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.

Smiles for the iQFOiL and kite Azzurri at the World Championships: full house of Olympic cards for Italia Team

• SAILING

Four Italian crews won their quotas for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on the third-to-last day of the Sailing World Championships held in the Dutch waters of The Hague.

Nicolò Renna (photo Marta Orsini/FIV) and Marta Maggetti gained access to the Medal Race with first and fourth place finishes in the men’s and women's iQFOiL respectively, earning one of the 11 Olympic quotas reserved for each gender.

Good news also from kite, where the very young Riccardo Pianosi passed the preliminary phase in third place, securing one of the Olympic passes guaranteed to the top eight by gender. 

Fifteenth place, meanwhile, went to Maggie Eillen Pescetto in the women’s competition. Although she missed out on the Medal Race, she secured a valuable national place for Italy at Paris 2024. The decisive factor proved to be the presence of two French athletes (out of the competition given the passes assigned to the host country) ahead of her and several rivals belonging to the same NOC (each Olympic Committee can only qualify one crew for each sailing class). 

This takes the tally of Italian crews qualified for Paris 2024 to five after Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti won a quota in Nacra 17, where they finished by taking the gold medal in style.

Tita and Banti lead the world championship in the Nacra 17: first Olympic pass for Italia Team

• SAILING

Sailing’s first Olympic card for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will bear the name of Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.

After six days of world championship regattas in The Hague (Netherlands) the Italian pair brilliantly managed to achieve the pass for the Medal Race in the Nacra 17 class, obtaining one of the Olympic quota berths reserved for the nine best NOCs.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions (photo ANSA) finished the qualifying phase with two wins and a third place, sealing the top spot from Britain’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet and Sweden’s Emil Jarudd and Hanna Jonsson.

The decisive day for the medal awards is Thursday 17 August, with Tita and Banti who, certain of at least a medal after having excelled in 10 of the 15 races held, will try to establish themselves on the top step of the world championship podium after the gold won last year in the waters of Halifax (Canada).

They will also attempt to compete for a position with two other Italian pairs: Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari, fifth at the end of the preliminary races, and Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei (sixth).

Filippo Ganna takes silver at the World Championships in Glasgow: Italy guarantees a place at the Olympic time trial

• CYCLING

Filippo Ganna returned to the podium in the time trial at the Cycling World Championships.

The Italian rider from Verbania (photo ANSA), world champion in 2020 and 2021, won the silver medal in today’s time trial in Stirling (near Glasgow), redeeming himself after last year’s seventh place in Wollongong (Australia).

In Scotland, the Italian raced the 47.8 km course in 55:31.51, beaten by just 12.28 seconds by Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (gold with 55:19.23). Bronze, meanwhile, went to Britain’s Joshua Tarling (56:07.43).

For the Piedmontese rider, this was his third honours at this world championship event after having claimed gold in individual pursuit and another silver in team pursuit on the track.

Thanks to Ganna’s podium place, Italy should now qualify through the national rankings that will conclude on 17 October, guaranteeing a place in the men’s time trial at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In the rankings as of 8 August 2023, Italy provisionally holds eighth place, which would secure three places in the individual race.