Born in
Milan, Luigi Beccali, as a youth, was fascinated by
cycling and track and field athletics, but choose the latter, when he met the coach Dino Nai. In 1933, Beccali ran three
world records. At first he equalled
Jules Ladoumègue's world record 3:49.2, then lowered it to 3:49.0. At the end of the year he also set the world record of 2:10.0. Beccali won the 1500 m at the first
European Championships in 1934, but was outrun by
Jack Lovelock at the
1936 Summer Olympics, settling for third place in 1500 m. He was again third in 1500 m at the European Championships in 1938. He also won the Italian championships from 1934 to 1938 in 1500 m and at 1935 in the 5000 m. Beccali was originally a council surveyor, responsible for road maintenance. His work schedule allowed him to train twice a day. He eventually moved to the United States, and retired from running there in 1941, becoming a wine trader. ==See also==