Great expectations for Italy for the race to Paris 2024
The European Senior Judo Championships are starting from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th November in the Arena Sud de France in Montpellier. Around 400 athletes from 46 competing nations will participate in the maximum continental competition, including seventeen Italians.
The European Championships, in addition to assigning the continental titles, are very important for climbing the world ranking valid for Olympic qualification for Paris 2024. Among the blue stars there is also Odette Giuffrida looking for her third Olympics (after the silver in Rio 2016 and the bronze at Tokyo 2024) and thanks to a gold and a silver at the 2020 and 2021 European Championships. He is currently 6th in the 52 kg ranking. Another point of the women’s national team is Assunta Scutto, a 21-year-old emerging star, who already has 2 world bronze medals in the 48 kg category under her belt. in the senior class. But there will also be room for Alice Bellandi (78 kg.) thanks to the excellent results of the last races with a European bronze in 2022 and a world bronze in 2023 to her credit.
In the men’s team, in addition to witnessing the return of Fabio Basile – Olympic gold medalist in Rio 2016 – there will be to cheer for Christian Parlati who will try to improve on his 2021 bronze and for Antonio Esposito with his 2022 bronze.
“It’s a complicated European Championship – comments Francesco Bruyere, coach of the women’s – the very high European level and the great competition to gain points in the Olympic ranking.
For us the objective is twofold: collect points and seek a valuable medal with our Top Players. We come from the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam where we won 3 gold medals and which challenged us physically and mentally; we rested a few days and are ready to go again. We ask the team for further commitment, but they are still in excellent shape, motivated, united and aggressive.”
The blue team:
48kg. Assunta Scutto and Francesca Milani, 52 kg Odette Giuffrida, 57 kg. Veronica Toniolo, 63 kg. Flavia Favorini and Savita Russo, 70 kg. Irene Pedrotti, 78 kg. Alice Bellandi, +78 kg. Asia Tavano – 60 kg. Angelo Pantano and Andrea Carlino, 66 kg. Fabio Basile and Matteo Piras, 73 kg. Giovanni Esposito and Manuel Lombardo, 81 kg. Antonio Esposito, 90 kg. Christian Parlati
All the info on: e
Photo: Odette Giuffrida ORO Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2023 – credit: IJF.org
2023-11-02 19:35:11
#European #Judo #Championships #Lets #sport
