The 15 Italian athletes, 13 judo and 2 wrestling, qualified for Paris 2024 were presented at the “Giulio Onesti” Olympic Training Center in Rome. Giuffrida: “It will be the Olympics of courage”
Enzo Denaro
July 4 – 18:59 – MILAN
Strong, numerous, compact and motivated. This is how the Italian team of judo and wrestling records presented itself, which will participate in the Paris Olympics with the aim of finding a place in history. In a crowded Aula Magna of the “Giulio Onesti” Olympic Training Center of Acqua Acetosa in Rome, the fifteen champions of Fijlkam were presented, thirteen judokas and two wrestlers who will soon fly to France. A team that has already signed more than one record: for judo it is the highest number of athletes ever qualified for the Olympics, while for wrestling the presence of a woman at the Games after twenty years since the last time.
THE TARGET
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“I am very proud of you – began the president of Coni Giovanni Malagò -. Fijlkam has done an exceptional job as demonstrated by the high number of qualifiers. From this team I expect the right contribution to help the Italia Team to surpass the Tokyo record, the goal is at least 41 medals and to remain the first nation in Europe in the rankings. The first part is done, now let’s go and conquer Paris”. The secretary general of Coni, Carlo Mornati, instead recalled the rigorous proportional criterion that all nations must adhere to in setting up the delegations “and I assure you that Italy has accredited the maximum number of people possible to put our athletes in the best conditions. Now all that remains is to leave the federation dimension to feel like we are all one team: the Italia team”. “On our journey – added Fijlkam president Domenico Falcone – we must be guided by the words of Jigoro Kano: ‘All together to progress’ and ‘Better use of energy’, two principles that you have interpreted well. We have obtained an important qualification, now it is time to reap the results”.
THE OLYMPICS OF COURAGE
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Frank Chamizo and Odette Giuffrida then spoke on behalf of the Azzurri. The Italian-Cuban, who snatched qualification thanks to the reallocation of quotas after the disqualification of some Russian and Belarusian athletes, entertained those present with a back-and-forth with Malagò who explicitly asked him to win: “I only have a month to prepare, but apart from that we are fired up. Some say I will stop, but they are wrong”. A storm of emotions, on the other hand, the speech of Odette who for the occasion prepared a motivational speech for herself and the team: “Paris, the Olympics of courage, I like to call it that. Because these 3 years have not been easy: I had to learn to stop waging war on myself. Few people know that two years ago I almost decided to retire, I couldn’t stop comparing myself to the Odette of before, to that girl without too much physical pain and without any fear. And it was in that moment that I accepted the most beautiful challenge of all: I learned to accept myself and in acceptance I found immense courage. Now I want to bring the Odette of today, just as I am, with my pain, my fears, my fragility, with my courage, with my desire to break everything, despite everything, to the top of Olympus. I believe in it. A little while ago I became world champion and now I want to become Olympic champion. I don’t know what will happen in Paris, but one thing is certain: I will give my all, until my last breath to put the icing on the cake and take this much-desired, dreamed of and worked for gold. And I am sure that each of my teammates will do the same. It is a team that has a heart and two enormous balls and we are ready to demonstrate it. For ourselves, for our families, for all of you and for Italy”.
THE BLUES IN PARIS
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Judo: Assunta Scutto – 48 kg, Odette Giuffrida – 52 kg, Veronica Toniolo – 57 kg, Savita Russo – 63 kg, Kim Polling – 70 kg, Alice Bellandi -78 kg, Asya Tavano – +78 kg, Andrea Carlino – 60 kg, Matteo Piras – 66 kg, Manuel Lombardo – 73 kg, Antonio Esposito – 81 kg, Christian Parlati – 90 kg, Gennaro Pirelli – 100 kg. Wrestling: Frank Chamizo – 74 kg and Aurora Russo – 57 kg.
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2024-07-04 17:09:34
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