FITARCO celebrated the Italian protagonists at the CONI Hall of Honor: the archers who conquered a podium at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, all the athletes who owned the Yumenoshima Park Achery Field and the technical staff who allowed the Italian arch to experience a truly fantastic summer that brought a total of 5 podiums as a dowry. In the presence of CONI President Giovanni Malagò, CIP President Luca Pancalli, CONI Secretary General Carlo Mornati and General Director of Sport and Health Diego Nepi Molineri, the bronze of Lucilla Boari, the first female medal in the history of shooting with the Italian bow at the Games, the silver medal of Mauro Nespoli who, after four Olympic participations, obtained the first individual podium following the team silver in Beijing 2008 and the team gold in London 2012. Italy in Tokyo is reached 9 medals won: after Giancarlo Ferrari’s individual bronze in Montreal ’76 and Moscow ’80, after team bronze in Atlanta ’96 with Bisiani, Frangilli and Parenti, team silver in Sydney 2000 with Di Buò , Bisiani and Frangilli, Marco Galiazzo’s individual gold in Athens 2004, team silver in Beijing 2008 with Di Buò, Galiazzo and Nespoli, team gold in London 2012 with Frangilli, Galiazzo and Nespoli, in Rio 2016 came a 4th place of the women’s team made up of Sartori, Mandia and Lucilla Boari. With the two victories achieved in Tokyo 2020, for the first time, 2 podiums arrived in the same edition. As for the Paralympics, Italy has signed the tenth consecutive edition with at least one medal won, reaching 31 podiums in 13 editions. To receive the award after winning three medals in Japan were: Maria Andrea Virgilio bronze in the open compound, Vincenza Petrilli silver in the open recurvo and the mixed team duo composed of Elisabetta Mijno and Stefano Travisani in the open recurvo.
Of these four archers, three were rookies; Virgilio, Petrilli and Travisani, while for Mijno this is the third laurel, after the individual silver in London 2012 and the mixed team bronze in Rio 2016. Subsequently, the Technical Coordinator of the Olympic National Team Sante Spigarelli and the Commissioner were called before the authorities Paralympic National Coach Guglielmo Fuchsova.
After them the top athletes in Tokyo 2020: Tatiana Andreoli and Chiara Rebagli for the Olympics, Asia Pellizzari, Eleonora Sarti, Giampaolo Cancelli and Matteo Bonacina for the Paralympics. Then the technicians Natalia Valeeva, Matteo Bisiani and Amedeo Tonelli, the para-archery coaches Antonio Tosco, Stefano Mazzi and the physiotherapist Chiara Barbi and all the other members of the technical staff: as regards the National Olympic team, Giorgio Botto, assistant to the Technical Coordinator, the psychologist Manolo Cattari, the physiotherapist Andrea Rossi, the athletic trainer Jacopo Cimmarrusti and as regards the staff of the Paralympic National team Luigi Zanon, the athletic trainer and Claudio Schiraldi, the federal doctor. The award ceremony ended with thanks to the Military Sports Groups who allowed many archers of the National team to be able to devote themselves full time to their competitive growth reaching international peaks: Fiamme Oro, Aeronautica Militare, Fiamme Azzurre and Marina Militare.
THE DECLARATIONS
Giovanni Malagò President Scarzella has cultivated this seed very well, which has rewarded the long path of his leadership with the results of Tokyo. I am pleased to note that Fitarco is the Federation that makes fewer differences between able-bodied and Paralympic. And the athletes who are here bear witness to this.
Luca Pancalli I thank President Scarzella who has also been a member of the CIP board for years and also Oscar De Pellegrin, great medal producers. We suffered with Mario at the stadium, in the rain, but in the end we were rewarded with great results. I thank Fitarco because it has always been committed and has always respected the commitments made. Carlo Mornati Tokyo was a fantastic experience of community. You have been very good. I remember it was one of the hottest days when I was at the archery stadium. But it was worth it. Often we are focused on the teams but the individual medals have a great weight and it is not easy in this sport where they are just a few millimeters and to decide for victory or defeat. All the more so on this occasion where two individual medals arrived. Soon there is Paris: as an Olympic Preparation we are ready to support you.
Diego Nepi Molineris To become champions in archery you need extraordinary method and quality. You have to get to that 10 and every time you succeed you have put your heart, sacrifice and soul into it. In my office there is a target with an arrow in 10. Maybe we don’t get there at 10 but we get closer and every day we commit ourselves to give something more to do better and give more.
Maria Andrea Virgilio When asked if he has finally decided to tell who he dedicates his bronze to, he replies: “Not yet, I keep the dedication secret. Let’s talk about it in Paris”.
Enza Petrilli I didn’t even think about the medal, I only left to participate. Then, when I saw things go the right way, I insisted until the end. Elisabetta Mijno After the elimination in the individual in the play-off I had to recover and in the mixed we were very close to reaching gold. In Rio I had won bronze in the mixed team and now there are only 3 years left in Paris. They are not as long as the 5 years expected to go to Japan. Stefano Travisani Tokyo, however, was a dream that fortunately became reality. For Paris the dream has passed: now I play with reality and together with Elisabetta it would be nice to climb another step.
Lucilla Boari Thanks to everyone and seeing all the medals in Tokyo was exciting. One of the best moments was the opening ceremony: from the outside it looked sad and bare, but trust me, we sang the anthem in there and it was one of the most emotional moments of my life. Mauro Nespoli The individual medal has a different flavor. I had a bad start but I managed to fix the situation up to fight for the podium. Appetite comes with eating: Paris is near, I have to work hard because as an athlete I don’t have many years to go. The goal is to reach the maximum: an individual medal, one in the mixed team and one with the men’s team.
