Italy's total of 259 gold medals makes it the sixth most successful country in Olympic history, after the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain and France.

Among the Italian Winter Olympians, only Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni have achieved the feat of winning three gold medals in Alpine skiing.

The Italian athlete who won the most medals in the history of the Olympic Games, is the fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti.

After 121 years from first participation, Marcell Jacobs became the first Italian athlete to win a gold medal in Men's 100 metres at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics on 1 August 2021, with a time of 9"80.

Italy first competed in cycling at the 1900 Games, with Enrico Brusoni winning a gold medal in the points race that year.

The nation's first medals were in its first appearance, as Italy's men's master sabreurs took gold and silver in that one-time-only event in 1900.

Italy's presence at the first Olympics in 1896 consisted of a single shooter, Giuseppe Rivabella, who entered one event and whose score and rank are unknown.

The sport has remained a relatively strong one for Italy, which (after the 2016 Games) ranks fourth on the list of most gold medals in shooting with 16.

Prior to 2024, Uberto De Morpurgo was the only Italian tennis player to win a medal at the Olympics.