Roberto Marson

Roberto Marson

Roberto Marson is an Italian multisport athlete who competed at the Summer Paralympics on four occasions and won a total of 26 Paralympic medals. He lost the use of his legs when a pine tree he was chopping down fell on his back....

is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 multisport athlete who competed at the Summer Paralympics on four occasions and won a total of 26 Paralympic medals. He lost the use of his legs when a pine tree he was chopping down fell on his back.

Marson made his first Paralympic appearance, representing Italy, in the second ever Games

1964 Summer Paralympics

The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the 2nd Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, they were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics...

  in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan, in 1964. He competed in three different sports: athletics, wheelchair fencing and swimming. In athletics he won two gold medals and two silver medals, setting a new world record of 24.20 metres in the men's javelin

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

 C classification. He finished fourth in both of the freestyle swimming events in which he competed. In the individual fencing events Marson won silver in épée and sabre, but alongside compatriots Franco Rossi and Rengo Rogo he won a team épée gold medal and a team sabre bronze medal.

At the 1968 Summer Paralympics

1968 Summer Paralympics

The 1968 Summer Paralympics were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation , they were known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time...

 held in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, Israel, Marson was proclaimed the outstanding athlete of the Games after winning ten gold medals; three in athletics field events

Athletics at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Athletics at the 1968 Summer Paralympics consisted of 70 events, 35 for men and 35 for women.- Men's events :- Women's events :...

, three in swimming

Swimming at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Swimming at the 1968 Summer Paralympics consisted of 68 events, 34 for men and 34 for women.- Men's events :- Women's events :...

 and four in wheelchair fencing

Wheelchair fencing at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Wheelchair fencing at the 1968 Summer Paralympics consisted of ten events, seven for men and three for women.- Men's events :- Women's events :- References :...

. His swimming golds all came on the same day as he won the 50 metres events for freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke. In wheelchair fencing he won individual gold for épée, foil and sabre. He was joined by Giovanni Ferraris, Vittorio Loi, Franco Rossi and Germano Zanarotto to defeat France 5-4 in the final and win gold for Italy in the team foil. With Ferraris and Zanarotto he won a silver in team sabre and also won silver in the team épée alongside Loi and Rossi. He successfully defended the Paralympic javelin and discus titles that he had won in Tokyo and added a third athletics gold medal in the club throw and a bronze in the shot put

Shot put

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....

.

In 1972 at the Paralympics in Heidelberg

1972 Summer Paralympics

The 1972 Summer Paralympics, the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11, 1972.- Sports :As with previous Paralympics, the 1972 games were intended for wheelchair athletes only...

, Marson contested a single athletics event and four wheelchair fencing events. He finished fourth in the men's discus 4 event with the gold being won by Canadian Eugene Reimer. In the individual épée, individual sabre and team épée events he retained his Paralympic titles, but his Italian team was beaten to the gold medal in the team sabre by Great Britain.

Marson's final Paralympic Games came in 1976

1976 Summer Paralympics

The 1976 Summer Paralympics were the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Toronto, in the province of Ontario, Canada from August 3 to 11, 1976...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada. He failed to win medals in either of his athletic events or the individual wheelchair fencing events, but did take a bronze medal in the men's team épée.

He was President of Federazione Italiana Sport Handicappati from 1980 until 1990.