Italy at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Italy competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This nation has competed at every Summer Olympic games in the modern era, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. The Italian National Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. A total of 285 athletes, 162 men and 123 women, competed in 22 sports.
Italy left London with a total of 28 Olympic medals, finishing eighth in the overall medal standings. Seven of these medals were awarded to the athletes in fencing, five in shooting, and three in boxing. Six Italian athletes won more than a single Olympic medal in London. After suffering a major setback from Beijing, Italy's team-based athletes recaptured their success at these games as the men's water polo team and the men's indoor volleyball team won silver and bronze medals respectively. For the first time since 1984, Italy did not win an Olympic medal in swimming, except for the open water marathon.
Among the nation's medalists were shooters Niccolò Campriani and Jessica Rossi, who broke an Olympic and a world record to win gold medals in their respective events. Two Italian athletes won gold medals for the first time in Olympic history: archer Michele Frangilli, who competed at his fifth Olympics, in team archery, and taekwondo jin Carlo Molfetta in men's super heavyweight division. Foil fencer Valentina Vezzali, who won gold and bronze in London, became one of the most successful Italian athletes in history, with a total of eight Olympic medals. Meanwhile, boxer Clemente Russo managed to repeat his silver medal from Beijing.
Medalists
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Michele Frangilli Marco Galiazzo Mauro Nespoli | Archery | Men's team | ||
| Elisa Di Francisca | Fencing | Women's foil | ||
| Daniele Molmenti | Canoeing | Men's slalom K-1 | ||
| Elisa Di Francisca Arianna Errigo Valentina Vezzali Ilaria Salvatori | Fencing | Team foil | ||
| Jessica Rossi | Shooting | Trap | ||
| Valerio Aspromonte Giorgio Avola Andrea Baldini Andrea Cassarà | Fencing | Team foil | ||
| Niccolò Campriani | Shooting | Men's 50 m rifle three positions | ||
| Carlo Molfetta | Taekwondo | Men's +80 kg | ||
| Luca Tesconi | Shooting | Men's 10 m air pistol | ||
| Arianna Errigo | Fencing | Women's foil | July | |
| Diego Occhiuzzi | Fencing | Men's sabre | ||
| Niccolò Campriani | Shooting | Men's 10 m air rifle | ||
| Alessio Sartori Romano Battisti | Rowing | Men's double sculls | ||
| Massimo Fabbrizi | Shooting | Men's trap | ||
| Clemente Russo | Boxing | Men's heavyweight | ||
| Roberto Cammarelle | Boxing | Men's super heavyweight | ||
| Italy men's national water polo team | Water polo | Men's tournament | ||
| Valentina Vezzali | Fencing | Women's foil | ||
| Rosalba Forciniti | Judo | Women's 52 kg | ||
| Aldo Montano Diego Occhiuzzi Luigi Tarantino Luigi Samele | Fencing | Men's team sabre | ||
| Matteo Morandi | Gymnastics | Men's rings | ||
| Martina Grimaldi | Swimming | Women's 10 km open water | ||
| Fabrizio Donato | Athletics | Men's triple jump | ||
| Vincenzo Mangiacapre | Boxing | Men's light welterweight | ||
| Mauro Sarmiento | Taekwondo | Men's 80 kg | ||
| Italy men's national volleyball team | Volleyball | Men's tournament | ||
| Marco Aurelio Fontana | Cycling | Men's cross-country | ||
| Elisa Blanchi Romina Laurito Marta Pagnini Elisa Santoni Anzhelika Savrayuk Andreea Stefanescu | Rhythmic gymnastics | Team |
Delegation
selected a team of 285 athletes, 162 men and 123 women, to compete in 22 sports; it was the nation's smallest team sent to the Olympics since 1988. Italy did not qualify teams in basketball, field hockey, football, and handball. There was only a single competitor in badminton, track cycling, BMX cycling, equestrian dressage, trampoline gymnastics, weightlifting, and Greco-Roman wrestling.The Italian team featured past Olympic champions, four of them defending. Vezzali, who competed at her fifth Olympics as the most experienced athlete, became Italy's first female flag bearer at the opening ceremony since 1996.
Two naturalized Italian athletes made their multiple Olympic appearances as individuals. Sprint kayaker Josefa Idem, the oldest of the team at age 47, became the first female athlete to compete in eight Olympic games, although she played for the former West Germany in her first two appearances. Archer Natalia Valeeva, on the other hand, competed at her sixth Olympics as an individual athlete, having played under three different banners. Along with Valeeva, two other Italian athletes made their sixth Olympic appearance: trap shooter Giovanni Pellielo and windsurfer and four-time Olympic medalist Alessandra Sensini. Along with Vezzali, three other athletes made their fifth Olympic appearance: archer Michele Frangilli, sabre fencer and two-time world champion Luigi Tarantino, and skeet shooter and former Olympic gold medalist Ennio Falco. Meanwhile, gymnast Erika Fasana, at age 16, was the youngest athlete of the team.
Other notable Italian athletes featured taekwondo jin and Olympic silver medalist Mauro Sarmiento, sabre fencer and former Olympic gold medalist Aldo Montano, and rifle shooter and multiple-time World Cup champion Niccolò Campriani.
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Archery | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Athletics | 19 | 19 | 38 |
| Badminton | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Boxing | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Canoeing | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Cycling | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Diving | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Equestrian | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Fencing | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| Gymnastics | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Judo | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Modern pentathlon | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Rowing | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Sailing | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| Shooting | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| Swimming | 20 | 14 | 34 |
| Synchronized swimming | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Table tennis | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Taekwondo | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tennis | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Triathlon | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Volleyball | 14 | 14 | 28 |
| Water polo | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| Weightlifting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wrestling | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 162 | 123 | 285 |
Archery
Qualified six athletes.;Men
;Women
Athletics
Italian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events :On June 30, 39 Italian athletes were qualified with the A Standard, or as first 12 team relay, reduced to 38 because of an injury waiver for the champion of high jump, Antonietta Di Martino. On August 8, Alex Schwazer, the defending Olympic champion in the men's 50 km race walk, was disqualified after he failed the doping test for using the blood-boosting agent recombinant erythropoietin.
;Key
- Note – Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
- Q = Qualified for the next round
- q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
- NR = National record
- N/A = Round not applicable for the event
- Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
;Track & road events
;Field events
;Women
;Track & road events
;Field events
Badminton
Boxing
Italy has so far qualified boxers for the following events;Men
Canoeing
Eight Italian athletes have qualified for the following events.Slalom
Sprint
Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final ; FB = Qualify to final BCycling
Road
;Men| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Sacha Modolo | Road race | 5:46:51 | 99 |
| Vincenzo Nibali | Road race | 5:46:53 | 101 |
| Luca Paolini | Road race | 5:46:05 | 9 |
| Marco Pinotti | Road race | 5:54:04 | 107 |
| Marco Pinotti | Time trial | 52:49.28 | 5 |
| Elia Viviani | Road race | 5:46:37 | 38 |
;Women
Track
;OmniumMountain biking
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Marco Aurelio Fontana | Men's cross-country | 1:29:32 | |
| Gerhard Kerschbaumer | Men's cross-country | 1:32:02 | 13 |
| Eva Lechner | Women's cross-country | 1:37:36 | 17 |
BMX
Diving
Eight divers qualified.;Men
;Women
Equestrian
Dressage
Eventing
Fencing
Italy has qualified 15 fencers.;Men
;Women
Gymnastics
Artistic
;Men;Team
;Individual finals
;Women
;Team
;Individual finals
Rhythmic
Trampoline
Judo
Italy has qualified 9 judokas.;Men
;Women
Modern pentathlon
Italy has qualified 2 men and 2 women.Rowing
Italy has qualified the following boats.;Men
;Women
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A ; FB=Final B ; SA/B=Semifinals A/B; R=Repechage
Sailing
Italy has so far qualified 1 boat for each of the following events.;Men
;Women
;Open
M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;
Shooting
Italy has gained fifteen quota places in the shooting events;;Men
;Women
Swimming
Italian swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events, and 1 at the Olympic Selection Time : In the list, the names of the swimmers qualified at an individual event.;Men
;Women
Synchronized swimming
Italy has qualified 2 quota places in synchronized swimming.Table tennis
Italy has qualified the following table tennis players.Taekwondo
has ensured a quota place for Italy in the men's −80 kg by reaching the top 3 of the 2011 WTF World Qualification Tournament. Italy also qualified in the men's +80 kg during the European Championships.Tennis
Italy had qualified players from the top 54 rankings of ATP and WTA rankings at the end of 2012 French Open, on 11 June 2012.;Men
;Women
;Mixed
Triathlon
Three athletes have qualified for the Italian team.| Athlete | Event | Swim | Trans 1 | Bike | Trans 2 | Run | Total Time | Rank |
| Alessandro Fabian | Men's | 17:01 | 0:41 | 59:10 | 0:28 | 30:43 | 1:48:03 | 10 |
| Davide Uccellari | Men's | 18:26 | 0:44 | 59:16 | 0:30 | 31:13 | 1:50:09 | 29 |
| Annamaria Mazzetti | Women's | 19:25 | 0:40 | 1:11:09 | 0:35 | 37:19 | 2:09:08 | 46 |
Volleyball
Beach
Indoor
Italy has qualified both a men's and women's team for the indoor tournaments.- Men's team event – 1 team of 12 players
- Women's team event – 1 team of 12 players
Men's tournament
;Group play
;Quarterfinal
;Semifinal
;Bronze medal match
Women's tournament
;Roster;Group play
;Quarterfinals
Water polo
Men's tournament
;Team roster;Group play
;Quarterfinal
;Semifinal
;Gold medal game
Women's tournament
;Group play;Quarter-final
;5–8th place semifinals
;Seventh place game
Weightlifting
Italy has qualified the following quota places.Wrestling
Italy has qualified 1 quota.Key:
- - Victory by Fall.
- - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points.
- - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.