Historic achievement for Quadarella in Doha: she returns Italy to the world throne in the 800 freestyle and secures the Olympic quota

• SWIMMING

Simona Quadarella secures her second medal at the World Swimming Championships.

Following her triumph in the 1500 freestyle, the champion from Rome claimed another gold medal, this time in the shorter distance of 800 metres, while also securing her individual pass for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

It was a historic double world championship victory in middle-distance swimming for the Italian, who took Italy back to the top step of the podium in this speciality 51 years after Novella Calligaris (Belgrade 1973).

Quadarella (photo Giorgio Scala, Giorgio Perottino, Andrea Staccioli, Andrea Masini / DBM) closed her race with a time of 8:17.44, winning a no-holds-barred head-to-head contest with Germany's Isabel Gose (8:17.53). Completing the podium was New Zealand's Erika Fairweather (8:22.26).

“I was really tired,” Simona admitted at the end of the final, “It got bad at one point but I kept giving everything and I'm really happy. Now I have so much more experience and so much desire to find myself again. In short, I did it. Winning gold after Novella? It is a great source of pride. It is my first at world level and I was going after it," the Italian concluded.

Setterosa, mission accomplished: Canada defeated at the World Championships, qualification for the Olympic Games secured

• WATER POLO

Setterosa in Paris 2024, goal achieved.

The women's national water polo team ended its long journey at the World Championships in Doha with a smile.

In the seventh-place final, which served as a decisive playoff for Olympic qualification, Coach Carlo Silipo's team secured victory over Canada with a score of 18-12.

Having conceded the goal that opened the match, the Italian women reacted immediately and made a decisive statement, without allowing their adversaries the chance to come back. Italy were ahead 5-4 at the end of the first quarter, 11-8 at the end of the second, 13-9 after the third and, as above, ended the match at 18-12.

After missing Tokyo 2020, therefore, the Setterosa (photo ANSA) will return to the Olympic Games.

Doha World Championships: Italy's 4x200 men's freestyle relay team flies into the final and to Paris 2024

• SWIMMING

Following the triumph of the Setterosa, another Olympic qualification is secured for the Italian team in Doha.

Alessandro Ragaini, Stefano Di Cola, Marco De Tullio (ANSA photo) and Filippo Megli (7:08.48) qualified the Italian men's 4x200 freestyle relay team for the final and Paris 2024.

The time of 7:03.95 achieved by Stefano Di Cola, Marco De Tullio, Matteo Ciampi, and Filippo Megli at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka proved crucial, as it ranks among the top 16 team performances eligible for the Olympic qualification, determined by the comparative ranking of the last two editions of the world championship.

The tally so far: with 88 men and 88 women, there are currently 176 Italian athletes qualified for the Olympic Games.

Doha World Championships: Lorenzo Zazzeri wins individual Olympic pass in the 50m freestyle

• SWIMMING

Italy secures an individual Olympic qualification on the penultimate night of the World Swimming Championships.

The credit for this achievement goes to Lorenzo Zazzeri, who, at the Aspire Dome in Doha (Qatar), managed to match the qualifying time of 21.8 seconds in the first semi-final of the 50 freestyle event.

The time, which was enough to secure his ticket to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, was not enough to qualify for the last act. The Florentine (photo Giorgio Scala, Giorgio Perottino, Andrea Staccioli, Andrea Masini/DBM), in fact, finished ninth overall, placing him just outside the finalists.

Doha World Championships: Italy's women's 4x200 freestyle relay team punches its ticket to Paris 2024

• SWIMMING

Another morning of heats has concluded at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar, the venue for the World Swimming Championships.

The most relevant news concerns the women's 4x200 freestyle relay team, which managed to win one of the Olympic passes reserved for the 13 best nations not yet qualified.

Sofia Morini, Giulia Ramatelli, Emma Virginia Menicucci, and Giulia D'Innocenzo (photo Giorgio Scala, Giorgio Perottino, Andrea Staccioli, Andrea Masini / DBM) concluded their event with an overall time of 8:00.19, earning them tenth place in the heat, but falling short of qualifying for the final session in the afternoon.

However, when combined with the time of 8:00.13 recorded by Morini and Menicucci alongside Costanza Cocconcelli and Sara Franceschi in the previous world championship edition in Fukuoka, it proved sufficient to secure Italy a national spot for the upcoming Summer Games in Paris.

Four more crews officially at the Games: Italia Team’s Tita-Banti, Renna, Maggetti and Chiavarini

• SAILING

The national sailing team that will take part in the Olympic Games is taking shape.

After the announcement of the first two crews on 19 January, the members of four more boats that will fly in the summer to Marseille, whose waters will host the Paris 2024 competitions, are now official.

Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti (photo ANSA) will form the Italian pair in Nacra 17: three-time world champions and four-time European champions, the duo will thus be able to defend the Olympic title won in Tokyo 2020.

The iQFOiL goes to Nicolò Renna, who won the European Championships in 2023, the World Championships this year and will make his Olympic debut in France. In the same boat, but on the women's side, there will be Marta Maggetti: world champion in 2022, the Italian will try to improve on the fourth place in Tokyo obtained on the RS:X.

The final addition to the roster is Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini, who, after years of representing Great Britain (where he became European champion in 2019), will now compete for the Italia Team in the ILCA 7 class at Paris 2024.

Doha World Championships: Italy's mixed 4x100 medley relay team qualifies for the final and the Olympic Games

• SWIMMING

The final Wednesday of the World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar, opened with an Olympic pass for the Italia Team.

Michele Lamberti, Ludovico Blu Art Viberti, Giulia D'Innocenzo and Chiara Tarantino (photo Federnuoto - Andrea Staccioli, Giorgio Scala and Andrea Masini / DBM Deepbluemedia) qualified for the final in the mixed 4x100 medley relay with a time of 3:47.65.

Taking into account the time recorded by Lorenzo Mora, Federico Poggio, Ilaria Bianchi, and Costanza Cocconcelli at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka (3:46.08) for the lead-up to the Olympic Games, there are now no more doubts: the Italian relay team has qualified for Paris 2024.

Aside from China, Australia and the United States, which have already qualified, our athletes have the eighth best time (out of 13 Olympic quota places up for grabs) after Holland, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Germany, Sweden and France. Only Greece and Poland can do better in the final: at best, therefore, Italy will be tenth. Objective achieved.

Quadarella wins the world title in the 1500 freestyle and Olympic pass. Razzetti also in Paris in the 200 butterfly

• SWIMMING

The Simona Quadarella show. The Italian swimmer won the 1500 metres freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Doha and won the individual pass for Paris 2024.

This was a race whose result was never in doubt: The 25-year-old from Rome (photo ANSA) started in the lead and finished well ahead of all her rivals. 15:46.99 was her time, behind her came China's Bingjie Li, second with a time of 15:56.62. Completing the podium, third with a time of 15:57.55, was Germany's Isabel Gose.

A Bronze medal winner in Tokyo 2020 in the 800 metres, for Quadarella this is the second world gold medal in her career after the Gwangju 2019 (also in the 1500 metres), as well as her sixth world championship medal. The Italian climbs onto the podium for the fifth consecutive World Championships.

Nationally, only two Italian swimmers had managed to repeat a world title in the same speciality: Federica Pellegrini, who made the world championship podium eight times in a row in 200 freestyle between 2005 and 2019, winning on four occasions, and Gregorio Paltrinieri, who stood on the podium five times in 1500 freestyle between 2013 and 2022, winning three times.

Then Alberto Razzetti: the 24-year-old Ligurian won the second semi-final of the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:55.09, claiming a place in the final and won his third Olympic pass after those already secured in the 200 and 400 mixed.

The Olympic team begins to take shape: the first six names for the Paris Games are officially announced

• JUDO

The National Technical Directorate, in collaboration with CONI Olympic Preparation, has officially announced the first six athletes who will represent the Italian judo team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The four women and two men are: Assunta Scutto (-48 kg/photo IJF), Odette Giuffrida (-52 kg), Veronica Toniolo (-57 kg), Alice Bellandi (-78 kg), Manuel Lombardo (-73 kg) and Christian Parlati (-90 kg).

The Olympic qualification period will end on 23 June and on 25 June, after the publication of the world rankings, the International Judo Federation (IJF) will give written confirmation to the National Olympic Committees of the places obtained. By 2 July, the NOCs will give confirmation of the use of the allocated places while the following day, the unused ones will be reallocated.

The aforementioned athletes, however, are well within the quota of direct qualifiers, meaning that their qualification is effectively decided, regardless of any other results and deadlines between now and 23 June.

The position of the judokas mentioned above in the Olympic team is therefore final, whatever changes may occur in the Olympic Ranking List, even those benefitting other Azzurri.

An individualised programme will soon be discussed for the nominated squad, aimed at ensuring an optimal approach to the Olympic competition and, where necessary, at improving the individual athlete's position in the Olympic Ranking List.

New agreement with the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee

• CONI

The Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSS) and CONI signed a collaboration agreement during the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea. This partnership is part of a greater commitment on the part of the two Olympic Committees ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

This new collaboration agreement signed by the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and the President of CNOSS, Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, marks a new stage in the cooperation between the two bodies and is in line with the objectives of the IOC's Agenda 2020+5, which aims to build a new organisational model for more efficient and innovative Games.

CONI and CNOSS’ joint objective is to contribute to the optimisation of the preparation and organisation ahead of the next Olympic Games, which will be held in both countries, while ensuring that a strong legacy is maintained. This will result in the sharing of experiences and good practices, including:

Supporting Senegalese and Italian athletes in their respective countries through training programmes and gatherings;

The transfer of Italian technical experts to strengthen the skills of Senegalese coaches in different disciplines;

The supplying of sports equipment;

The training of managers and the exchange of information regarding the sports facilities of the respective NOCs;

Exchange of information and experiences in order to strengthen the training of young male and female athletes;

The two NOCs also agreed to work towards the conclusion of a partnership agreement between the OCOGP of Milan Cortina 2026 and the JOJOC of Dakar 2026.

Giovanni Malagò, CONI President: “We are very happy with this friendship between our two Olympic Committees and with this newly renewed partnership, which will be further strengthened in view of the Milan Cortina 2026 and Dakar 2026 Games. We are ready to collaborate and exchange knowledge in a very productive way.”

Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, President of CNOSS, welcomed the conclusion of this partnership with CONI, which is a demonstration of the solidarity that is always present in the Olympic movement. “The agreement we have signed,” said President Ndiaye, “is a first milestone in view of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. It strengthens the already strong partnership between our two National Olympic Committees”.