Gennaro Pirelli wins the European Open in Rome. After the Paris Olympics, where he was the only one to put the French giant Teddy Riner in difficulty, he returned to fighting at heavyweight and won the gold medal at the expense of the Ukrainian Yevheniy Balyevskyy (30 kg and 18 centimeters tall). extra height). An extraordinary race for the Neapolitan who normally competes in the -100Kg category. Pirelli has shown that weight and height in judo can be non-determining factors when fighting with competitive technique and cunning.
Pirelli: “At Los Angeles 2028 I want to make the history of Olympic judo”
It doesn’t end here, because the next goal is to make history and qualify for Los Angeles 2028 in two weight categories. At the end of the race the Italian declared: “I am very satisfied with my performance in this category, certainly in Paris after the meeting with Riner I became aware of my qualities and that there are no limits to what I can demonstrate in this discipline. The thing that excites me the most is seeing the expression of my opponents when I get on the tatami and they see me much smaller than them. Then at the end of the meetings their expressions are even more astonished. I spoke at length with my coach Enrico Parlati and we are seriously thinking of embarking on this adventure, competing in two different categories, -100 kg and heavyweight. My goal after the Tokyo Grand Slam in December is to qualify in Los Angeles in both categories and thus enter the history of Olympic judo.”
Six victories for Italy
In addition to Pirelli, the Italian national judo team conquered the PalaPellicone in Ostia, ranking very high in the medal table with six first places, three second and thirteen third places. Italy had never won twenty-two medals in an Open before and those who put them around their necks were both expert athletes, such as Pirelli and Irene Pedrotti in the 70 kg, and younger and already successful athletes such as Leonardo Valeriani in the 73 kg, Kenny Komi Bedel in the 90 kg, Henry Owusu Asare Owusu in the 100 kg, Ilaria Finestrone in the 52 kg.
The overall number of Italian athletes who competed in the final block was also a record, 39. It is true that as the host nation, Italy was able to field the greatest number of athletes compared to the other teams, 86, but the advantage was exploited at its best. Second place goes to Germany with two firsts, three second and one third place. Ukraine closes the medal podium.
