The Azzurri della Canoa – other sports

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Italian Canoe Federation, Luciano Bonfiglio, the President of CONI Giovanni Malagò, the President of CIP Luca Pancalli and the Secretary General of CONI Carlo Mornati, as well as the blue athletes and technicians who will do so. He left for Japan.

The team will consist of 11 athletes who will make up the twelve competing teams: in Paracanoa, Esteban Gabriel Farias, Federico Mancarilla, Eleonora de Paulis and Veronica Silvia Piglia; In the slalom boat Giovanni Di Gennaro, Stephanie Horn and Marta Bertoncelli; In the speedboat Manfredi Rizza, Samuel Borgo, Luca Piccaro, Francesca Ginzo. In Tokyo the first street
The starting gate will be the Slalom Specialists July 25-30 at the Kasai Kanoi Slalom Center, the speed drops in the water from August 2-5, while Paracano will compete on September 2-4, both at the Sea Forest Waterway.

The national speedboat has earned four Olympic cards: Manfredi Rizza (Aeronautica Militare) will compete in the K1 200 and is the only speed blues to have actually competed in the Olympics, winning sixth place in the 2016 Rio Final. On the other hand, Samuele Burgo and Luca Beccaro (Fiamme Gialle) debuts in K2 1000. Qualifier on the boat
The doubling would allow one of the Azzurri to also compete in the K1 1000. Francesca Genzo (Fiame Azzurri), also in her first five-circuit trial, got the pass at the K1 200 last May and in Tokyo she will also compete in the K1 500. The flat-water blue team will be Under the orders of artistic director Orest Berry.

The slalom runners led by coach Daniele Molimenti earned three out of the four passes available: Giovanni Di Gennaro (Carabinieri) made it to the Olympic record with the K1 European Vice Champion title and a World Cup silver medal, the first Olympic in Rio de Janeiro finished in seventh place . feminine
Italy will be represented by moving waters Stephanie Horn (Navy), who finished seventh in Brazil in K1 and rookie Marta Bertoncelli (Carabinieri) who conquered the first historic qualification in C1 for women, a discipline that will make its debut on the Olympic program in Japan.

Head coach Stefano Porco will be able to count on four athletes for what will be Parakanoa’s second date at the Games. In fact, the discipline first appeared in the program of the Paralympic Games from Rio 2016 and since then Italy has always asserted itself on top of the discipline. Leading the group is Esteban Farias (Rowing Club Leonida Bisolati), the two-time world champion and European champion, who made his Olympic debut in the Kuala Lumpur 200m race. In the women’s KL1 tournament, our record holder will be Eleonora de Paulis (Circolo Canottieri Aniene) who already competed in the 2016 Paralympics in rowing. Federico Mancarella (Canoa Club Bologna) also returned to the Games, the 2019 World Silver Champion, who finished fifth in the KL2200 final in Rio, Veronica Piglia (CUS Torino) will make her debut in the VL2 200m discipline.

“We are finally facing the Olympic and Paralympic Games which was a really difficult approach,” said Luciano Bonfiglio, President of the Italian Canoeing Federation. “The context in which the qualifications took place has put pressure on the entire sporting world. That is why we are more proud of our athletes. Some of the boats
I stayed home for a few hundred seconds but we are satisfied and proud of our team in terms of number and quality. I would like to thank our technical directors who were able to cope with great difficulties, supported by the extraordinary work of the Federal Secretariat. We worked closely with the Olympic setup of CONI and CIP who have always supported us by showing great interest in all issues. As a federation, we have invested in our athletes, our clubs and our federal training centres, facing an unprecedented situation with professionalism and commitment. The main actors in this great show which is sports are athletes and technicians, we have tried to create the perfect conditions to prepare for the most important date. aware of all
Difficulties We are convinced that we can have our say: We will go to Tokyo to be champions in all three disciplines.”

Oreste Berry, coach of Italy’s Canoe Speed: “The road was not easy, we started in 2018, qualified in 2019 and then a terrible year that led us to compete in the Olympics in 2021. The absence of competitions and the closure was not an easy thing to overcome. It was felt. The lack of competitions and it affected the performance of all the athletes, tampering with the standards and the certainty that we worked on. We arrive in Tokyo with good prospects, and even if the team is not great in terms of numbers, it is great on a technical level. We will continue to train to the end with conviction, optimism and courage, Not forgetting that we are a very small team with very important growth margins. We have the qualities to be able to do well and be champions, we must believe in them and work with consistency and intelligence.” Daniele Mollmenti, coach of the Italian national canoe slalom team: “A year of delay to these Olympics has benefited us. We have been able to continue the positive growth curve that not only leads us to Tokyo, convinced that we deserve it, but also with tangible end goals. Nominal passes have been confirmed by The same athletes who qualified for the boat again in 2019, and in those two seasons not only maintained their leadership in the
Italy, but it has also responded very well to the international events it has faced so far.

The Tokyo Approach is a custom-built route by customizing water and dry workouts, diets and times of day according to the characteristics and needs of each athlete. Despite the difficult situation described by Covid, we have found serenity and awareness, and the athletes are fine and know what to do. Now the main task will be to understand each wave in the Tokyo track and maintain a great condition for the time being for all our athletes.”

Stefano Porco, coach of the Italian Paracanoe team: “It has been a long and very difficult journey because another year is making a difference for the Parathello athlete. The pandemic has called into question many of the athletes’ certainties, but we all arrived ready, well prepared and focused for this appointment. We are also satisfied from the point of view of numerical about qualifying four boats, one more from Rio. I expect high level performances to hit the podium, and we know this is within our reach because we have always shown it on the international stage. We are absolutely second to none and we are going to Japan to get the most out of it, and we want an outcome that we think we are We deserve it after so many sacrifices.”

The history of the boat
The canoe made its debut on the Olympus of Five Circuits at the 1924 Paris Olympics as a demonstration system for the sprint specialty, that is, with built-in competitions on flat water. 1936 is the year of the first official Olympic Games, in which Italy participated with only one athlete. The program consisted only of men’s events until 1948, when women’s sprints (exceptionally for kayaking) were also introduced. After the first trial at the 1972 Games, the slalom boat was introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and then confirmed in subsequent editions. Italy in the Olympic medal table takes 11th place, behind New Zealand, with 16 medals: 6 gold, 6 silver and 4
Bronze.
Stefania Kappa