Background
Born in Rome, Italy, he was the son of Admiral Luigi Sansonetti.
Born in Rome, Italy, he was the son of Admiral Luigi Sansonetti.
He is the current world record holder in the M85 200 metres and M90 400 metres. He is famous throughout Italy for his appearance as a spry athlete in a Coca Cola and a Barilla advertisement. See the coca cola ad on YouTube
He has a degree in law and was a pioneer cavalry officer
He is an honorary citizen of Costa Rica, where he led a company doing agricultural colonization in the fifties.
Among his writings is curating Emigranti alla conquista della foresta (translated=Migrants to the conquest of the forest), which promotes that colonization of Costa Rica. In the seventies he directed and helped to lift a European frozen foods manufacturer that would later become known as Findus.
In 2005, at the age of 86 years, participated in project SpaceLand Sansonetti, a flight in a weightless environment on a Boeing 727 -200. Starting from Bordeaux, France, it was the first parabolic flight to accommodate ordinary citizens, and the first to bring on board an octogenarian.
In addition to the outdoor world records, he holds several indoor world records in the M90 60 metres, M85 and M90 200 metres and M90 400 metres.
Here is a Video on YouTube of him winning the 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Lahti, Finland.