ROME - Italian twice Olympic 800 meters finalist and the former European indoor champion Donato Sabia has died from coronavirus aged 56, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Wednesday.

According to the Italian Olympic Committee, Donato Sabia is the first Olympic finalist in the world to die from the coronavirus

CONI said in a statement that Sabia had been in the intensive care unit of the San Carlo hospital on Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, for "a few days."

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Sabia finished fifth in the 800 meters at Los Angeles in 1984 and seventh in Seoul four years later. He won the gold medal in the same event at the European Indoor Championships in 1984.

According to CONI, he is the first Olympic finalist in the world to die from the virus.

The Italian athletics federation (FIDAL) said that Sabia's father had also died from COVID-19 a few days earlier.