Forty years after his 200-meter triumph in Moscow and subsequent world record of 19 seconds, 72 firsts that stood for a full 17 years, Italy remembers one of its most glorious sprinters with a commemorative postage stamp.
Printed in 400,000 copies and also distributed in a philatelic folder containing 5 stamps (a set of 4 and 1 single), a cancelled and franked postcard, and a first-day cover, Mennea’s stamp is valid for regular mail and will henceforth be used for correspondence from the municipality of Barletta, his birthplace.
Mennea, who died in 2013, was not only a very important sportsman but also a politician, lawyer and university lecturer. He also founded the Pietro Mennea Onlus Foundation, with the aim of helping children in need through sports.
Another beautiful initiative promoted by Mennea’s widow Manuela Olivieri is that of Pietro’s Track, a project that transforms and recycles used running shoes and turns them into athletic tracks.
This is the great legacy of a legendary athlete: concern for the younger generation and the environment, lived with the spirit of the sportsman who carried the heart of an entire nation across the finish line that day in Moscow. Leaving him there for 17 years.