Benedetta Pilato is only focused on swimming at the Olympics in 2028. Her shoplifting scandal and subsequent suspension from the sport is now in the past.
She deleted all of her social media and stays away from the outside noise.
Pilato’s most recent comments come less than 12 months after her detainment in Singapore sent shockwaves across the sport of swimming. It apparently got out of hand.
Who is Benedetta Pilato?
Born January 28, 2005, Benedetta Pilato is a 21-year-old swimmer from Taranto, Italy. Although she was a phenom in the sport from a young age, she really burst onto the scene in 2019 at the age of 14.
Pilato won a silver medal in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke against senior level competition at the World Aquatics Championships and set the new Italian record in the process. Two years later, she earned her spot on the Italian national team for the Tokyo Olympics in the 100-meter at only 16 years old.
It did not go quite as well as she had hoped but it was great experience. Pilato bounced right back from a frustrating disqualification in Tokyo to win the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships as a 17-year-old. And then it was on to the Paris Games.
Pilato swam her signature event, the 100-meter breaststroke, at the Olympics in 2024. To say that it was agonizing would be understated. She finished one one-hundredth of a second behind the third-place finisher to miss out on the podium all together. Heartbreaking!
Fortunately, Pilato was only 19 years old during her second appearance at the Summer Games. There was a lot of career in front of her. Unfortunately, Pilato got caught up in a scandal not too long thereafter.
The Italian swimmer has moved past the shoplifting scandal.
Benedetta Pilato and her friend, Chiara Tarantino, decided to take a vacation to Bali after the World Championships in 2025. They flew back home to Italy through Singapore and were detained in the Changi Airport.
As the story goes, security cameras showed the two athletes enter into a store, place items into a bag, and leave the store without paying. The local authorities investigated the situation and found them to be in possession of luxury fragrances they had not purchased.
Tarantino and Pilato were held for several hours at the airport before being released. The matter was resolved without legal consequences but the swimmers received a 12-month conditional warning from the country of Singapore and a ban from entering the country. Pilato released the following statement:
“During my return from Asia, after competing at the World Championships and spending a few days on vacation with teammates, I was unfortunately caught up in an unpleasant episode managed by the Singapore airport authorities. I immediately cooperated with the local authorities, with the full support of the Italian Embassy. The matter was resolved within a few hours, with no implications for me, thanks to my transparency. I have never intended to act improperly, and those who know me are aware of how much I value honesty and fairness. This was a difficult personal experience, but one that taught me important lessons about prudence and responsibility. I now return to focusing on my sporting journey with greater determination.”
The Italian Swimming Federation decided to suspend both swimmers from competition for 90 days as a result of the shoplifting incident. Neither athlete was punished further.
Now, almost one full year later, Pilato is speaking out about what happened. She is moving on. The last 12 months have been difficult for both her and her family. People were horrible to her.
“I’m not interested in talking about the past; that was a specific incident. I didn’t deserve the hatred I received. Imagine my parents reading those messages. But now I’ve deleted everything and forcused on what I have to do.”
Now that she is reinstated, Pilato’s goal is to return to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. She is only 21 years old so there is still a lot of career ahead of her.