Rome:Italy’s twice Olympic 800 meters finalist and the former European indoor champion Donato Sabia has died from coronavirus aged 56, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Wednesday.
CONI said in a statement that Sabia had been in the intensive care unit of the San Carlo hospital on Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, for “a few days.”
Sabia finished fifth in the 800 meters at Los Angeles in 1984 and seventh in Seoul four years later. He won the gold medal in the same event at the European Indoor Championships in 1984, report Xinhua news agency. Donato Sabia was born in Potenza and won two medals, at senior level, at the International athletics competitions, one of these with national relay team. He participated at two editions of the Summer Olympics (1984, 1988), reaching, in both cases, the Olympic 800 metres final; he had 17 caps in national team from 1982 to 1988.
His personal best time was 1:43.88 minutes, achieved in June 1984 in Florence. In the 400 metres he had 45.73 seconds, achieved in June 1984 in Milan.
According to CONI, he is the first Olympic finalist in the world to die from the virus. The Italian athletics federation (FIDAL) said that Sabia’s father had also died from COVID-19 a few days earlier. Erlier this week, the 82-year-old mother of Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola died of COVID-19.
Guardiola’s club published a statement which explained: “The Manchester City family are devastated to report the death today of Pep’s mother Dolors Sala Carrio in Manresa, Barcelona (north-east Spain) after contracting coronavirus. She was 82-years-old. Everyone associated with the club sends their most heartfelt sympathy at this most distressing time to Pep, his family and all their friends.”
Last week saw Manchester City’s England defender Kyle Walker in the headlines after it was revealed he had broken lockdown and social distancing regulations imposed to halt spread the coronavirus in order to host a party. (IANS)
