Spoiler warning: this covers the whole of Physical 100: Italy, including the final.
Emanuele Bruno won Physical 100: Italy and the €100,000 prize. The 33-year-old judoka from near Rome came from further back than anyone in the final six: in episode 5 his own team cut him. He came back as captain of a team of rejects, won the chariot race, survived the hang over the pool, and in the final outlasted firefighter Tommaso Nisi in a push-of-war that went on for nearly two hours.
Here’s who he is, how he won, and why a judo player’s body was built for this show. For the whole series, see our Physical 100: Italy winner guide.
- Born: 10 December 1992, Rome (33)
- Sport: judo, with the Fiamme Gialle (Guardia di Finanza) sports group; has competed at −66, −73 and −81 kg
- Best results: European U23 silver (2013); European Games (2015); World Cup bronze, Prague (2018)
- Records: two Guinness World Records, for judo throws and flying armlocks in one minute
- Family: son of judo champion Sabrina Giungi, who was also in the cast; nephew of 1991 world champion Alessandra Giungi
- Physical 100: Italy: winner, beating Tommaso Nisi in the final
Who is Emanuele Bruno?
Bruno was born in Rome on 10 December 1992 and grew up on the mat: he started judo at five, according to his Wikipedia profile, and trains at his family’s club, the Nippon Club in Pomezia, south of Rome. He was Italian junior champion in 2010, under-23 champion in 2011, and that year joined the Fiamme Gialle, the Guardia di Finanza’s elite sports group.
His best international result came in 2013, when he won silver at the European Under-23 Championships in the −66 kg class. He went on to compete at the first European Games in Baku in 2015 and took bronze at a World Cup in Prague in 2018, moving up through the weight classes to −73 and −81 kg.
Away from competition he’s become something of a showman. On the Canale 5 programme Lo show dei record, he set a Guinness World Record in 2024 with 54 judo throws in one minute, then added a second in 2025 with 22 flying armlocks in a minute. He also runs women’s self-defence courses at his family’s club.
Judo royalty, and his mum was in the cast
Bruno comes from one of Italian judo’s best-known families. His mother, Sabrina Giungi, is a former Italian judo champion, and she was one of the 100 contestants on the show too. His aunt, Alessandra Giungi, won the world title in the 52 kg class in 1991 and two European titles, and took bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when women’s judo was a demonstration sport.
How he won Physical 100: Italy
Cut by his own team
Bruno came through the opening grid plank, the duels and the Forgotten Temple. Then, in episode 5’s Pillars of Hercules, the four winning captains each had to cut one of their own players, and Bruno was one of them. The four cut athletes, Bruno, Pietro Checchi, Sara Del Prete and firefighter Tommaso Nisi, were thrown together as a new team of ‘rejects’, with Bruno as captain. Remember Nisi: they’d meet again in the final. (Here’s how every Physical 100: Italy challenge worked.)
The rejects win the chariot race
In episode 6, six teams of four hauled a chariot around the arena one athlete at a time, the load climbing from 100 kg to 145 kg. The team nobody wanted won its heat outright, while Alvise Rigo’s team, with Federica Pellegrini, went out by nine seconds.
Surviving the hang
Episode 7’s Grid of Heroes was a simple, brutal test: hang from bars above the pool, and the first eight to drop are out. Bruno held on into the final six, alongside fellow judoka Manuel Lombardo, who won the hang at close to an hour. (Our dead hang guide explains why this kind of test favours light, strong athletes with a big grip.)
The final: pull-ups, then a push-of-war
The final opened with an obstacle course in two heats, which Bruno struggled through but finished inside the time limit. Next came an endurance pull-up test: Tommaso Nisi outlasted everyone to take the first place in the decider, and Bruno won a sudden-death pull-up tiebreak against footballer Matteo Sartori, who finished third, to join him.
The decider was a push-of-war on top of an aqueduct, Bruno and Nisi facing each other with a movable wall between them. According to The National, it lasted nearly two hours before Bruno drove Nisi back and took the €100,000: a final between two members of the team nobody wanted.
Why a judoka won
Judo players spend their lives gripping, pulling and pushing against another body that’s trying to do the same. A lot of Physical 100 rewards exactly that:
- Grip and pulling strength. Gripping a heavy jacket and pulling an opponent off balance builds forearms and lats that suit hangs and pull-ups.
- Strength for his weight. Weight-class athletes are trained to be as strong as possible without carrying extra mass, which matters when you’re hanging from a bar or doing pull-up after pull-up.
- Pushing against resistance for a long time. A judo match is minutes of constant pushing and bracing; a push-of-war is the same idea, stretched to its extreme.
- Composure under fatigue. Judo is decided by whoever stays organised when tired, which may explain how he kept going in a two-hour final.
Italy’s other judoka, Lombardo, won the hang. Between them, the two judo players were the stand-out athletes of the series, which is worth remembering when people assume the biggest muscles will win. Mexico’s version was won by an obstacle racer, Ángel Quintero, for similar reasons.
Train like the Physical 100: Italy winner
You don’t need a judo club to borrow the qualities that won it:
- Pull-ups, often: build your numbers with our pull-up guide, including the plan for your first one.
- Hang and grip: dead hangs and farmer’s carries; see our dead hang guide.
- Push heavy things: sled pushes are the gym version of a push-of-war; our guide to the HYROX stations covers technique.
- Full-body conditioning: our free 28-day military calisthenics plan builds the base.
Emanuele Bruno FAQ
Who won Physical 100: Italy?
Emanuele Bruno, a judoka from near Rome, won Physical 100: Italy and the €100,000 prize. Firefighter Tommaso Nisi was runner-up and footballer Matteo Sartori third.
How old is Emanuele Bruno?
He was born on 10 December 1992, so he’s 33.
Is Emanuele Bruno an Olympian?
No. He’s an international judoka with the Fiamme Gialle who won European U23 silver and competed at the 2015 European Games. His aunt, Alessandra Giungi, won bronze at the 1988 Olympics, when women’s judo was a demonstration sport.
Was Emanuele Bruno’s mother on Physical 100: Italy?
Yes. His mother, Sabrina Giungi, a former Italian judo champion, was one of the 100 contestants.
What Guinness World Records does Emanuele Bruno hold?
Two, both set on the Italian TV show Lo show dei record: 54 judo throws in one minute (2024) and 22 flying armlocks in one minute (2025).
How did Emanuele Bruno win the final?
After surviving the obstacle course and winning a sudden-death pull-up tiebreak, he beat Tommaso Nisi in a push-of-war on top of an aqueduct that reportedly lasted nearly two hours.
