In 1992 Di Napoli scored a sensational victory over the world champion Noureddine Morceli from Algeria at the Golden Gala meeting in Rome. However, he got injured two weeks before the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, where he participated, but failed to reach the final. In 1993 di Napoli won the 3,000 m Indoor World Championships' gold medal; a title which he defended at the 1995 Indoor Championships. However, his achievements in outdoor races remained mixed.