Italy competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 224 competitors, 197 men and 27 women, took part in 123 events in 19 sports.
Medalists
Gold
Klaus Dibiasi — Diving, Men's 10m Platform
Graziano Mancinelli — Equestrian, Jumping Individual Competition
Rolando Rigoli, Cesare Salvadori, Michele Maffei, Mario Aldo Montano, and Mario Tullio Montano — Fencing, Men's Sabre Team Competition Antonella Ragno-Lonzi — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual Competition Angelo Scalzone — Shooting, Trap Individual Competition
Silver
Giorgio Cagnotto — Diving, Men's 3m Springboard
Alessandro Argenton — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Individual Competition
Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 400m Freestyle
Bronze
Pietro Mennea — Athletics, Men's 200m
Paola Pigni — Athletics, Women's 1.500m
Giorgio Cagnotto — Diving, Men's 10m Platform
Anselmo Silvino — Weightlifting, Men's Middleweight
Raimondo D'Inzeo, Piero D'Inzeo, Vittorio Orlandi, and Graziano Mancinelli — Equestrian, Jumping Team Competition Silvano Basagni — Shooting, Trap Individual Competition Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 800m Freestyle Novella Calligaris — Swimming, Women's 400m Individual Medley Giuseppe Bognanni — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Flyweight Gian-Matteo Ranzi — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Lightweight
Archery
In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, Italy entered three men. Their highest placing competitor was Alfredo Massazza, at 31st place.
Men's Individual Competition: Alfredo Massazza - 2340 points (→ 31st place) Giancarlo Ferrari - 2322 points (→ 33rd place) Sante Spigarelli - 2300 points (→ 35th place)
Athletics
Men's 800 metres
Franco Arese
Heat — DNS (→ did not advance)
Men's 1500 metres
Franco Arese
Heat — 3:44.0
Semifinals — 3:41.1 (→ did not advance) Gianni del Buono Heat — 3:40.8 Semifinals — 3:42.0 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Vincenzo Guerini, Ennio Preatoni, Luigi Benedetti, and Pietro Mennea
Heat — 39.29s
Semifinals — 39.21s
Final — 39.14s (→ 8th place)
Men's High Jump
Enzo del Forno
Qualifying Round — 2.15m
Final — 2.15m (→ 10th place) Marco Schivo Qualifying Round — 2.15m Final — 2.10m (→ 17th place)
Basketball
Men's Team Competition
Preliminary Round (Group B) Lost to Yugoslavia (78-85) Defeated Senegal (92-56) Lost to Soviet Union (66-79) Defeated West Germany (68-57) Defeated Poland (71-59) Defeated Puerto Rico (71-54) Defeated Philippines (101-81) Semi Finals Lost to United States (38-68) Bronze Medal Match Lost to Cuba (65-66) → Fourth place Team Roster Ottorino Flaborea Giuseppe Brumatti Giorgio Giomo Mauro Cerioni Massimo Masini Renzo Bariviera Marino Zanatta Dino Meneghin Pierluigi Marzorati Luigi Serafini Ivan Bisson Giulio Iellini
Boxing
Men's Light Flyweight: Gaetano Curcetti 1/16-Final - Lost to Kadir Syed Abdul of Singapore (3 round, RSC)
Men's Flyweight: Franco Udella 1/16-Final - Defeated Filex Maina of Kenya (5 - 0) 1/8-Final - Lost to Boris Zoriktuev of USSR (1 - 4)
Men's Featherweight: Pasqualino Morbidelli 1/32-Final - Defeated Morgan Mwenya of Zambia (5 - 0) 1/16-Final - Defeated Ebu Sef Tatar of Turkey (5 -0 ) 1/8-Final - Lost to Royal Kobayashi of Japan (1 round, KO)
Men's Lightweight: Giambattista Capretti 1/32-Final - Defeated José Martinez of Canada (2 round, RSC) 1/16-Final - Lost to László Orbán of Hungary (1 - 4)
Men's Light Welterweight: Ernesto Bergamasco 1/16-Final - Lost to Srisook Bantow of Thailand (1 - 4)
Men's Welterweight: Damiano Lassandro 1/32-Final - Lost to Emilio Correa of Cuba (0 - 5)
Men's Light Middleweight: Antonio Castellini 1/16-Final - Lost to Wiesław Rudkowski of Poland (0 - 5)
Men's Light Heavyweight: Guglielmo Spinello 1/16-Final - Defeated Samson Laizer of Tanzania (2round KO) 1/8-Final - Lost to Rudi Hornig of West Germany (1 - 4)
Canoeing
Cycling
Fifteen cyclists represented Italy in 1972.
Individual road race
Francesco Moser — 8th place
Walter Riccomi — 49th place
Aldo Parecchini — did not finish (→ no ranking) Franco Ongarato — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Team time trial
Osvaldo Castellan
Pasqualino Moretti
Francesco Moser
Giovanni Tonoli
Sprint
Massimo Marino
Ezio Cardi
1000m time trial
Ezio Cardi
Final — 1:07.80 (→ 9th place)