Lorenzo Musetti wins bronze in men's singles: Italy back on the Olympic podium after 100 years

• TENNIS

From Paris 1924 to Paris 2024: a century later, Italy returns to the Olympic podium in men's singles tennis.

On the clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier, the star was Lorenzo Musetti (photo Luca Pagliaricci/CONI), who, like Uberto De Morpurgo 100 years ago, hung the bronze around his neck.

The Carrara-born athlete secured the 19th medal of this Olympic edition for the Azzurri, defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 13th seed, in the final in three sets (6-4, 1-6, 6-3), securing victory after 2 hours and 11 minutes of battle. 

Musetti began his extraordinary journey in the French capital with great confidence after reaching the final on the clay of the ATP 250 in Umag, Croatia.  Along the path to the medal, he defeated the host Gael Monfils, Argentina’s Mariano Navone, the American Taylor Fritz, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev without dropping a set. In the semi-final, he succumbed in two sets to Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic, a defeat that did not prevent him from writing a new indelible chapter in the Olympic Games for Italian sport.

iQFOiL: Marta Maggetti triumphs in Marseille and gives Italia Team their sixth gold medal at the Games

• SAILING

Marta Maggetti climbs to the top step of the podium at the Paris 2024 Games.

At the end of a thrilling ride on the waters of Marseille, the athlete from Cagliari secured the gold in iQFOiL, bringing Italia Team to victory in windsurfing, 24 years after Alessandra Sensini’s success at the Sydney 2000 edition (Mistral).

The 2022 world champion (photo Federvela) turned in strong performances throughout the 14 preliminary races, finishing third with a total of 105 (70 net points). Qualifying directly for the semi-finals, she placed second, securing a spot in the final reserved for the top three and guaranteeing herself a medal. But she wanted more and, thanks to a splendid final stretch, managed to surpass both Israel's Sharon Kantor and Britain's Emma Wilson, who had to settle for silver and bronze, respectively.

With arms raised to the sky, Maggetti secured the 18th medal of this edition of the Games for Italy (the sixth gold).

Italia Team on the podium in lightweight double sculls: Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares claim silver

• ROWING

The Italian national rowing team put in a repeat performance on the waters of the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Following the quad sculls, another men’s crew secured a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the lightweight double sculls team of Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares (photo Luca Pagliaricci/CONI) claiming the silver medal, matching the result achieved 24 years ago at Sydney 2000 by Elia Luini and Leonardo Pettinari.

Victory went to Ireland’s Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan (6:10.99), who in the final 500 metres pulled ahead in a sprint finish against the Italian boat (6:13.33) and Greece’s Antonios Papakonstantinou and Petros Gkaidatzis (6:13.44), who had to settle for bronze in a photo finish.

Italian fencers bow to the United States: silver medal in the Olympic team event

• FENCING

Italy's journey in the women's foil team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games concluded with a podium finish.

On the piste at the Grand Palais, it was silver for the quartet consisting of flag bearer Arianna Errigo, Martina Favaretto, Alice Volpi, and Francesca Palumbo (photo Augusto Bizzi/CONI), securing Italy's 16th medal of this Olympic edition and the fourth from fencing.

The Azzurre began their journey in the quarter-finals, where they decisively defeated Egypt with a commanding score of 45-14. In the semi-finals, they faced Japan, who were defeated 45-39 despite a comeback attempt during the final bout. The final act was dominated by the United States, with coach Stefano Cerioni’s team forced to accept defeat with a final score of 45-39 in a match where they trailed throughout.

Alice Bellandi ascends to the Olympic throne in the -78 kg: fifth Italian gold medal at Paris 2024

• JUDO

Alice Bellandi enters the judo pantheon, sealing her legacy at the Paris 2024 Games.

After four podium finishes at European and World Championships, the world-ranked number one clinched a magical gold medal (the fifth for Italy in this Olympics) in the -78 kg weight category, securing glory for an Italian athlete 16 years after Giulia Quintavalle's feat (-57 kg) in Beijing 2008.

The extraordinary athlete from Brescia (photo Roberto Di Tondo/CONI) began her journey on the tamati of the Champ-de-Mars Arena, starting directly in the round of 16. Here, in a tense golden score situation with two shidos each, she delivered a crucial waza-ari against Brazil's Mayra Aguiar. In the quarter-finals, she overcame Ukraine’s Yelizaveta Lytvynenko by hansoku-make, while in the semi-finals, she triumphed over Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio with a waza-ari. In the final, with a waza-ari lead, she benefited from the third and decisive shido issued by the referee to Israel's Inbar Lanir. In disbelief and tears, the Italian athlete went to the stands to receive embraces from CONI President Giovanni Malagò and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (photo Nucci). 

For Italy, Bellandi's triumph marks the third medal in the history of the Games in this weight category, following bronzes by Emanuela Pierantozzi (Sydney 2000) and Lucia Morico (Athens 2004).

The roar of Giovanni De Gennaro: Italian victory in K1 and a quartet of golds at the Games for Italia Team

• CANOE SLALOM

A triumphant cry and arms raised to the sky for Giovanni De Gennaro at the Olympic course of the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Indeed, at the Paris 2024 Games, the exceptional athlete from Brescia (photo Luca Pagliaricci/CONI) secured the gold medal in the K1 slalom with a commanding final run. He gifted the Italia Team their third Olympic triumph in this discipline, following in the footsteps of Pierpaolo Ferrazzi (Barcelona 1992) and Daniele Molmenti (London 2012).

It was an exceptional performance by the reigning European champion, who, after breezing through the two preliminary runs and securing the eighth-fastest time in the semi-finals (93.47 with a 2” penalty), almost achieved perfection in the final run, finishing with the outstanding time of 88.22 (0 penalties). Behind him were the host nation’s Titouan Castryck (88.42, 0 penalties) and Spain’s Pau Echaniz (88.87 with a 2” penalty).

For Italy, this represents the 14th medal of this Olympic Games and the fourth gold following those won by Nicolò Martinenghi (100 breaststroke), Thomas Ceccon (100 backstroke), and the women's épée team.

Italy on the podium in women’s trap: Silvana Stanco wins silver in Châteauroux

• SHOOTING

The Italian national anthem resounded on the piste of the Châteauroux Shooting Centre.

A brilliant protagonist at the Paris 2024 Games has been Silvana Stanco (photo Ferdinando Mezzelani/CONI), who, in her second Olympic appearance, claimed the silver medal in trap, bringing Italy back to the podium in the women's event after 12 years, when Jessica Rossi triumphed in the London edition.

The Azzurra, who finished in fourth place (122/125 +0+1) in the double qualification round, secured a spot in the final reserved for the top six shooters. Only Guatemala’s Adriana Ruano Oliva performed better, achieving a score of 45/50 (an Olympic record) and maintaining composure in the final 10-shot series against Stanco (40/50). The podium was completed by Australia's Penny Smith (bronze with 32/40).

Men's quadruple sculls Azzurri win silver at Vaires-sur-Marne: Italy back on the Olympic podium after 16 years

• ROWING

The 12th medal for Italia Team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has come from rowing.

On the waters of the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, the quartet composed of Luca Chiumento, Luca Rambaldi, Andrea Panizza, and Giacomo Gentili (photo Luca by Pagliaricci/CONI) claimed silver in the men’s quadruple sculls. 

The final victory was claimed by the Netherlands (5:42.00), who started as the reigning Olympic and world champions, with the Azzurri crew (5:44.40) managing to secure the runner-up position over Poland (5:44.59) in the final metres of their duel.

For Italy, this marks a return to the Olympic podium in this discipline 16 years after the silver won at Beijing 2008 by Rossano Galtarossa, Simone Raineri, Luca Agamennoni, and Simone Venier.

The eternal Gregorio Paltrinieri wins bronze in the 800m freestyle: tenth medal for Italia Team at the Games

• SWIMMING

A magnificent Gregorio Paltrinieri made his podium debut at the Paris 2024 Games.

On the fourth evening of swimming finals at the Defence Arena, the brilliant athlete from Carpi claimed bronze in the 800m freestyle, confirming his status among the top three at the Olympic level following the silver he won in Tokyo three years ago. 

The Azzurro (photo by Roberto Di Tondo/CONI), who secured the third-best time overall in the heats (7:42.48), was in contention for victory for a large part of the final race but had to settle for third place in the last 50 metres after being overtaken by Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen (7:38.19) and the American Bobby Finke (+0.56). Paltrinieri finished behind them, touching the wall 1.19 seconds behind the leader. 

For Italia Team, this marks the tenth medal at the Parisian edition of the Olympics, the third in individual swimming events after the two golds secured by Nicolò Martinenghi (100m breaststroke) and Thomas Ceccon (100m backstroke).

Le Fate shine with silver: Italia women’s team on the Olympic podium after 96 years

• ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

A legendary achievement by the artistic gymnastics team, known as Le Fate, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The performance of the quintet made up of Manila Esposito, Alice D’Amato, Angela Andreoli, Giorgia Villa, and Elisa Iorio was a heartwarming one at the Bercy Arena, securing a fabulous silver medal and bringing the Italian women back to the podium in the Olympic team all-around event for the first time in 96 years, after the country’s silver at the Amsterdam 1928 edition.

The Azzurre (photo Simone Ferraro/CONI), who scored the second-best mark in the qualifications (166.861), confirmed their runner-up position on the podium at the end of the final, finishing with 41.665 on the vault, 42.655 on the uneven bars, 41.199 on the beam, and 39.965 on the floor exercise, for a total score of 165.494. The only team to surpass the tricolour team was the United States (171.296), while Brazil (164.497) and Great Britain (164.263) finished in third and fourth positions respectively, with Great Britain attempting unsuccessfully to challenge Italy's second place in the final rotation.