Giovanni Evangelisti and his medal for rigged long jump

The subsequent calculations gave you 7.90 metres instead of 8.38, a huge difference. “I was happy, but immediately felt that it hadn’t been that long. But what was I supposed to do? I was there to jump, not to be the judge.”

A couple of months later, thanks to Gianni Min� and a slow-motion TV replay, the scandal broke. “It’s been a long time, and by putting things in their historical context, it’s clear to me what happened. At the time in Italy, doping was widespread and was covered up. I used to get really angry when I saw that I wasn’t given my due for medals I had won fairly. That year at the indoor World Championships in Indianapolis they annulled one of my jumps, despite there being nothing wrong with it. If they had allowed it, I would have won...”

And so, on 5 September 1987… “When there were the World Championships in Rome, someone decided to ‘give me a present’, to compensate for the helping hand with doping that other Italian athletes had received and continued to receive. They must have thought: ‘Poor bloke; he deserves something too. Can you credit it? Without saying anything to me, they decided to lengthen my jump. The move had been agreed at the beginning, when the others were distracted, and that’s why they put me first in the jumping order. But with all my pent-up nerves, I overstepped the board and my first jump was declared a foul. Consequently, the falsified measurement of 8.38 was given on the last jump, as they took advantage of the confusion created by a nearby medals ceremony. Sandro Donati, the current trainer of Alex Schwazer, had heard about it, but he didn’t say a word to me. I was put in a terribly embarrassing position, even though I had nothing to do with it. Obviously I gave back the medal. It was an athletics scandal that became the Evangelisti scandal. We used to be friends, but I haven’t seen him since.”

But Donati has always spoken out about doping. “Absolutely, very true. In fact, the only thing I hold against him is that he didn’t tell me. If I had known what they were plotting, I would never have stepped onto the podium. Donati and I, and some other athletes, fought doping, and that’s why I was even more disappointed.”

Who took drugs in athletics? “It happened in all the disciplines. In the athletics world everyone knew who took drugs. Even some top athletes, of course.”

What was it like to go back to competition, had something changed irreparably? The following year at the Seoul Olympics, you still achieved a good fourth place. “I continued to train, but the episode had really irritated me: I went from being remembered as one of the few Italian athletes who could win while staying clean to being remembered for the jump in Rome.”

It must have been a rude awakening for a clean-cut athlete, who had grown up as a sportsman in the provinces, near Padua, to be catapulted into these “Roman” intrigues. ”To be honest, the romantic idea I once had of athletics had already disappeared some time before. I realized that cheating went on as soon as I got involved in competitive athletics, in 1980.”

With current technology, would it still be possible to “lengthen” a jump by half a metre? “I don’t think so... But remember that it’s still up to the judges to decide if a jump is a foul.”

It obviously had a profound effect on you: you don’t seem to trust them much! “No, don’t get me wrong; I’m satisfied with my career. But I don’t want to be a hypocrite. It really saddens me when I see the state athletics is in. The Italian athletics association (FIDAL) is run by the same people who were there when I used to compete, and they’ve failed to reorganize the system. No generational turnover, no self-criticism, no ideas on how to relaunch the sport. They’re waiting for the next prodigy to come along and sort things out for them, like at present Tortu, or Tamberi, in sprinting and high jump. But we shouldn’t forget that these champions are not the fruit of the federation’s commitment, but of their respective fathers.”

No hope of recovery? “I always quote this example: a nation like Italy with a population of 60 million, even if it does absolutely nothing, is still bound to get between none and three medals at the World Championships. But if the FIDAL actually did something, we would get at least six. Instead, for years, we’ve been alternating between none and one. So what’s the use of the federation?”

You graduated in 1989, at the height of your career. Was it a way of finding a different focus in your life? “I wanted to get a degree because I liked the idea of being an architect. I withdrew from competitive athletics five years later, in 1994, and it was terrible to see that if you dedicate yourself to sport at the highest level, when you stop at the age of 33-35, or even later these days, it’s really difficult to get a job. It’s no coincidence that hardly any of the great athletes go on to become doctors, lawyers and engineers... In 1993 I asked for help from the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). The then president Mario Pescante received me on two occasions and promised he would call me soon. I’m still waiting.”

How about your private life? “I have two children, Claudia and Nicola, aged 22 and 20, both at university. I have often talked to them about my life in sport and the importance of fair-play. Nicola is also a long-jumper, and achieves good results, at around the 7.20 m mark. I however advise my children to study and build a solid future for themselves.”

And did you end up becoming an architect? “Absolutely. I deal with selling and renovating properties. I’m still involved in sport, at the Padua university sports centre, where I train a group of youngsters. But my real passions have changed since then...”

A new Evangelisti. “I spend a lot of time on art, and have set up a small studio. I’ve always loved painting, in particular landscapes. I also do sculpture, abstract works, inspired by my state of mind, using some of the technical skills I picked up during my university days, with materials such as wood, copper, and dentistry plaster. My family and I also enjoy travelling, discovering places that have not yet become popular with tourists. Africa, India and South America have a special place in my heart. I’m about to go off on a trip to Patagonia with a mountain climber friend of mine. Actually, I’m afraid I have to go – I’m still in the middle of packing...”

English translation by Simon Tanner

Article in Italian

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