Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics Morisetti's second-place finish in the fourth semifinal of the sprint was the best performance by an Italian cyclist. Italy's lone wrestler in 1908 was undefeated in his four bouts, winning each match to win the gold medal in the Greco-Roman lightweight class. Italy at the 1908 Summer Olympics Italy competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. It was the third appearance of the European nation, which had not competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was originally going to host the Games, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius meant the UK hosted them. Italy's best athletics result was
Olympic medal Paris Mint, which also made the medals for the 1900 Olympic Games, hosted by Paris. This started the tradition of giving the responsibility of minting the medals to the host city. For the next few Olympiads the host city also chose the medal design. Until 1912 the gold medals were made of solid gold. In 1923 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched a competition for sculptors to design the medals for the Summer Olympic Games. Giuseppe Cassioli's "Trionfo" design was chosen as the winner in 1928. The obverse brought back Nike but this time as the main focus, holding a