The Italia Team for the 18th Summer edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), scheduled to take place from 20 to 26 July in North Macedonia, has been officially announced. Earlier today, the National Executive Board of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) confirmed the composition of the Azzurri delegation, which will travel to Skopje this Saturday. Leading the team as Chef de Mission is Elisa Santoni, supported by Alessio Boggiatto and Pauline Mellet as Deputy Heads.

With over three decades of history, the EYOF stands as the largest multi-sport event in Europe dedicated to young athletes aged 14 to 18. Held under the auspices of the European Olympic Committees, the Festival offers participants a first taste of Olympic values and a valuable opportunity to gain experience on the road to future elite competitions and potentially the Olympic Games.

Skopje 2025 will welcome more than 4,000 athletes and officials from 49 European National Olympic Committees. Alongside the Macedonian capital, the cities of Kumanovo and Osijek (Croatia) will also host events: Kumanovo will stage cycling and basketball, while artistic gymnastics competitions will take place in Osijek. Team Italy will compete in 12 of the 15 disciplines on the programme – not participating in basketball, 3x3, and handball – fielding a total of 116 athletes (60 boys and 56 girls).

Among those selected is Arianna Bovolenta, daughter of the late Vigor Bovolenta, Olympic silver medallist at Atlanta 1996, and former international volleyball player Federica Lisi. Arianna is also the sister of Alessandro Bovolenta, gold medallist at the EYOF Banská Bystrica 2022 and now part of the senior national team under coach Fefè De Giorgi. Also following in the footsteps of their sporting families are teammates Vanessa Hernandez, daughter of Osvaldo Hernandez (three-time Olympian for Cuba and Scudetto winner with Piaggio Roma in 2000), and Stella Caruso, daughter of former Italy international Guendalina Buffon and niece of football legend Gianluigi Buffon.

At the previous edition held in Maribor, Slovenia, Italy topped the overall medal table with a remarkable haul of 46 podium finishes (16 golds, 18 silvers, and 12 bronzes).

The EYOF will once again be featured on ItaliaTeamTV, the CONI’s OTT platform, which will provide extensive coverage of the competitions involving Italy’s rising stars.

Team Italy for Skopje 2025

ATHLETICS (28 athletes: 12 girls, 16 boys)
Valentina Adamo, Sophie Barbagallo, Ylenia Bernardo, Caterina Caligiana, Margherita Castellani, Kelly Ann Maevane Dualla Edimo, Laura Frattaroli, Sofia Marcucci, Lovely Giusti, Isabella Pastore, Beatrice Stagnaro, Alessia Succo, Mattia Bartolini, Gabriele Belardi, Matteo Berardo, Juan Jose Caggia, Umed Caraccio, Luca Cavazzuti, Antony Del Pioluogo, Tamirat Del Prete, Leonardo Di Mugno, Edwin Fermin Galvan, Enrico Galloni, Diego Mancini, Marco Mangani, Matteo Sorci, Filippo Vedana, Nicolò Vidal

BADMINTON (2: 1 girl, 1 boy)
Margherita Tognetti, Alessio Catalfamo

CANOEING (4: 2 girls, 2 boys)
Elisa Montaldo, Vittoria Cuignon, Elias Costa, Dennis Fina

CYCLING (8: 4 girls, 4 boys)
Anna Bonassi, Matilde Carretta, Jolanda Sambi, Mariachiara Signorelli (MTB), Tommaso Cingolani, Riccardo Longo, Brian Paris, Walter Vaglio (MTB)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (6: 3 girls, 3 boys)
Sofia Bianchi, Mia Proietti, Giulia Santinato, Pietro Mazzola, Ivan Rigon, Riccardo Ruggeri

JUDO (12: 6 girls, 6 boys)
Iulia Airola Granaci, Marika Cavaglià, Anita Comba, Aurora Ferro, Flavia Gresi, Elisa Palermo, Antonio Capezzuto, Michele Corsica, Giuseppe Gesuele, Thomas Ghidoni, Simone Iurato, Erik Semanjaku

SWIMMING (16: 8 girls, 8 boys)
Giorgia Barozzi, Sofia Biagi, Lucrezia Boncio, Alessandra Mao, Michelle Montagnini, Sofia Napoli, Hannah Oberhauser, Giorgia Punturieri, Jacopo Apicerni, Boris Bandiera, Francesco Cecconi, Davide D'Elia, Daniele Fiorelli, Vincenzo Maniaci, Giorgio Sartori, Luca Soriani

VOLLEYBALL (24: 12 girls, 12 boys)
Arianna Bovolenta, Stella Caruso, Stella Cornelli, Virginia Di Napoli, Julia Gordon, Alice Guerra, Vanessa Hernandez Suarez, Alessia Manda, Perla Massaglia, Lisa Dharma Monari Gamba, Ludovica Tosini, Miranda Vittoria Zanella, Gabriele Arcifa, Pietro Carlo Bevilacqua, Martino Bigozzi, Vittorio Bonandrini, Diego Bussolari, Gioele Costa, Francesco Crosato, Riccardo Della Ventura, Gioele Imperato, Nicola Massari, Edoardo Trotta, Pietro Valgiovio

TAEKWONDO (10: 5 girls, 5 boys)
Anna Frassica, Ludovica Fugazza, Virginia Lampis, Emanuela Palmisano, Lucia Pezzolla, Francesco Destino, Hamza Laantri, Gabriele Fernando Rosato, Nicolò Sevagian, Abderrahman Touiar

TABLE TENNIS (2: 1 girl, 1 boy)
Laura Alba Pinna, Erik Paulina

SHOOTING (4: 2 girls, 2 boys)
Alice Bruno, Agnese Formieri, Alessandro Lonardi, Loris Quarta