 He competed for Italy in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in the 4 x 100 metre relay where he won the silver medal with his team mates Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana and Elio Ragni.Gonnelli was looking forward to competing in the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo but the advent of World War II meant the cancellation of the Games and he served 3 years in the army instead.He died in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, United States.