Belgrade World Championships, Rambaldi and Sartori fly into the final: Olympic card for the Italian pair

• ROWING

Another Olympic card for Italy on the final day of the semi-finals at the World Rowing Championships.

In Belgrade, Luca Rambaldi and Matteo Sartori did not let the opportunity slip away.

The Azzurri finished second in the first doubles semi-final with a time of 6:23.94, the third best overall time. Better than them were the Netherlands (6:19.31), winner of the first semi-final, and Croatia (6:23.02), who finished first in the other semi-final.

Eleven national places for Paris 2024 are up for grabs in the specialty, meaning that by merely getting into the final, Rambaldi and Sartori (photo Federcanottaggio), would guarantee the Italian boat qualification for next year’s Olympics.

Belgrade: two Italian boats in World Championship final and qualified for Olympic Games

• ROWING

The first Olympic cards won by Italian rowing.

At the World Championships in Belgrade, Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares (photo Federcanottaggio) finished runners-up in the second semi-final of the lightweight double sculls, securing a place in the final and, consequently, a nation spot for Paris 2024.

Then the mission accomplished by the Azzurri quadruple sculls: Giacomo Gentili, Luca Chiumento, Andrea Panizza, and Nicolò Carucci (photo Federcanottaggio) also finished second in the day’s second semi-final thus booking their place for the World Championship finals as well as the Olympics.

However the two crews’ final race ends up going, there is no doubt about what will happen next summer: both boats will be at the Olympic Games.

Italia Team in Heraklion with 102 Azzurri in 12 beach disciplines

• MEDITERRANEAN BEACH GAMES

The Italian Team set to compete in the Mediterranean Beach Games 2023 in Heraklion starting September 9 has been finalised. Italy will appear on the island of Crete with 102 athletes: 44 women and 58 men, who will compete in 12 of the 13 disciplines on the schedule, with the only absence that of the 3x3 Basketball tournament.

The Mediterranean Beach Games, now in its third edition after those in Pescara and Patras (Greece), will involve nearly 900 athletes representing the 26 member countries of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games. The opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, September 9, starting at 8.30 p.m. at the Karteros Beach Sport Centre, a location that will also host most of the competitions over the eight days of games.

Compared to the programme of previous editions, there will be no water skiing and aquathlon while, for the first time, medals will be awarded in 3x3 basketball, kiteboarding and Triathle, a specialty of the Modern Pentathlon where athletes alternate between laser run and open-water swimming.

Defending the gold won four years ago in Patras, where Italia Team won 39 medals (15 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze), will be cross-country swimmer Silvia Ciccarella, tennis players Nicole Nobile, Diego Bollettinari and Tommaso Giovannini, finswimming Azzurre Viola Magoga, Silvia Sevignani, Mara Zaghet and teammates Davide Di Ceglie, Stefano Figini and Riccardo Romano. In team sports, Italy will be looking to reassert themselves in Beach Soccer after golds in the first two editions.

World Championships: Massidda wins silver in Saudi Arabia to become second in Olympic qualifying ranking

• WEIGHTLIFTING

Extraordinary Sergio Massidda.

At the World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Italian won a stunning silver medal in the 61 kg category.

Already second at the European Championships in Yerevan (Armenia) in April, the Sardinian lifted a total of 302 kg: 137 in snatch and 165 in clean and jerk.

Gold went to China’s Fabin Li (308 kg), rounding out the podium another Chinese athlete, Ding Hongjie, third with 301 kg.

This wonderful result catapults Massidda (ANSA photo) to second spot in the qualifying ranking for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

World Cup: Tacchini and Casadei on podium at the Paris 2024 Test Event

• CANOE SPRINT

Italy on the podium at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, host of the third stage of the Canoe Sprint World Cup also valid as a Test Event for Paris 2024.

The pair made up of Carlo Tacchini and Gabriele Casadei took third place in the C2 500 metres, finishing the race with a time of 1:41.50.

Ahead of the Azzurri were the Czech athletes Petr and Martin Fuksa, second with a time of 1:40.79, while the victors of the event were the Chinese pair Hao Liu and Bowen Ji, with a notable showing to finish in 1:39.96.

The only Italians present at the event in France, Tacchini and Casadei (photo FICK) thus confirmed their excellent form after winning a precious Olympic card at the World Championships in Duisburg, Germany. 

Carlo Tacchini and Gabriele Casadei seventh in World Championship: Olympic quota for Italy in C2 500

• CANOE SPRINT

Italia Team can celebrate the first Olympic quota from speed canoeing for the Paris 2024 Summer Games.

On the final day of competition at the World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, Carlo Tacchini and Gabriele Casadei secured seventh place in the C2 500 metres, enough to scoop one of the five-circle quotas reserved for the best eight boats.

The duo from Piedmont (photo Pagliaricci/CONI), after posting third in yesterday’s last semi-final time trial, concluded today’s final with a time of 1:38.923.

A poor start, despite an admirable comeback attempt over the final metres, prevented the Azzurri from competing for a podium place. The gold medal was to adorn the necks of German athletes Kretschmer and Hecker (1:36.972), who managed to prevail over Chinese Liu and Ji (silver with 1:38.126) and Spaniards Garcia and Martinez (bronze with 1:38.571).

For Casadei and Tacchini, winners at the European Games in Krakow last June in this race format, there remains the satisfaction of having achieved at least one of their two goals: obtaining a non-rated pass for Paris 2024. 

World Championships: fourth place in Valencia, the ‘Farfalle’ (‘Butterflies’) fly to Paris 2024

• RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

The Butterflies will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

That’s the final verdict from Valencia, where the Italian rhythmic gymnastics team finished fourth in the overall competition at the World Championships.

Alessia Maurelli, Martina Centofanti, Agnese Duranti, Daniela Mogurean, Laura Paris and Alessia Russo scored 68.150, the result of a less-than-perfect first rotation (30.500) and an extraordinary second round (37.650).

Israel took the triumph (70.800), silver medal went to China (70.050), and Spain rounded out the podium (68.600).

Protagonists of Italia Team’s 40th and final medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games (bronze), the Butterflies (photo Simone Ferraro/FGI) did not fail in their mission: Paris awaits them.

Milena Baldassarri does not disappoint at the World Championships in Valencia: second card for Paris 2024 for the Azzurri

• RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

Milena Baldassarri secured Italy’s second national place for rhythmic gymnastics for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The athlete who hails from Ravenna finished the Individual All-Around qualifier at the World Championships in Valencia, Spain, in 15th place with a score of 94.250. After yesterday’s 32.800 in hoop and 30.700 in ball, today came 30.750 in clubs and 29.150 in ribbon.

This result proved invaluable for claiming one of the Olympic cards reserved for the top 14 athletes. Ahead of her, indeed, three had already obtained their quotas for Paris 2024. Among them was also Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli, who had bagged a nation place last year thanks to her triumph in the overall individual competition in Sofia (Bulgaria).

Baldassarri (photo Simone Ferraro/FGI) made her Olympic debut three years ago in Tokyo, where she managed to make it as high as sixth place in the Individual All-Around. Now she wants to replicate the feat in Paris, where she could become the third Italian gymnast to participate in two editions of the Games, following on from Giulia Staccioli and Irene Germini.

World Championships in Baku: the eternal Giovanni Pellielo gives Italia Team the last Olympic quota in the trap

• SHOOTING

Giovanni Pellielo never ceases to amaze. Indeed, the Italian veteran has managed to carve out a place for himself in the six-man final of the World Shooting Championships, guaranteeing Italia Team the fourth and final pass available in trap for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The four-time Olympic medallist qualified for the final showdown with the third best score (123 +16), obtained at the end of a shoot-off staged with six other shooters on the Baku (Azerbaijan) range. In the final, he subsequently finished in sixth position, finishing with a score of 18/25. 

For him, in addition to this precious achievement, comes the mathematical certainty of claiming one of the five Olympic quotas that were up for grabs, thanks to the simultaneous presence among the top six of two Americans (the United States had already run out of nation places in men’s trap).

It is yet another career achievement for Pellielo (photo ANSA), who in Paris 2024 could go down in history at the Summer Olympics, joining brothers Piero and Raimondo D'Inzeo and Josefa Idem (including two with West Germany) as an eight-time participant. 

Italy, therefore, also secured its fourth and final pass in this speciality after the one secured by Silvana Stanco, victor at the European Games in Larnaca in 2022, and those obtained last June by Jessica Rossi and Mauro De Filippis, gold medallists at the European Games in Krakow.  

Albano and Chiavarini in World Championship Medal Race: The last two passes for Paris 2024 come from ILCA

• SAILING

The penultimate day of racing at the Sailing World Championships handed Italia Team the last two passes for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Protagonists in the waters of The Hague (Netherlands) were Carolina Albano (photo FIV) and Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini, who finished the ten preliminary races in ninth and sixth place respectively in ILCA 6 and ILCA 7.

In addition to gaining access to the Medal Race on Sunday 20 August, the two Azzurri also won one of the five Olympic quotas reserved for the best 16 boats for each gender. 

The Dutch world championship event has thus enabled no fewer than seven tricolour crews to secure their passes for Paris 2024.

In addition to Albano and Chiavarini, Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti in Nacra 17, Nicolò Renna in men’s iQFOiL, Marta Maggetti in women’s iQFOil, Riccardo Pianosi in men’s kite and Maggie Eillen Pescetto in women’s kite all achieved their goals over the last few days.