Basketball, deaf national team – Sport

by Giorgio Grassi

A shiny silver medal hung around her neck for Chiara Chiosi from Sangiovannese, who is part of the deaf blue basketball team, won at the Deaflympics 2021 (they had been postponed due to the pandemic) in Brazil, in the Caxias do Sul area. In the final the Italians were beaten by the reigning American champions, a very strong team, with the final score of 91-77. But the blue of coach Sara Biada gave up only in the fourth and last period, after having always been in the game, point by point. We recall that the Italian national team is the reigning European champion in deaf basketball, a gold medal won in Pescara in October 2021. The blue, unfortunately, failed to repeat the gold even in the silent Olympics. So after a great tournament they surrendered to the golden holders of the Olympics, the deaf American basketball players of the USA. The blues have the recognition and honor of having tried, and having obtained a silver medal that does honor to them and to all Italian sport. Great resonance, for this special sport, also in Valdarno for Chiara, where over a thousand young people attend basketball.

Chiosi grew up basketball in Synergy and Polisportiva Galli. Out of the commitments of the national team, she trains and plays in Montevarchi’s Fides. On Monday evening, she will return home, and on Tuesday she will resume her work as a computer technician in the “Skynet” firm of Montevarchi. After the final match, Chiara, who scored 15 points, told us: “We didn’t win gold, silver is fine too, which qualifies our sport in the world. I was happy with my teammates. We have tried to win against the deaf Americans, but in the end they were stronger “. And on the next commitments she announces: “We will participate in the world championships on the Greek island of Crete in 2023 and in 2025 we will go to the Tokyo Olympics. Now I rest until the summer, in the autumn we will resume training with the national team”. Italy, Kenya, Greece, Brazil, Poland, USA, Lithuania and Turkey participated in these Olympics. Italy lost only with the deaf basketball players of the USA.