianchedi, Valentina Vezzali gold Fencing Foil team
Agostino Abbagnale, Alessio Sartori, Rossano Galtarossa, Simone Raineri gold Rowing Quadruple sculls
Alessandra Sensini gold Sailing mistral
Antonio Rossi, Beniamino Bonomi gold Canoeing K2 1000 m
Josefa Idem gold Canoeing K1 500 m
Massimiliano Rosolino silver Swimming 400 m freestyle
Deborah Gelisio silver Shotgun double trap
Ilario Di Buò, Matteo Bisiani, Michele Frangilli silver Archery Team
Valter Molea, Riccardo Dei Rossi, Lorenzo Carboncini, Carlo Mornati silver Rowing Four
Elia Luini, Leonardo Pettinari silver Rowing LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
Nicola Vizzoni silver Athletics Hammer throw
Fiona May silver Athletics Long jump
Luca Devoti silver Sailing Finn
Giovanni Pellielo bronze Shotgun Trap
Girolamo Giovinazzo bronze Judo 66 kg
Massimiliano Rosolino bronze Swimming 200 m freestyle
Pierpaolo Ferrazzi bronze Canoeing K1 slalom
Davide Rummolo bronze Swimming 200 m breaststroke
Ylenia Scapin bronze Judo 70 kg
Giovanna Trillini bronze Fencing Foil individual
Silvio Martinello, Marco Villa bronze Cicling Road american
Emanuela Pierantozzi bronze Judo 78 kg
Daniele Crosta, Gabriele Magni, Salvatore Sanzo, Matteo Zennaro bronze Fencing Foil team
Giovanni Calabrese, Nicola Sartori bronze Rowing Double sculls
Paolo Vidoz bronze Boxing SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT +91Kg
Marco Bracci, Andrea Gardini, Andrea Giani, Pasquale Gravina, Marco Meoni, Samuele Papi, Andrea Sartoretti, Paolo Tofoli, Alessandro Fei, Luigi Mastrangelo, Mirko Corsano, Simone Rosalba bronze Volleyball