Federica PELLEGRINI

Category

“Sporting legend” Energy and Heart SUSTENIUM

Sport

Swimming

2004

She made her debut at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at just sixteen years old and went on to win silver in the 200m freestyle. She was the youngest female Italian athlete to win an Olympic medal, a feat that marked the return of an Italian women’s swimmer to the Olympic podium for the first time in 32 years.

2008

At the Beijing Games, she triumphed in the 200m freestyle and becoming legendary for earning the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Italian women’s swimming.

2009

She won gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle at the World Championships in Rome, setting two new world records and winning the FINA title of “Championship Athlete.” Throughout her career, she collected no less than 19 world medals, and at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, she was crowned the first athlete in the history of swimming to step onto a world championship podium eight times in a row.

2021

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, she was hailed as the first female swimmer ever to qualify for the fifth consecutive Olympic final. After announcing her retirement from the sport, she swam her last 200m race at the Winter Absolutes in the short course, winning her 130th overall title. The same year, she was elected a member of the IOC Athletes Commission.