Davide Tizzano, president of Federcanotggio, has died

December 29, 2025 (changed at 8.23pm) – MILANO

Davide Tizzano, president of Federcanotggio, has died. The two-time Olympic gold medallist, who has died at the age of 57, had been ill for some time. He was an eclectic athlete and manager. In addition to rowing, in fact, he practiced sailing and even competed in the America’s Cup. Involved in sports politics, Tizzano, in addition to being president of the Rowing Federation, held the role of president of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games.

rowing career

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Tizzano’s career began with rowing: after the first world title won at the age of 18, he achieved his first Olympic success two years later, in Seoul in 1988, together with Piero Poli, Gianluca Farina and Agostino Abbagnale. In 1995, with the Atlanta Olympics just around the corner, his coach Aldo Calì and the directors of the Circolo Canottieri Napoli convinced him to take up the oars again with the aim of bringing home a second Olympic gold in the doubles. The Tizzano-Abbagnale couple does not disappoint, and Tizzano himself is elected “Athlete of the Year” by the Italian Rowing Federation.

the years in sailing

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In 1991 Tizzano received the call from the constituent team of “Il Moro di Venezia”, ​​thus becoming part of the strongest Italian sailing crew and remembered by enthusiasts. It reached an America’s Cup final in San Diego in 1992, in which the team failed to take first place, despite recording the first historic Italian victory in a final regatta of the competition. In 1993, with “Blue Emeraude” by the owner Raffaele Rajola, he was World Champion in the Maxi Yacht class.

Mediterranean games

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In 2013 Davide Tizzano was elected member of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games, for which he was President of the athletes commission until 2017. Four years later, in October 2021, he was elected President of the International Confederation of the Mediterranean Games, organizing the Oran event in 2022 and the third edition of the Mediterranean Beach Games in Crete in 2023.