Tennis, Fabbiano also qualified. In Rio 308 Italian athletes

Another Italian athlete qualified in Tennis at the Olympic Games in Rio. Thanks to the changes in enrolments as a result of some cancellations, Thomas Fabbiano join the Italian team becoming the seventh athlete together with Sara Errani, Fabio Fognini, Karin Knapp, Paolo Lorenzi, Andreas Seppi and Roberta Vinci. Fabbiano is currently 110th in the ATP rankings.

The Italian athletes qualified for the Brazilian Olympics are now 308 (164 men and 144 women).

CONI top representatives fly to Rio: Malagò and Fabbricini in Brazil together with the Italian athletes of 8 disciplines

The countdown in full swing. The opening ceremony of the 31st edition of the Olympic Games is approaching and the Italian delegation of athletes begins to settle in Rio de Janeiro. This evening, the largest delegation ever, led by the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò,and the Secretary General, Roberto Fabbricini, leaves for Rio. In fact, in Brazil they will join the male and female road cycling teams, two formations of fencing, women's sabre and men's foil precisely, gymnastics, judo, rowing, open water, sailing (Giorgio Poggi), swimming and 11 athletes involved in the sport of athletics (with destination São Paulo, where the preparation period preceding the transfer in Rio are held). 

Olympic Channel to launch on 21 August 2016

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced the launch date for its ground-breaking new media destination, the Olympic Channel, where fans can experience the power of sport and the Olympic Movement all year round. Starting Sunday 21 August, after the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the Olympic Channel platform will be available worldwide via a mobile app for Android and iOS devices and at olympicchannel.com. 

In addition, athletes and fans can follow the Olympic Channel on its newly launched social media handles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and sign up for Olympic Channel updates at olympicchannel.com. 

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The launch of the Olympic Channel on 21st August is the start of an exciting new journey to connect the worldwide audience with the Olympic Movement all year round. Fans will be able to follow sports, athletes and the stories behind the Olympic Games. The Olympic Channel will inspire us all and reach out to new generations of athletes and fans.”

With the goal of providing a new way to engage young people, fans and new audiences in the Olympic Movement, the Olympic Channel is a free platform that will present original programming, live sports events, news and highlights offering additional exposure for sports and athletes all year round. Olympic Channel original programming will include both short-form and long-form content, focusing on elite athletes, their quest for success and sport around the world.  

Designed for a global audience, the Olympic Channel digital platform will showcase content from around the world, and will initially be offered in English. Additional features at launch will include fantastic content as video on demand, as well as individual sport pages within a user-friendly and mobile-responsive interface, subtitled in nine different languages.

The Olympic Channel includes an option to register for a richer and more personalised experience, where users can follow their favourite athletes, teams, sports and countries to receive an individually-tailored content selection. The dynamic environment also allows videos to be easily shared across social media, and encourages users to regularly interact with the Olympic Movement.

After the launch of the global digital product in August, the Olympic Channel intends to foster partnerships with other Olympic stakeholders, including rights-holding broadcasters and National Olympic Committees to develop localised versions of the Olympic Channel. Localised versions will offer language-specific user experiences on digital platforms, and will also include linear television programming options.

The women's eights and lightweight double sculls have also qualified: 309 Italian athletes in Rio

Rowing qualifies another two boats for Rio 2016. The women's eights and lightweight double sculls will now take part in the 31st edition of the Summer Olympics, by virtue of the decision taken by the International Federation regarding the situation with Russia.

Olympic athletes from Rome received in Campidiglio on the eve of the Games

In Campidoglio this afternoon, CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) President Giovanni Malagò, together with the Secretary General Roberto Fabbricini, accompanied a delegation of roman athletes who qualified for the Olympic Games. The Azzurri team had been invited by the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi and the Deputy Mayor, with the Minister for Sports, Daniele Frongia, who hosted the representatives departing for Rio, at the Municipality. Frongia, who together with the Mayor are involved in other Institutional Fronts, pointed out that: "As a former athlete, I recall these initiatives within the institutions as somewhat boring. But we want to emphasize that Campidoglio represents the community at large. And the whole of Rome is with you, proud of you. Thank you and good luck." The ceremony was attended by the following athletes: Claudia Cesarini, Riccardo De Luca and Pierpaolo Petroni (Modern Pentathlon), Marco De Luca, Sonia Malavisi and Maria Benedicta Chigbolu (Athletics), Alice Sinno and Elena Berta (Sailing), Odette Giuffrida (Judo) and Daniele Lupo (Beach Volleyball). Present in the room there was also, the team leader of the M5S in Campidoglio, Paolo Ferrara and the Chairman of the Capitolina Sports Committee, Angelo Diario.

President's Malagò’s message was one of pride: "I would like to thank Deputy Mayor, Frongia and the Advisors Diario and Ferrara, because we speak the same language. All three have wanted to highlight their past as sportsmen and I also have that in my genes. There is this commonality and this trip, we should not divulge anything. This initiative came about because of the Mayor’s consent; we were expecting something of this nature to occur because in other cities and regions of Italy, here and there, these initiatives are deeply felt. I am the National President but of Roman origin and I am very happy about this initiative. I congratulate you and I will be just as happy, if we are invited to return here because I know how much you have done. Look at these ambassadors of our city: they are fantastic, honest, successful and they represent the positive aspects of the city".

Monday 25th July, Raggi and Malagò send-off for roman athletes departing for Rio

Mayor Virginia Raggi and CONI President Giovanni Malagò with the Secretary General Roberto Fabbricini will be there to see off the roman athletes and support staff ahead of their participation in the Rio Olympic Games 2016.
The meeting will take place on the 25 July at 15.00 at the Sala delle Promoteca, in Campidoglio.
The initiative was promoted by Raggi herself, with the invitation extended to President Malagò.

Sailor Caputo (Sailing) tests positive, she will not go to Rio. Her place will be taken by Elena Berta

The athlete Roberta Caputo (member of the Italian Sailing Federation) tested positive to the Clostebol Metabolite following an “out-of-competition” check devised by NADO ITALIA - performed in Naples on 6 July 2016.

The First Section of the National Anti-Doping Court saw to the precautionary suspension of the athlete, accepting the request put forward by the Anti-Doping Public prosecutor's Office.

Roberta Caputo, already part of the sailing team for Rio 2016, will not take part in the Olympic Games. Elena Berta will take her place in the 470 class, joining Alice Sinno.

Team Italy is more "pink" than ever. 297 Italian athletes set for Rio

Team Italy heads to Rio with 297 athletes. Today, the last day for signing up for events, saw official approval of the list of Italian athletes set to take part in the 31st edition of the Summer Olympics. The delegation will be made up of 155 men and 142 women: representing the biggest female contingent ever, both in terms of total athletes and percentage: 47.81, which exceeds the 43.78% at London 2012. Lombardy is the region with the largest number of participants (43), ahead of Lazio (36), while Rome is the leading Province (30), ahead of Naples (13). The overall average age of the team is around 27 years (27.27%), and is slightly lower than London 2012 (27.82): the oldest athlete is the evergreen champion of Target Shooting, Giovanni Pellielo (46 years old), who has also competed at the most Games (7), while swimmer Sara Franceschi (17 in February) will be the youngest member of the team. Out of the Military and Civilian State bodies, the Fiamme Gialle are the group with the largest delegation with 40 athletes, ahead of the Fiamme Oro (37). The Circolo Canottieri Aniene (Rowing Club), with 9 members, is the civilian sports club most represented ahead of Pro Recco (7). There will be 29 Olympic medallists from London also taking part in Rio. The Italian athletes are "ready for take-off".

TEAM ITALY RIO 2016

297 athletes (155 men, 142 women)

ATHLETICS (38):Giordano Benedetti, Teodorico Caporaso, Jamel Chatbi, Silvano Chesani, Marco De Luca, Eseosa Desalu, Fabrizio Donato, Juri Floriani, Matteo Galvan, Matteo Giupponi, Stefano La Rosa, Marco Lingua, Davide Manenti, Daniele Meucci, Ruggero Pertile, Chiara Bazzoni, Catherine Bertone, Maria Elena Bonfanti, Marzia Caravelli, Maria Benedicta Chigbolu, Dariya Derkach, Ayomide Folorunso, Eleonora Anna Giorgi, Libania Grenot, Gloria Hooper, Anna Incerti, Veronica Inglese, Margherita Magnani, Sonia Malavisi, Marta Milani, Antonella Palmisano, Yadisleidy Pedroso, Elisa Rigaudo, Desiree Rossit, Yusneysi Santiusti Caballero, Maria Enrica Spacca, Valeria Straneo, Alessia Trost

BADMINTON (1): Jeanine Cicognini

BEACH VOLLEYBALL (6):Adrian Ignacio Carambula Raurich, Daniele Lupo, Paolo Nicolai, Alex Ranghieri, Marta Menegatti, Viktoria Orsi Toth.

CANOE KAYAK (8): Mauro Crenna, Giovanni De Gennaro, Giulio Dressino, Alberto Ricchetti, Nicola Ripamonti, Manfredi Rizza, Carlo Tacchini, Stefanie Horn

ROWING (18): Giovanni Abagnale, Romano Battisti, Vincenzo Maria Capelli (Reserve), Matteo Castaldo, Marco Di Costanzo, Francesco Fossi, Martino Goretti, Livio La Padula, Matteo Lodo, Marcello Miani, Andrea Micheletti, Domenico Montrone, Stefano Oppo, Pietro Willy Ruta, Giorgio Tuccinardi (Reserve), Giuseppe Vicino, Sara Bertolasi, Alessandra Patelli

CYCLING (18):Fabio Aru, Luca Braidot, Damiano Caruso, Alessandro De Marchi, Marco Aurelio Fontana, Vincenzo Nibali, Diego Rosa, Andrea Tiberi, Elia Viviani, Beatrice Bartelloni, Giorgia Bronzini, Elena Cecchini, Simona Frapporti, Tatiana Guderzo, Eva Lechner, Elisa Longo Borghini, Francesca Pattaro, Silvia Valsecchi,

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (6): Ludovico Edalli, Erika Fasana, Carlotta Ferlito, Vanessa Ferrari, Elisa Meneghini, Martina Rizzelli.

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS (6): Veronica Bertolini, Martina Centofanti, Sofia Lodi, Alessia Maurelli, Marta Pagnini, Camilla Patriarca.

GOLF (4): Nino Bertasio, Matteo Manassero, Giulia Molinaro, Giulia Sergas.

JUDO (6): Fabio Basile, Elios Manzi, Matteo Marconcini, Odette Giuffrida, Edwige Gwend, Valentina Moscatt.

WRESTLING (2): Frank Chamizo, Daigoro Timoncini.

SWIMMING (35): Marco Belotti, Federico Bocchia, Piero Codia, Andrea Mitchell D’Arrigo, Gabriele Detti, Alex Di Giorgio, Luca Dotto, Luca Leonardi, Filippo Magnini, Luca Marin, Marco Orsi, Gregorio Paltrinieri, Luca Pizzini, Matteo Rivolta, Simone Sabbioni, Michele Santucci, Andrea Toniato, Federico Turrini, Ilaria Bianchi, Diletta Carli, Martina Carraro, Arianna Castiglioni, Martina De Memme, Silvia Di Pietro, Erika Ferraioli, Sara Franceschi, Chiara Masini Luccetti, Alice Mizzau, Margherita Panziera, Federica Pellegrini, Aglaia Pezzato, Stefania Pirozzi, Alessia Polieri, Luisa Trombetti, Carlotta Zofkova.

SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING (9): Elisa Bozzo, Beatrice Callegari, Camilla Cattaneo, Linda Cerruti, Francesca Deidda, Costanza Ferro, Manila Flamini, Mariangela Perrupato, Sara Sgarzi.

MARATHON SWIMMING (3): Simone Ruffini, Federico Vanelli, Rachele Bruni.

DIVING (8): Michele Benedetti, Andrea Chiarabini, Giovanni Tocci, Maicol Verzotto, Noemi Batki, Tania Cagnotto, Francesca Dallapè, Maria Marconi

WATER POLO (26): Men: Matteo Aicardi, Michael Alexandre Bodegas, Marco Del Lungo, Francesco Di Fulvio, Pietro Figlioli, Andrea Fondelli, Valentino Gallo, Niccolò Gitto, Alessandro Nora, Christian Presciutti, Nicholas Presciutti, Stefano Tempesti, Alessandro Velotto.

Women: Rosaria Aiello, Roberta Bianconi, Alek Sandra Cotti, Tania Di Mario, Giulia Emmolo, Teresa Frassinetti, Arianna Garibotti, Giulia Gorlero, Francesca Pomeri, Elisa Queirolo, Federica Radicchi, Chiara Tabani, Laura Teani

VOLLEYBALL (24): Men: Oleg Antonov, Emanuele Birarelli, Simone Buti, Massimo Colaci, Simone Giannelli, Osmany Juantorena, Filippo Lanza, Matteo Piano, Salvatore Rossini, Pasquale Sottile, Luca Vettori, Ivan Zaytsev.
Women: Nadia Centoni, Cristina Chirichella, Anna Danesi, Monica De Gennaro, Antonella Del Core, Valentina Diouf, Paola Egonu, Martina Guiggi, Eleonora Lo Bianco, Alessia Orro, Serena Ortolani, Myriam Sylla

MODERN PENTATHLON (4): Riccardo De Luca, Pierpaolo Petroni, Claudia Cesarini, Alice Sotero.

WEIGHTLIFTING (2): Mirco Scarantino, Giorgia Bordignon

BOXING (7): Manuel Cappai, Valentino Manfredonia, Vincenzo Mangiacapre, Clemente Russo, Carmine Tommasone, Guido Vianello, Irma Testa

FENCING (17): Giorgio Avola, Andrea Baldini (reserve), Andrea Cassarà, Marco Fichera, Daniele Garozzo, Enrico Garozzo, Aldo Montano, Diego Occhiuzzi, Paolo Pizzo, Andrea Santarelli (reserve), Ilaria Bianco (reserve), Elisa Di Francisca, Arianna Errigo, Rossella Fiamingo, Rossella Gregorio, Loreta Gulotta, Irene Vecchi.

EQUESTRIAN (6): Stefano Brecciaroli, Emanuele Gaudiano, Luca Roman, Pietro Roman, Arianna Schivo, Valentina Truppa.

TENNIS (6): Sara Errani, Fabio Fognini, Karin Knapp, Paolo Lorenzi, Andreas Seppi, Roberta Vinci.

TARGET SHOOTING (5): Niccolò Campriani, Marco De Nicolo, Giuseppe Giordano, Riccardo Mazzetti, Petra Zublasing.

SKEET SHOOTING (9): Antonino Barilla, Massimo Fabbrizi, Marco Innocenti, Luigi Agostino Lodde, Giovanni Pellielo, Gabriele Rossetti, Diana Bacosi, Chiara Cainero, Jessica Rossi.

ARCHERY (6): Marco Galiazzo, Mauro Nespoli, David Pasqualucci, Lucilla Boari, Claudia Mandia, Guendalina Sartori.

TRIATHLON (4): Alessandro Fabian, Davide Uccellari, Charlotte Bonin, Annamaria Mazzetti.

SAILING (13): Vittorio Bissaro, Mattia Camboni, Roberta Caputo, Francesca Clapcich, Giulia Conti, Francesco Marrai, Giorgio Poggi, Silvia Sicouri, Alice Sinno, Flavia Tartaglini, Ruggero Tita, Silvia Zennaro, Pietro Zucchetti.

Olympic team announced. 291 Italian athletes in Rio, more than London 2012

The Italian athletics team set to take part in the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (12th-21st August)
has been finalised. The Italian team in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) will be composed of at least 36
athletes (15 men and 21 women), proposed by FIDAL (Italian Federation of Athletics) to CONI for
official inclusion within the Olympic team.

The number of Italian athletes assured of participation in Rio 2016 rises to 291 (151 men, 140
women) in 28 different disciplines, with 223 individual qualifications. Therefore, exceeding the
number of athletes who participated in London 2012, when 281 athletes competed in the Games.

THE ITALIAN TEAM

Men (15)

200m ESEOSA FAUSTO DESALU G.A. Fiamme Gialle
200m, 400m MATTEO GALVAN G.A. Fiamme Gialle
200m DAVIDE MANENTI C.S. Aeronautica Militare
800m GIORDANO BENEDETTI G.A. Fiamme Gialle
3000st JAMEL CHATBI Atletica Riccardi
3000st YURI FLORIANI G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Alto SILVANO CHESANI G.S. Fiamme Oro Padova
Alto GIANMARCO TAMBERI G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Triplo FABRIZIO DONATO G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Marcia Km 50 MARCO DE LUCA G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Marcia Km 50 MATTEO GIUPPONI C.S. Carabinieri Sez. Atletica
Marcia Km 50 TEODORICO CAPORASO ASD Enterprise Sport & Service
Maratona STEFANO LA ROSA C.S. Carabinieri Sez. Atletica
Maratona DANIELE MEUCCI C.S. Esercito
Maratona RUGGERO PERTILE Assindustria Sport Padova

Women (21)

200m GLORIA HOOPER G.S. Forestale
400m, 4x400m MARIA BENEDICTA CHIGBOLU C.S. Esercito
400m, 4x400m LIBANIA GRENOT G.A. Fiamme Gialle
4x400m CHIARA BAZZONI C.S. Esercito
4x400m ELENA MARIA BONFANTI Atletica Lecco-Colombo Costruzioni
4x400m MARTA MILANI C.S. Esercito
4x400m MARIA ENRICA SPACCA G.S. Forestale
800m YUSNEYSI SANTIUSTI CABALLERO ASD Acsi Italia Atletica
10000m VERONICA INGLESE C.S. Esercito
400hs MARZIA CARAVELLI C.S. Aeronautica Militare/CUS Cagliari
400hs AYOMIDE FOLORUNSO G.S. Fiamme Oro Padova
400hs YADISLEIDY PEDROSO C.S. Aeronautica Militare
Alto DESIREE ROSSIT G.S. Fiamme Oro Padova
Alto ALESSIA TROST G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Triplo DARIYA DERKACH C.S. Aeronautica Militare/ADS Acsi Italia
Marcia Km 20 ELEONORA ANNA GIORGI G.S. Fiamme Azzurre
Marcia Km 20 ANTONELLA PALMISANO G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Marcia Km 20 ELISA RIGAUDO G.A. Fiamme Gialle
Maratona CATHERINE BERTONE Atletica Sandro Calvesi
Maratona ANNA INCERTI G.S. Fiamme Azzurre
Maratona VALERIA STRANEO Runner Team 99 SBV

Golf: Molinari pulls out of the Olympics, Manassero to take his place

Francesco Molinari will not take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In his place will be Matteo Manassero, who takes over the selection as the next best placed reserve, based on his position in the Olympic ranking drawn up by the International Golf Federation (IGF). Molinari will explain his decision tomorrow during a press conference at Royal Troon GC in Troon in Scotland where he will be playing at the Open Championship (14-17 July) the third major of the season.

"I am very sorry to announce that I have decided to pull out of the Rio Olympics for family reasons. I would never have wanted to miss the return of golf to the Olympics, but I am sure that Matteo will fly the flag for Italy in my place" announced Molinari on his Instagram profile.

Matteo Manassero will be the fourth 'azzurro' to qualify for Rio 2016, behind Nino Bertasio, Giulia Molinaro, and Giulia Sergas. Proving decisive for Manassero was his third place finish last week at the Scottish Open, which allowed him to climb significantly in the Olympic rankings and also guaranteed him a place at the Open Championship.