Silver medal for <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/09/world-judo-in-riccione-stage-of-the-olympic-qualification-tour-with-champion-saied-mollai/” title=”World judo in Riccione, stage of the Olympic qualification tour with champion Saied Mollai”>Sofia Longo from Riccione on the weekend of her 15th birthday. The judoka gave herself two silver medals at Gran Prix Lucania of Policorocompeting among both the under 18s and the under 21s in the new weight category up to 44 kg.
On Saturday 2 November, among the u18s, she faced three matches and was defeated only by the ranking record holder, the Neapolitan Miriam Tempesta. On Sunday 3 November she played three more matches among the u21s, and, after overcoming the first two by ippon (the judo knockout), she faced Miriam Tempesta again, taking her to over 1.30 of extra time. “Celebrating my birthday with two silvers like this it gratifies me a lot – comments Longo -, even if silver is not yet gold”.
POLISPORTIVA RICCIONE – Paralympic athlete wins two gold medals
The other spearhead of the Riccione team, Bruno Badiane, remained at the foot of the podium. His positioning, net of the three matches won before the limit for ippon, was influenced by two narrow defeats against excellent athletes. “I am satisfied with my performance, because I faced opponents against whom, in the past, I had lost – comments Badiane -. Even if I lost, I showed that I was growing”
Satisfaction also on the part of the technical director Maestro Longo: “Sofia did her part excellently. For Bruno we are a little saddened by the lack of the podium, but we are convinced that it has only been postponed. I was also very happy to have shared the journey with the other clubs of the Romagna Tour, from Imola to Riccione, passing through Longiano, Rimini and Forlì”.
