Olympic qualifying tournament pools drawn: women in Poland, men in Brazil

• VOLLEYBALL

The draw for the women’s and men’s volleyball qualifying tournaments for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was held today in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Italian women’s national team will play their pool in Poland, where they will take on the hosts, the United States, Germany, Thailand, Colombia, South Korea and Slovenia. 

“Playing in Europe is a positive factor” commented coach Davide Mazzanti, “because it will allow us to train more. Undoubtedly the strongest teams in the group are the United States and Poland. We will then have to pay great attention to Germany and Thailand, both of whom play a particular kind of volleyball” the coach concluded. 

Meanwhile in Brazil , the men’s Italian team will face the hosts, Iran, Cuba, Ukraine, Germany, the Czech Republic and Qatar. 

“Ours is certainly a very challenging round” said coach Ferdinando De Giorgi. “We will obviously face Brazil, the hosts and always a very difficult team; then there will be Cuba, Iran and the Ukraine itself, which are constantly evolving teams. Of course we are talking about an Olympic qualifying tournament, so all the challenges will be very tricky to face. It will be important to play with great determination, without thinking too much about the opponents. We will try to bring all our qualities to the field and then we will see game by game how far we have got”.

Each of the six qualifying tournaments will put two Olympic quotas up for grabs (six in total for women and six for men). China, Japan and Poland will host the women’s competitions from 16-24 September 2023, while Brazil, China and Japan will stage the men’s events from 30 September-8 October of the same year.

A total of 24 teams (12 women’s and 12 men’s) will take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: France (qualified as the host nation); six national teams qualified by way of Olympic tournaments and five based on world rankings, which will be updated at the conclusion of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 group stage. (Here the #RoadtoParis2024). The tournament will be held in South Paris Arena 1. 

OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENTS

ITALY WOMEN 

POOL C (Poland) – Poland, Italy, United States, Germany, Thailand, Colombia, South Korea, Slovenia

ITALY MEN

POOL A (Brazil) – Brazil, Italy, Iran, Cuba, Ukraine, Germany, Czech Republic, Qatar

(Photo: FIPAV)

At the Giulio Onesti Olympic Preparation Centre, the first Italian team meeting ahead of the Olympic qualifications

• BREAKING

Today, at the Giulio Onesti Olympic Preparation Centre at the Acqua Acetosa, the first of the Italian breaking team’s gatherings in preparation for qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Games came to an end.

For the six Olympic hopefuls in training – under the supervision of coach Kacyo and athletic trainer Flavio Mancina – the appointment on the agenda is the second stage of the WDSF Breaking for Gold Series scheduled in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 April.

From 28 to 30 March, the Italian B-girls and B-boys will undergo technical and health tests in collaboration with CONI’s Olympic Preparation and the Italian National Olympic Committee’s Institute of Medicine and Sport Science.

Italy got off to the best possible start on its way to the five-ring event thanks to B-girl Anti-Antilai Sandrini, who managed to finish third in the opening leg in Kitakyushu (Japan).

Breaking will make its Olympic debut in Paris 2024, after having been introduced at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Games.  

New Italia Team website now online. Follow the Azzurri with #roadtoparis2024

• CONI

#roadtoparis2024. With 500 days to go before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Italia Team website dedicated to the five-ring event – scheduled to take place in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024 – is now online.

The website, put together by the CONI Communication Office and accessible at www.parigi2024.coni.it will follow the Azzurri on their route to qualification and subsequently during the Games themselves. It will keep fans and insiders updated about the results of the Italians involved in the competition, with news and photo galleries relating to the Azzurri mission. There will also be live broadcasts and video content from Casa Italia: the esteemed CONI hospitality house, which is increasingly turning into a media factory, will celebrate its 40th anniversary in France. 

In the run-up to the Olympic event, the site – online in Italian and English – will offer ample coverage of Italia Team’s qualifiers (to date five Olympic quotas have been won for Paris 2024) with a detailed schedule of the qualifying events and a useful overview of the regulations involved in each discipline.

It will also offer a window on the OTT ItaliaTeamTV platform and digital content produced by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) by and for Italian athletes.

And in addition: information on the competition calendar and all the venues where the medals will be awarded, with a section dedicated to previous editions and the all-time results achieved by historic Italian champions at the Games. The past and the future of the Italia Team can be found at www.parigi2024.coni.it

The “Terre de Jeux 2024” relay passes through Rome, a celebration for French and Italian students 500 days ahead of the Games

• ROAD TO PARIS 2024

The French Embassy in Italy, CONI and the Ministry of Sport and Youth joined forces this morning in Rome to take part in the relay race around the World, 500 days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, at the sports facility in Colle Oppio park made available by Roma Capitale and Sport e Salute. Several hundred Italian and French students participated together in numerous team sport activities.

Massimiliano Atelli, Head of Cabinet of the Minister for Sport and Youth, French Ambassador to Italy, Christian Masset and Carlo Mornati, CONI Secretary General were present at this great moment, together with top-level Italian athletes who spoke to the students about the values of sport, such as Filippo Tortu and Lorenzo Patta, Olympic champions of the 4x100 relay at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

In addition to demonstrating Italian-French goodwill and cooperation, undertaken by young people in accordance with the guidelines of the bilateral treaty of the Quirinale signed in 2021, the event on 14 March was an opportunity to emphasise the importance of sport for young people and the practice of sport in the heart of the city.

The Organising Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs are coordinating the organisation of the second edition of the Relay around the World. In 2022, 44 countries and overseas communities participated in this event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuR6Ypw9zA). In 2023, 128 French embassies and consuls around the world will participate. The event is part of the drive to celebrate the Games outside France, under the slogan “Far from France, Close to the Games.”

(Photo: Mezzelani/GMT)

3.25 million tickets sold during “Make Your Games” pack sales phase. Already the largest ever sale of tickets in France

• ROAD TO PARIS 2024

With 3.25 million tickets sold in less than three weeks, the public in France and across the world responded in huge numbers during the first phase of ticket sales for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. On 15 March, with 500 days to go until the Olympic Games begin, Paris 2024 will invite the public to register for the draw for the sale of individual tickets, which will include the most sought-after sessions of the Games, via the official ticketing platform: tickets.paris2024.org.

3.25 million tickets sold

The sale of “Make Your Games” packs is already the largest ever sale of tickets for a sports event in France. For the first time in Olympic Games history, tickets were made available worldwide from a single platform, with purchase timeslots allocated through a draw and to manage flows, without major waiting times. Thanks to this new approach, using the ticketing platform proved to be a relatively smooth experience, even though around 600 sessions and thousands of possible combinations were on sale in real time.

The French public, who made up two thirds of ticket purchasers, responded in their thousands. So did fans from abroad, with 158 different countries represented. A relatively high proportion were female and young: in this first phase, 45% were women and 44% were aged under 35 – reflecting the way these will be the first ever Olympic Games with equal participation by male and female athletes.

“Make Your Games” packs designed to promote the diversity of sports in the Olympic Games programme

In this first sales phase, the Organising Committee sold tickets in packs in order to promote what makes the Games so special: the diversity of sports and the opportunity to discover new disciplines.

Tickets for all sports where tickets were available (there will be no tickets for surfing) were sold during this first phase of sales. Tickets for climbing and BMX freestyle sold out on the first day, while those for fencing, judo, breaking and track cycling were all snapped up in just a few days. The sports for which the most tickets were sold included football, athletics, rugby 7s, basketball and volleyball.

(photo Paris 2024)

The price brackets for the tickets that were purchased reflected the balanced pricing structure developed by Paris 2024. A large proportion of tickets were available at affordable prices: around 50% costing €50 or less. Combined with a smaller number of higher-priced tickets, these have made for a balanced ticketing model designed to generate one third of the Organising Committee’s revenue. During this initial sales phase, more than 400,000 tickets priced at €24 were sold. Around 70% of tickets sold cost less than €100 and 4.5% cost €200 or more.

Second registration phase to open on 15 March, 500 days before the Olympic Games begin

For the Olympic Games, a total of around 10 million tickets will be put on sale. 80% of these will be made directly available to the public via the official ticketing platform at tickets.paris2024.org. The other 20% will be distributed through our official hospitality supplier, On Location, as well as Paris 2024 stakeholders (host local authorities, global and national partners, official broadcasters of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the sports community in France and abroad).  

The next phase of sales, dedicated to individual tickets for the Olympic Games, will begin with a draw registration period. Anyone who has not yet secured the tickets they were hoping for, who has not yet registered for the draw for the second phase, or who has not yet applied for tickets, is invited to register between 15 March and 20 April 2023 at tickets.paris2024.org.

The sales phase itself will start on 11 May, with individual tickets available for all Olympic sports where tickets are sold, including the most sought-after finals where new Olympic champions will be crowned. Tickets will also be available for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Get ready for the experience of a lifetime:

At the end of 2023 and into 2024, remaining tickets will be available in real time on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. Paralympic Games ticketing will open this autumn.

“What a response! With 3.25 million tickets sold in less than three weeks, the level of interest has been phenomenal, both in France and abroad. Anyone who has not yet secured their ticket still has a chance to do so, starting on 15 March, when we will open the registration period for the sale of individual tickets. This new sales phase will provide an opportunity to attend flagship events at exceptional venues, to support outstanding athletes, and to experience extraordinary moments at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Games.” said Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.

Brazil, China, Japan and Poland. Venues for the qualifying tournaments made official

• VOLLEYBALL

The venues for the volleyball qualifying tournaments for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been officially announced.

China, Japan and Poland will host the women’s competitions from 16-24 September 2023, while Brazil, China and Japan will stage the men’s events from 30 September to 8 October of the same year.

Two Olympic quota passes will be up for grabs in each event (six in total for women and six for men). The two top finishers in each tournament will gain access to the Olympic event.

The draw for the groups will be held on March 17 in Lausanne, Switzerland, getting underway at 13:00.

A total of 24 teams (12 women’s and 12 men’s) will take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: France (qualified as the host nation); six national teams qualified by way of Olympic tournaments; and five based on world rankings, which will be updated at the conclusion of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 group stage. 

OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENTS (teams starting according to world ranking)

FEMALE - Italy, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA

MALE - Italy, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Slovenia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA

(photo FIPAV)

A minute’s silence at sporting events for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria

• CONI

CONI President Giovanni Malagò invites the National Sports Federations and Associated Sports Disciplines to observe a minute’s silence at all sporting events taking place over the weekend, in memory of the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.

EYOF 2023: Italia Team bids farewell to Friuli Venezia Giulia with a record number of podiums. Georgia to host event in 2025

• CEREMONY IN UDINE

The 16th winter edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival, the sporting event dedicated to athletes aged 14 to 18, has concluded at the Fiera di Udine. It was a record-breaking edition for the Italia Team’s Azzurrini who accumulated 21 medals (6 golds, 8 silvers and 7 bronzes), ranking first among the 47 European Olympic Committees in terms of number of podiums and second in the medals table behind France, who only beat the Azzurri in the number of golds (7 to 6) won.

The Italian team – the most numerous with 109 athletes (comprising 56 males and 53 females) competing in all 12 disciplines – improved upon the previous record set in Vuokatti in 2022 (5 golds, 8 silvers and 7 bronzes), topping off an event that, 30 years after the first edition that took place in Valle d'Aosta in February 1993, was once again held in Italy. And beneath the gaze of the President of the European Olympic Committees, Spyros Capralos, and other dignitaries present, including the President of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga, and the President of CONI Friuli Venezia Giulia, Giorgio Brandolin, Italia Team paraded with two of the week’s protagonists in competitions that were broadcast on ItaliaTeamTV: flag-bearers Ludovica Righi, gold in alpine skiing giant slalom, and Erik Canovi, gold in individual and sprint, and bronze in ski mountaineering mixed relay.

But it proved to be a celebration for all the young European athletes who have found in Tarvisio’s Casa Italia EYOF a place to meet and grow together. CONI’s hospitality house, which has undergone a revamp and is for the first time aimed at the youngest athletes, opened its doors to all the participating delegations, the Organising Committee and the European Olympic Committees, including the Ukrainian delegation, to whom the Fair Play award was presented during the closing ceremony.  

The European Olympic Committees flag now passes from the Friuli Venezia Giulia 2023 Organising Committee to the representatives of Borjomi and Bakuriani in Georgia, the nation set to host the forthcoming edition of the EYOF in two years' time. Italia Team will be looking to improve still further.

(Photo: Simone Ferraro)

EOC President Capralos, guest at Casa Italia EYOF 2023

• CONI

Special guest at Casa Italia, in Tarvisio. CONI’s hospitality house, having undergone a revamp to focus for the first time on young athletes of the European Youth Olympic Festival, is increasingly the beating heart behind the multidisciplinary event dedicated to the under-18s from all over Europe, being held in Friuli Venezia Giulia until 28 January.

Today the President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and IOC member Spyros Capralos paid a visit to Casa Italia, located at the foot of the Alpine ski slope. He was welcomed by CONI Secretary General Carlo Mornati, with whom he spoke between the first and second rounds of the men’s slalom, savouring the Italian cuisine and the typical hospitality of what is a flagship of the Italian National Olympic Committee and a true media factory that broadcasts the Azzurrini’s races live on ItaliaTeamTV.

The Greek executive then participated in the activities undertaken at Casa Italia by the European Young Olympic Ambassadors, the protagonists of the EOC programme, aimed at strengthening the Olympic values among the young athletes participating in the European Youth Olympic Festival.

(Photo: Simone Ferraro)

At the Salone d’Onore, the round table “Coaching the Azzuro – a Debate between Head Coaches”

• FORUM AT CONI

CONI’s Salone d’Onore hosted the round table “Coaching the Azzuro – a Debate between Head Coaches”. Promoted by the President of the Italian Basketball Federation, Giovanni Petrucci, and opened by the speeches of the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò, and the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, the meeting was moderated by CONI Secretary General, Carlo Mornati, and saw the participation of four technical commissioners of the men’s national teams: Alessandro Campagna (Head Coach of water polo), Ferdinando De Giorgi (Head Coach of volleyball), Roberto Mancini (Head Coach of football) and Gianmarco Pozzecco (Head Coach of basketball).

“It is a nice idea, an initiative that can give us added value. I have always said that the results achieved by Italian sport come because we are competent and have great coaches. Just look at one thing: we export coaches all over the world, while we have a harder time with players, and this makes one think,” stated Giovanni Malagò opening the meeting. The CONI President then reflected on the most recent editions of the Olympic Games: “Between Tokyo and Beijing we won 57 medals, a mighty feat. But not having made it onto the podium in team sports leaves a bitter taste in the mouth: winning at football, volleyball, basketball or water polo holds a special prestige. You will see that in Paris we will break through all of that.”

“We always talk about great results and never remember that we have the best coaches in the world,” Giovanni Petrucci remarked. “If an athlete is good, then certainly the coach is really good. Today we are repeating what we did years ago with Sacchi, Messina and Rudic by comparing different skills in a year leading up to the Olympic Games,”explained the FIP President.

“Let’s rediscover the values of the Azzurri colours and promote them at school level. The aim is not just to win, but to convince people, because defeat also plays a part,” Andrea Abodi noted. “The supremacy of values, with a capital V, must come before results, because it makes our world proud.  This is how we win the daily battle to promote sport and strengthen sports movement activities in schools. If sometimes the goal is sporting supremacy, as far as I am concerned the daily goal is the supremacy of values,” added the Minister for Sport and Youth.

Many topics were discussed, including the difficulty of managing the generational turnover, as Roberto Mancinipointed out: “In Italy we have to start thinking that 18-19 year olds can play at the highest level. We have to show faith in them instead of going to look for players abroad. Today the process of selection has become difficult for me. In the Under-21s most of the players are not first team starters. Young people are our future. It is not an easy path but our basic mentality needs to change,” explained the coach of the national team.

He was echoed by Ferdinando De Giorgi: “The technical commissioners and their staff must create opportunities and a growth-oriented environment to allow young people to express their skills and talent.  The youngsters have incredible strength.  When you create the right situation around them and give them responsibility and values, the entire course benefits,” said the coach of the men’s world champion national volleyball team.

“18-year-olds must be considered to all intents and purposes as sportsmen and sportswomen suitable for our system,”said Gianmarco Pozzecco, Italy’s basketball coach. “The national team must be a family.  The youth of today are much more professional than in our times. In my opinion, all this makes for a less smooth career path.”  

Alessandro Campagna also aligned himself with the positions of his colleagues: “For a head coach, it is essential to look towards the future to try to understand who the next Olympic champions might be. When you put young people in the team you never know how long it will take to get results: the important thing is to make them feel they are on a great path to victory,” concluded the head coach of the Settebello team.