Diego Pettorossi, the computer scientist one step away from the 200m final in Paris: from records in Virtus Atletica to life in Texas

BOLOGNA – Bologna was rooting for him, with the dream of seeing one of their fellow citizens in the 200m final at Paris 2024, a race that for Italians still has the echo of the legend, that of Pietro Mennea. Diego Aldo Pettorossi didn’t make it, his time (20”53) wasn’t enough to access the repechages and play the final with his colleagues Filippo Tortu and Fausto Desalu. But his is still one of the most beautiful stories of the Olympics, because Pettorossi is the only non-professional athlete in the Italian national team.

“In a world of millionaires, this boy’s story is the brightest Olympic spirit,” someone wrote to him on Instagram. Because Pettorossi has no sponsors, no financial support and does not belong to a military corps. His story begins in Bologna, touches Turin and continues in Texas, where he still lives, working as a data developer for an American company. Born in 1997, son of an artist, but of another art, basketball – his father Mario played in Dan Peterson’s Olimpia Milano – he initially chose rugby and found a home in Cus Bologna. Then on the track in via del Terrapieno he discovered athletics. He wore the jersey of Virtus Atletica “from 2013 to 2020, achieving notable results and also printing the current Virtus club record in the 200 and 4×100”.

After graduating, he went to study Sports Science in Turin, then left for the United States for two masters. But athletics remained in his heart and legs, and even when he found a job he decided to cultivate his passion and talent with workouts as soon as he turned off his PC, and nightly calls to the Modena coach Leonardo Righi, who has been following him since 2020. A “remote” athlete for Libertas Livorno, he believed he could get to Paris and he succeeded, also with a pinch of luck: he was fiftieth at international level but there were only 48 passes for the Olympics. A couple of defections were enough to allow him to realize a dream (also thanks to the long period of leave from work).