March 20, 2013
Former 200m World Record holder Pietro Mennea dies
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Pietro Mennea, the Italian who held the 200m world for 17 years, before it was broken by Michael Johnson in 1996, has died.
Menna set the then world record of 19.72 seconds in 1979 at the World University Games, a mark that would not be broken for almost two decades.
Menna won the 200m at the 1980 Moscow Games, where Jamaica’s Donald Quarrie finished third. Great Britain’s Allan Wells finished second.
Menna, 61, died at a hospital in Rome. He was battling an unspecified illness for a long time.
