From thoroughbred athlete to successful music manager

Marco Rossi, born in Bozen on July 7, 1963, grew up in Unterleitach - between Rentsch and Signat - was the most successful decathlete in Italy in the 80s. His personal best was 7761 points (7947 points, unfortunately with a little too much wind). Today Marco Rossi is a determined music manager and concert organizer throughout Italy. A number of Italian pop greats are under contract with Marco Rossi. He is also a successful publisher (he most recently published the extraordinary biography of Gustav Thöni in both Italian and German).

“My wonderful mother (Renate, Author's note ) has beautifully collected everything that was written about me during my sporting youth years in several folders. Some time ago, when I was leafing through the collected works with my youngest daughter Mathilde (12), she was just amazed at what her father had achieved as a decathlete,” laughs Marco Rossi. In fact, he was quite excellent. Rossi shaped the 80s with extraordinary achievements: junior Italian champion in 1981 and 1982, then Italian champion seven times in 1984-1985-1986-1987-1989 if you include the indoor competitions (heptathlon and eightathlon) in addition to the titles in the decathlon. His record, 7761 points, achieved on June 20, 1988 in the all-around Mecca Götzis, is still the ninth best Italian mark of all time (his 7947 points with too much wind in the 100 meter run at the European Cup in Arles, France, 1087 the fifth best). By the way: Since September 16, 2, the world record in the decathlon held by Frenchman Kevin Mayer has stood at 18 points. At the age of just 9126, Marco Rossi left the big sports stage. He immersed himself in professional life; interestingly enough, the key to success was the decathlon. For a long time the strongest athlete in Italy “I started athletics when I was 12 years old. My father Roland was a tax advisor in Bolzano. His great love was viticulture. That's why he bought a small wine farm in Signat am Ritten. My mother and my sister Birgit still live there today. My brother Sven, 6 years younger than me, is sales manager at Loacker in Unterinn am Ritten. My father introduced me to sports. Unfortunately he died far too early. I was just 14 years old at the time. I was fascinated by the all-around competition; at that time I was looking for perfection in sport. This trait served me well later in my career. Thanks to continually increasing performance, I joined the police sports group (Fiamme Oro). I enjoyed the sport in all its facets. In Padua I studied political science, let’s say “on the side”. My great passion was the decathlon. The training was hard, often for 7 or 8 hours a day. And yet I still like to remember this wonderful time, the sweaty training sessions, the exciting competitions,” says Marco Rossi. He attracted international attention as the overall winner at the 1985 European Cup final in Bruneck. Of course, he fondly remembers the 1987 Mediterranean Games in Latakia, Syria, when he won the gold medal. In the same year, the World Athletics Championships took place in Rome; Rossi had to give up at the end of the first day of competition due to a muscle strain. Even as a student in the USA, he didn't want to miss the decathlon.

Marco Rossi at the Italian Championships in Rome 1985.

“Back in Italy in 1989, I was back in the front row in terms of sport with a new Italian indoor record and the management of the energy giant SNAM became aware of me. I was offered an exceptionally well-paying job to start with their track team. There was, of course, a catch to the story: the work didn't fill me up; at just under 26 years old, I had a secretary and a wonderful office... but no real task, no responsibility. After just a month, I threw in the towel. Before I left, it was mandatory to see a psychologist. This was intended to find out what had motivated me to “escape” from the SNAM cosmos. Nobody understood my dramatic decision,” says Marco Rossi.

It is no exaggeration to say that Marco Rossi was the strongest decathlete in Italy in the 80s. “The only title I didn’t win in those years was the one in 1987 because I was concentrating exclusively on the World Cup.” Rossi as a music career changer In the meantime, the sporting end had also come to an end. Marco Rossi injured himself so badly while pole vaulting in 1989 that he had to give up. And it was precisely because he was a dedicated decathlete that he found professional happiness. A German company, at the time one of Europe's largest manufacturers of CDs, was looking for an employee to boost business in Italy. I was entering completely new territory, but after 2 years the Italian branch already had an incredible turnover of 20 billion lire. In Bussolengo, the Italian company headquarters, we had 20 employees and we had excellent connections in the extremely lively Italian music scene. In 1995 I became self-employed and founded the company “Azzurramusic,” says Marco Rossi. The company headquarters were set up in Pastrengo, with a wonderful view of Lake Garda. In his private life, Marco Rossi, who has now become the father of the twins Lavinia and Beatrice (27), as well as Roland (20) and Mathilde (12), lives on the hill of Pastrengo, in the middle of an olive grove. “All my life I dreamed of working and living where others vacation.”

<a data-caption="einige Mitarbeiter bei Azzurra Music - Michele Sartori, Damiano Friggi, Marco Rossi, Marta Recchia, Katia D’Auria und Federico Rettondini." data-fancybox="inline-113993" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2022/05/einige-mitarbeiter-bei-azzurra-music-michele-sartori-damiano-friggi-marco-rossi-marta-recchia-katia-dauria-und-federico-rettondini.jpg"> some employees at Azzurra Music - Michele Sartori, Damiano Friggi, Marco Rossi, Marta Recchia, Katia D'Auria and Federico Rettondini.

In the CD era, the “Azzurramusic” label developed very well. At times, Marco Rossi had 30 employees who covered all genres, from Italian pop rock to jazz/blues and world music. “In times of alternative recordings and music offerings on all networks in the world, there are only ten of us left. We accompany recognized stars and up-and-coming young musicians and publish music that goes unnoticed or receives insufficient attention elsewhere. We are broadly positioned, we distribute the music of Italian music legends such as Patty Pravo, Riccardo Fogli, Dodi Battaglia, Bobby Solo, Jerry Calà, and Marcella Bella as well as emerging talents. On the side, almost as a hobby, we also publish audio books and high-quality printed works, such as those for the 70th birthday of cycling icon Francesco Moser. I fulfilled a heartfelt wish with the book about Gustav Thöni. We published this in both Italian and German as a tribute to Thöni, who won his first Olympic gold medal half a century ago in Sapporo in 1972.

Marco Rossi has made his way, but he is not tired in the least. On the contrary. “I love the challenge. In the depths of my heart I have remained a (ten) fighter.”

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From thoroughbred athlete to successful music manager

Marco Rossi is 59 years old today. The signatory lives in Pastrengo on Lake Garda, in the shadow of the monumental Forte Nugent, built by the Austrians between 1859 and 1861, like several other forts on this side of the lake. His story is special.

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