Renato Canova

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Renato Canova (born 21 December 1944 in Turin) is an Italian athletics coach famous for guiding many Olympic and World Championship medalists in middle- and long-distance running. He used to be an athlete himself but later found his talent lay in coaching.

Career highlights
- 1975–1985: Italy’s national coach for multi-events.
- 1987 onward: Focused on Italian middle- and long-distance runners, coaching athletes such as Maria Curatolo and Ornella Ferrara, and working with the men’s team led by Luciano Gigliotti.
- 1996: Began training Kenyan runners in Italy; first traveled to Kenya in 1998.
- 2003: Became the national head coach for Qatar’s athletics team, living part of the year in Iten, Kenya.
- 2011: Left Qatar after disagreements; rejected an offer from the Chinese Athletics Association.
- 2013–2015: Returned to China as national head coach for middle- and long-distance, a role he held until resigning in November 2015.
- 2012 Olympics: His athletes won medals—Abel Kirui won silver in the marathon; Wilson Kipsang (bronze, marathon) and Thomas Longosiwa (bronze, 5000 m).
- 2016: Returned to Kenya to form a new training group.
- 2020–present: Julien Wanders, the European record holder, has trained with Canova.

Training philosophy
Canova’s system centers on building race-specific endurance through phases:
- High-volume, low-intensity work plus uphill sprints and technical drills.
- A special period where workouts approach the target race pace.
- A final period with sessions around race pace but increasing workload.
Recovery is emphasized, and he adapts the plan to each session instead of sticking to fixed weekly cycles. He has spoken on training for World Athletics (formerly IAAF).

Doping view
Canova believes that top athletes, with their high-altitude training, are unlikely to benefit much from doping drugs like EPO. He has faced doping criticisms, noting extensive testing for his athletes (he has said up to ten tests per week) and arguing that European and American performers often lag behind East Africans because of different training approaches.

Personal life
He was married to Daniela Gregorutti, a middle-distance runner who trained under him; she died in February 2021.