Livio Berruti, who won gold in the 200 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, has died at the age of 87. Berruti passed away in a Turin clinic after a period of illness, Italian media reported on Sunday.
Born in Turin on 19 May 1939, Berruti made history on 3 September 1960 when he became the first European athlete to win Olympic gold in the 200 metres. At the Stadio Olimpico, he equalled the world record of 20.5 seconds in the semifinal and matched that time to win the final. The Italian National Olympic Committee awarded him 800,000 lire for the gold medal and 400,000 lire for the world record. He went on to finish fifth at the 1964 Tokyo Games in 20.83 seconds.
Berruti remained a celebrated figure in Italian sport. In 2006, he carried the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the Turin Winter Games, and his name appears on the Walk of Fame of Italian Sport in Rome.