Venanzio Ortis

Italian long distance runner

Venanzio Ortis (born 29 January 1955) is an Italian retired long distance runner who won two medals at the 1978 European Championships.

Ortis was born in Paluzza, province of Udine. He started racing in 1969 (for a period he also practiced cross country skiing), and later won the Italian junior titles in the 1000 and 3000 m races. On 16 August 1978, aged 23, he set a new Italian record in the 5000 m at the Weltklasse Zürich, obtaining a third place behind Henry Rono and Markus Ryffel. In the fast 10,000 metre race of the 1978 European Athletics Championships, held in Prague two weeks later, he broke 28 minutes for the first time while finishing second in 27 minutes 31.48 seconds, just four one hundredths of a second ahead of Aleksandr Antipov of the Soviet Union, and half a second behind Finland's Martti Vainio (see, for example, Tapio Pekola et al., eds., EM Praha 1978 (European Championships in Prague 1978), Kaarina, Finland: Juoksija lehti (Runner Magazine), 1978). In the slow and tactical 5,000 metre final, he managed to squeeze through the narrow space between Ryffel and the Soviet Union's Aleksandr Fedotkin to sprint to the lead and win by 0.1 seconds. He missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to injury. His last major international track race was the 1981 IAAF World Cup event in Rome, where he placed fourth in 10,000. Plagued by physical problems, Ortis retired in 1983. He is the cousin of the Italian cross country skier Manuela Di Centa.

Year Competition Venue Position EventTimeNotes1974World Junior Cross Country Championships Monza 2ndJunior race1976World Cross Country Championships Chepstow 14thIndividual race35:365thLong course team224 ptsOlympic Games MontrealHeat (eliminated in heat)5000 m13:52.401978European Championships Prague 1st5000 m13:28.52 2nd10,000 m27:31.481983World Cross Country Championships Gateshead 7thLong course team