Olympic champion Antonino Pizzolatto found guilty of gang rape in Italy, three of his friends also sentenced

The Trapani court sentenced Antonino Pizzolatto, Italy’s bronze medalist in weightlifting at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games, to five years and four months in prison after finding him guilty of the gang rape of a Finnish tourist at a country house.

The other three defendants, Davide Lupo, Claudio Tutino and Stefano Monzovi, all from Agrigento, also received prison sentences.

The complaint against the four men was filed by a 27-year-old Finnish tourist, who reported that she had been raped.

The young woman from Finland had gone on vacation with two friends. That evening, they had dinner at a restaurant in Trapani’s historic center, where they met Pizzolatto and his three friends.

Later, the group decided to continue the night at a bar near the beach. The celebrations lasted past midnight, until the victim’s two friends decided to return to the hotel.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old went to the home where some of the defendants were staying. According to what was presented in court, she was sexually assaulted there by the four men. During the trial, it was also clarified that, during the second part of the evening at the house, she noticed that one of the defendants, Davide Lupo, was filming her while she was kissing another young man.

After that, the young woman became angry and demanded that the video be deleted. The abuse ended only when the victim, terrified and in tears, asked to be taken back to the hotel where she was staying. The next morning, she reported the incident to the Italian police.