Collari d’Oro awarded. Premier Meloni: “2024 has been an unforgettable year for Italian sport”
An extraordinary year filled with triumphs, medals, and goals achieved, but also obstacles and difficulties from which our splendid athletes rose again with pride and perseverance. The Sala Sinopoli at the Auditorium Parco della Musica ‘Ennio Morricone’ in Rome hosted the ceremony for the awarding of the Collari d’Oro for Sporting Merit (photos: Simone Ferraro and Luca Pagliaricci CONI). The gold medallists from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, world champions, great coaches, sports clubs, and personalities who distinguished themselves over the year received the highest honour in Italian sport during a grand celebration broadcast live on Rai 2.
The ceremony opened with a letter from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “Dear President, dear athletes, coaches, and officials of Italian sport, today we celebrate the Collari d’Oro for Sporting Merit, the highest honour of the Italian National Olympic Committee. It is a solemn moment to honour the achievements that characterised 2024, an unforgettable year for Italian sport. My first thought goes to the forty medals won at the Paris Olympic Games, where Italy stood on the podium from the first to the last day and confirmed its place among the top ten nations in the medal table. The Azzurri expedition collected twelve golds, thirteen silvers, and fifteen bronzes, as well as many fourth places and other excellent results, all achieved with honour. This element confirmed the solidity and human qualities of our Azzurri. Absolute human and sporting values laid the groundwork for the extraordinary achievements of our Paralympic athletes, who won seventy-one podiums, including twenty-four golds, fifteen silvers, and thirty-two bronzes, breaking every record and touching our hearts deeply. In terms of results and placements, Paris was by far the most fruitful edition of the Games for the Tricolore: we surpassed the results of Tokyo 2020, and this made us particularly proud. The many results achieved by our athletes in other competitions across many disciplines also deserve to be remembered and celebrated. I think, among many, of tennis: twenty-six titles won, a milestone never reached before. A special mention goes to the wonderful world triumphs, for the first time in the same year, in the Davis Cup, the second consecutive one, and in the Billie Jean King Cup, thanks to two stellar teams of Azzurri tennis players with the Italian crest on their chests. Historic successes, made even more emotional by Jannik Sinner’s first ATP Finals victory in Italy, in Turin. But, returning to Paris, I also recall with great joy the victories of Julio Velasco’s girls, which will remain indelible in the hearts of volleyball lovers, myself included. The Azzurri thrilled us and made our hearts beat faster, taking the Tricolore to the top of the world. These victories are not just sporting successes but moments that unite us, making us feel proudly Italian, rediscovering the identity and strength of our nation. These successes and great performances testify to the excellence and talent of Italian sport, made possible also thanks to the invaluable contribution of coaches, associations, sports clubs, Federations, sports disciplines, promotion bodies, and many others, including families. This is the world of sport. Fascinating, increasingly relevant and complex, in which every figure – from the athlete to the coach, from the official to the fans, from bodies to institutions, up to the organisations that regulate and promote sport at national and international levels – plays a fundamental role, with great responsibility. It is the constant collaboration, the necessary harmony, and a desired synergy among those in positions of responsibility in sport and for sport that create a true community, where everyone plays their part, respecting roles, towards common goals. A community where we all win and lose together because, while it is true that every victory is the result of collective effort, it is equally certain that every defeat reminds us that no one can succeed alone. Sport lives and thrives thanks to the contribution of every component. And it is precisely this balance that makes it one of the most engaging expressions of society, capable of promoting values starting from respect, sacrifice, and team spirit. Values that we even wanted to be enshrined in our Constitution. Recognising the educational, social, and psychological well-being promotion value of sporting activity in all its forms in the Constitution was a historic step for the entire world of sport, in every form and expression. Starting from grassroots and local sport, which is the forge of our talents but also a powerful factor in social cohesion, capable of conveying positive values and building a sense of belonging and unity of purpose. Especially in the most complex situations in our country, where sport can represent an opportunity for overcoming adversity. This is the reason why this Government has decided to invest significant financial resources, which will continue to grow, to build grassroots sports infrastructure in the outskirts and areas most in need of institutional attention, and to invest further in the educational alliance between the sports system, schools, and universities. Sport is one of the pillars of the regeneration and redevelopment programme in Caivano, which we will continue to pursue with great determination and which will become a model to be replicated, contextualised, in other cities. In record time, we have reclaimed and redeveloped the former “Delphinia” sports centre, also thanks to the decisive contribution of the Army and the Forestry Carabinieri, and today the members of the public in the area have a new multipurpose centre where they can practice over forty sports disciplines, thanks to the valuable collaboration of Sport e Salute and the Fiamme Oro. The new “Pino Daniele” Centre is a symbol of hope in an area where the State has been absent for too long, and sport is beginning to make a difference. If sport manages to save even one young person from the abyss of drugs or a future of crime, it will mean that our efforts have not been in vain and that it was worth believing in this project and working tirelessly to make it happen. Promoting sport in all its forms also means recognising the social and economic importance of sports workers and volunteers and the contribution this sector makes to the well-being and prosperity of the nation. The Government has worked on the reform of sports labour, improving it with a framework measure that recognises the specific characteristics of the sector, ensures new protections for workers, and guarantees greater transparency and simplification, especially for small amateur sports associations and clubs. Long-awaited measures that, if necessary, we will further improve, gradually guiding athletes, sports clubs, and operators, even at the amateur level, towards a new and more advanced management of labour relations in the sector. Dear friends, today we celebrate the victories achieved by the Italian sports movement in 2024. Successes that do not represent an endpoint but a starting point. And the spur to always do better, with even more enthusiasm and determination, each in their role but in common synergy. Synergy, collaboration, and teamwork: necessary and decisive elements for the Italian System to respect the timetable for the celebration of the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina and the Mediterranean Games in Taranto, and to provide the right support for the Winter Universiade and the Special Olympics World Winter Games, scheduled for 2025 in Piedmont. There is still much work to be done, but I am convinced that Italy will once again prove itself up to the challenge and capable of welcoming, organising, and hosting major events. We have a double opportunity ahead of us: to achieve new and ambitious competitive goals and to affirm the specific quality and strength of a uniquely Italian sports model, which creates social value and has a positive impact on people and communities. I thank you and renew my congratulations to all the awardees.”
CONI President Giovanni Malagò then spoke: “The Prime Minister’s words are important and stimulating. In sport, we always start over; there is always a new season. We have achieved extraordinary results, but we know we cannot rest on our laurels. Each time, we write a new page in the wonderful book of Italian sport history. In 2024, Italy is third in the world ranking of all Olympic disciplines, considering international competitions. This ranking gives the best idea of the global forces in sport. The United States is first, France second, and Italy third. This third place is confirmed in the ranking of the number of podiums. We drop to fourth only in the number of victories. This shows the strength of our wonderful 2024: 3,686 athletes scored points, 1,585 were in the top three, and 485 won a gold medal. This had never happened before. It is one of the merits of our sports system: we have become a multi-sport and multi-disciplinary country. There are new sports that make us happy, in addition to those with great tradition. Italians are very proud of these results, and we are happy to have made them proud. I believe it would be a great mistake to underestimate the complexity and the difficulties overcome. The credit goes to that incredible movement that starts from the grassroots, and passes through amateur sports clubs, State bodies, Federations, and CONI’s Olympic Preparation. To all of them, the coaches and athletes, a ‘thank you’ from all of us. I conclude by saying that 2025 prepares us for Milano Cortina 2026. We will reach the milestone of 800 Olympic medals; it is a long love story that accompanies Italy towards sport, excellence of which we are all proud.”
CIP President Luca Pancalli also spoke: “I am proud, as a sportsman, because this is the most beautiful image we can give to the country. Sport coming together, all as one. What Italian sport has done in this country has not been done in many other sectors of civil society. We have the ability to regenerate and project ourselves into the future. We celebrate the extraordinary results of 2024: I thank the athletes, who represent the most important aspect of our actions, but I also thank the families, coaches, military bodies, and Federations. An athlete’s result is always that of a group; the results of Italian sport are those of a team.”
The Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, also spoke. “It is a pleasure to come together to celebrate a splendid year and launch new challenges. My first thought goes to those who fell and got back up: Ambra Sabatini and Sofia Goggia. As humans, we fall, we get up, and we try to continue our journey with a sense of responsibility, duty, and honour. We must do as they did. Daily commitment, the desire to recover, not to give up. Victories are the tip of an iceberg that starts from the base. We must commit ourselves to allow athletes to continue achieving certain results.” Abodi also paid tribute to Matilde Lorenzi, a young skier who tragically passed away on 28 October following a training accident.
Also present at the event were Undersecretary of Defence Isabella Rauti, Undersecretary for the Environment Claudio Barbaro, and other leaders of Italian sport: CONI Secretary General Carlo Mornati, Vice Presidents Silvia Salis and Claudia Giordani, CIP Secretary General Juri Stara, and numerous Federal Presidents, coaches, and officials of the movement.
Le stelle dello sport al Parco della Musica, consegnati i Collari d'Oro 2024
