phelps

in Curling, maybe...

actually Colombia has some background (and a current champion) in Waterski/Wakeboarding and often is host of world cup stages in that sport

and I thought I had an Egyptian friend on this forum...

an Italian newspaper wrote that she's a former Miss Croatia but I'm not sure they are accurate (actually, I'd be surprised if they are)...

4 years ago scored 4 goals in the 1st half vs 8 years ago scored 5 goals in the first half vs in the (in)famous Mineirazo semifinal basically, it happened more often than many people think

yeah, I know that...sadly... that's why I wrote that Frank's is one of the medals I'd like the most to happen for personal taste, it wasn't a "reasonable" prediction of the most expected medals for Italy...it's more like a dream that I hope it may come true, even if I know it's just a dream...

part 4, up to Today... Vancouver 2010, wonderful Games, great atmosphere, exciting competitions. but very few Italian success. however, the first memory unfortunately is avery sad one, the death of the Georgian luger Kumaritashvili during the training sessions of the men's singles. apart from that, my personal highlights were Giuliano Razzoli saving the face for us, Pittin's first ever Italian medal in Nordic Combined, the first individual medal won by Arianna Fontana in Short Track Speedskating, Sven Kramer missing out "in style" on an already secured gold medal in the men's 10k in Speedskating and the amazing gold medal match in the men's Ice Hockey torunement between and London 2012, finally, the Summer Olympics back to a favourable time zone. the beginning of a new era, with a truly comprehensive coverage of basically any event...a true orgasm for all those fans always abused by the linear tv channels broadcasts not showing anything of most disciplines. fun fact, the first official day of competitions was also my birthday...and what could have been a better present than a clean sweep in women's Foil and the amazing, unexpected gold medal in the men's team Archery? then, Niccolò Campriani and Jessica Rossi in Shooting, Carlo Molfetta in Taekwondo, the very first Open Water Swimming events, some of the best Athletics competitions ever...and unfortnantely also the Boxing scandals, back to the Seoul & Barcelona times. finally, even if at the time it wasn't an argument, have to re-think also to some of those wonderful competitions in Athletics and Weightlifting, which have been later discovered to be a cheat fest. and this is something that really makes my memories of those Olympic Games so bitter. Sochi 2014, doping, doping, doping and again doping. and the shameful 0 gold medals won by Italy. all this, makes those Games something to forget as soon as possible, as I can't enjoy anymore even those few things that at the time were somehow exciting. Rio 2016, for me, the end of an era. the last Olympics I could watch together with my mum (not that she was interested in any sport, but she's always been trolling around to keep my enthusiasm within acceptable measure) the Games themselves were great, with so many exciting events. From Swimming (Paltrinieri's Gold over the men's 1500m Free, the last ride of Michael Phelps, Katinka at her best, the Open Water races in front of the Copacabana Beach) to Beach Volleyball (the stadium on the beach, but also the silver medal won by Nicolai/Lupo), from Judo (Fabio Basile and his surprising gold medal in the men's -66kg) to Cycling (Viviani winning an amazing Omnium event in a direct matchup vs Cavendish on the track above all), from Shooting (the celebration of Niccolò Campriani as the best Rifle specialist ever, the almost clean sweep of the Shotgun events) to wrestling (Frank Chamizo putting Italy back on the map of this sport, but also the Russian Tank, Abdulrashid Sadulaev and the unbelievable protest of the Mongolian coach and his famous striptease on the mat). Everything was amazing, but that veil of sadness connected to my personal situation still hits the deepest part of my heart when I recall those Games' memories. Pyeongchang 2018, as I wrote before, the first Games of a new personal era. no more enthusiasm as before, and moreover a "difficult" timezone, snowsports events penalized by the weather and the venues. it's been difficult to follow those Games. among the few highlights, the 3 great ladies of our Winter sports: Arianna Fontana (Short Track Speedskating), Sofia Goggia (Alpine skiing), Michela Moioli (Snowboardcross). lowest point...maybe the Biathlon's epic fail. Tokyo 2020 (in 2021), well, it's difficult to recall memories for an event that happened just a short time ago. I can say that I still remember well any second of those Games. and the first thing that comes to my mind, unfortunately, it's just the true sadness (and disappointment) watching all those empty seats in those big, wonderful venues (well some weren't that wonderful, but still). for those reasons, it's difficult to find just a few highs and lows among all the competitions, even if I obviously enjoyed some moments more than others. If I only have to choose a couple, however, I'd say that the most heartbeating was the men's Team Pursuit Gold medal (Track Cycling), while the most surprising, obviously, was Marcell Jacobs winning the men's 100m dash in Athletics. Beijing 2022, I still have to make it something for the memories. I haven't processed it fully, yet. and once again, all the empty stands took all the poetry away. among the competitions and the athletes, my highlights were once again Arianna Fontana (Short Track Speedskating) and Sofia Goggia (Alpine Skiing), because of what she did, but also for the regret of what could have been if she didn't injure herself just before the Games. mention of honor also to Francesca Lollobrigida and Davide Ghiotto (Speedskating) and the amazing Curling pair Stefania Constantini & Amos Mosaner, who won (and how they did it!) the most improbable of the Gold medals Italy has ever won at the Olympics. Not to be forgotten, the first Olympic appearance (and medal) of Queen Jutta (Leerdam) in Speedskating

no, the Swiss idiot in charge of FIFA...

Tokyo Grand Slam last Grand Slam tournament of the season, before the closing Masters in a couple of weeks. and, as expected, it was a true Japanese fest, with the hosts leaving the guest Nations only 2 out of 14 Gold medals (a very few silver and bronze medals, too). the 2 "heroes" of the weekend are Jeon Seungbeom in the men's -60kg and Gennaro Pirelli in the men's 100kg (this is the first ever gold medal for an Italian Judo player in a top-tier tournament held in Japan ). in all the remaining weight classes, the home boys and girls didn't make any prisoner and just destroyed the rivals who made the trip (we have to admit that many Countries decided top send only a few athletes to Japan if not skipping the event entirely). here you can find the Results Recap https://www.ijf.org/competition/2315/results

part 3, the 2000's Sydney 2000, the greatest Summer Games ever by far...so many memories... I could write a book on them, but I have to be quite short, so... first of all, the Italian Swimming finally becoming "a thing" on the world stage thanks to guys like Fioravanti and Rosolino (but not only them), then women's Foil (individual and team) and men's team Epee (Fencing), Giuseppe Maddaloni in the men's -73kg (Judo) and Alessandra Sensini (women's Windsurfing). finally, Sefi Idem (women's K1 500m) and Rossi & Bonomi (men's K2 1000m) in Canoeing, to close those glorious Games in a glorious manner. outside the Italian medals, for sure Cathy Freeman (both at the Opening Ceremony and on the Track) was the icon of those Games, followed by the amazing duels in the swimming pool and the unexpected dramatic loss in the last match of an amzing and unbeaten career by Aleksandr Karelin (men's Greco Roman Wrestling, -130kg). Salt Lake City 2002, not so many good vibes...my main memories are still the doping scandals in Cross Country Skiing (Johann Muhlegg and the Russian women). on a good note, Armin Zoeggeler finally winning his first Olympic Gold, Stefania Belmondo winning her second Olympic Gold 10 years after Albertville, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen sweep in Biathlon. Athens 2004, a lot of great memories this time...from the men's Basketball team winning the most unexpected of the silver medals to the most expected Gold medal won by the Waterpolo girls. Yuri Chechi's last show on the Rings and Igor Cassina on the Horizontal Bar (Gymnastics), Marco Galiazzo winning a surprising Gold in Archery, all the Fencing medals and the rise of a star, Federica Pellegrini (silver over the 200m Freestyle as the youngest Italian Olympic medallist ever). but, above all, nothing still makes me cry like the amazing run by Stefano Baldini, winning the men's Marathon Gold in the Panathinaikon Stadium. that was "the" moment of the Games. Torino 2006, my first "home" Olympics... even if there wasn't much to enjoy, because of the poor performance by most of the Italian Winter Sports and because of the usual organizing troubles when Italy hosts a big event. the most emotional moment, however, was the men's 1500m in Speedskating, when Enrico Fabris pulled out a true miracle and won an unbelievable Gold medal. then, Armin Zoeggeler confirming himself as the best Luge specialist and the 2 gold medals in Cross-Country Skiing, the men's Relay and the men's 50km Freestyle in the last morning of the Games. Beijing 2008, Federica Pellegrini and Alex Schwazer...and that's all, folks! just kidding, of course, but the events won by Federica and Alex are surely the 2 that gave me the strongest emotions. just a fraction behind, Giulia Quintavalle (women's -57kg, Judo), Andrea Minguzzi (finally, a Gold Medal in Wrestling, Geco-Roman -84kg) and Roberto Cammarelle (Boxing, men's super-Heavyweights). among the non-Italian related events, I just can't forget the Opening Ceremony and Michael Phelps and his record of gold medals (especially the really controversial one in the 100m Fly against Milorad Cavic). more to come in the next couple of days...I'm coming to nowadays, slowly but steadily...I can do it...I know...

no, unless they change it in due course, there will be 16 groups of 3 teams, the top 2 advancing to the knockout stage (which will start from the round of 32)...

don't forget Jutta Leerdam and Leticia Bufoni

that was my first idea, but then I fell in love with breakdancing and now I can't wait to see the Paris 2024 events (I'm even thinking of trying to get some tickets and come to town to watch the B-girls and B-boys from the front row)...

I have a (wet) dream... quarterfinal match between and Maguire makes a very hard tackle on Mbappè, who gets injured. all the Fench players go mad and a massive hockey-style brawl explodes on the pitch... after a 30-minute VAR review, at least 7 players on each side are ejected and so both teams remain without the minimum required number of footballers, the match is abandoned and both teams are DSQ from the World Cup then, I wake up and are World Champions once again...I get depressed and stop watching any sport for the rest of my life...

un lampo nel buio! un UFO avvistato sui cieli di Tokyo! clamoroso al Metropolitan Gymnasium! scegliete voi la formula che preferite per manifestare lo stupore, la gioia, la commozione per il successo più storico che mai di Gennaro Pirelli nel Grand Slam di Tokyo di Judo. oggi, infatti, il giovane azzurro ha compiuto l'impresa titanica di mettere in fila tutti i maestri giapponesi a casa loro, trionfando nei -100kg, primo italiano (uomo o donna non fa differenza) a trionfare in un torneo del massimo livello internazionale disputato nella Patria del Judo. un successo che sul piano emotivo vale forse più di una medaglia Olimpica, tecnicamente sicuramente più qualificato di una medaglia Olimpica. il tutto, da parte di un ragazzo alla sua terza apparizione internazionale in assoluto nella "nuova" categoria di peso (dopo il già sorprendente ed entusuasmante bronzo di Baku), per la quale tra l'altro sembra persino "undersize", vista la non grande statura (ma la stazza c'è tutta!). successo che oltretutto vale una marea di punti per il ranking di qualificazione olimpica e la qualificazione in extremis al Masters che concluderà la stagione (in programma tra un paio di settimane), il quiale a sua volta vale una caterva di punti per il ranking olimpico. in pratica, un "6" al superenalotto del Judo per il nostro nuovo campioncino. ca**o, quanto mi sale l'hype per Parigi 2024 quando vedo una stella esplodere e brillare nellla volta celeste dello sport azzurro!

tra ieri e oggi, segnali molto contrastanti per gli sport invernali azzurri... di buono, la consistenza di Vittozzi e il lampo di Wierer nel Biathlon donne (da salvare anche Passler e oggi pure Comola), il secondo posto di Pellegrino nella Sprint maschile di Fondo (a conferma che ormai è rimasto l'unico rappresentante degno in questo sport, in cui a questo punto io eviterei proprio di presentare chiunque altro al via delle gare di CdM, Mondiali e Olimpiadi per evitare figuracce vergognose), il secondo posto di Visintin nello Snowboardcross, la buona prestazione di Dominik Fischnaller nello Slittino dietro l'incredibile armata austriaca (mentre prenderei molto con le pinze i risultati del neonato doppio femminile, che, come sempre accade nelle discipline per la prima volta in gioco, sicuramente verrà stravolto di continuo e in tempi brevi). Ovviamente mi prostro in adorazione per Sofia (e salvo una sempre incisiva Curtoni) nello Sci Alpino donne. di negativo, tutto il resto...Biathlon maschile non pervenuto, Snowboard femminile disastroso in contumacia di Michela Moioli (peraltro preoccupano le sue condizioni, con la schiena che ormai scricchiola pericolosamente dopo anni di battaglie), resto dello Slittino che non dà segni di miglioramento. detto del Fondo, meglio non commentare lo Sci Alpino maschile, ormai ridotto ai minimi storici sia in termini quantitativi che qualitativi. che tristezza. alla prossima...

no 6th win in a row for Sofia in Lake Louise, Vonn's record (7) is safe... too many mistakes in the top section for her, today...still, a rocket down the last part of the slope, but not enough even for a podium place. no comment on the Italian men's team...I think we're hitting an all-time low which will be really difficult to come out from.

I know, but I really want Frank to enjoy this last ride...he truly deserves the Olympic Gold for all he's done for our Country and the most likely most underestimated and less followed discipline of this fuckin' place. hope Salkazanov would be happy with a silver or bronze this time...

game over... one of the less interesting days in the entire world cup... back to the NFL...

yeah, but his song was the anthem of the Games, he was still living with Mrs. Caballè singing his words and music (mixed with his voice)...

luckily, Italy has a lot of medal contenders... unfortunately, we don't have many "clear favorite" to win gold... so, once again I'm going with a few events where I'd like the most Italy to win gold, those closer to my heart, at least: - Fencing: all events (and I mean literally all 12 events), but especially men's Team Sabre - Judo: all events (only where we have a shot, of course), but especially Alice Bellandi in the women's -78kg and Manuel Lombardo in the men's -73kg - Wrestling: Frank Chamizo in the men's Freestyle -74kg - Swimming: super-Greg (Paltrinieri) completing the double 1500m Freestyle in the pool + 10km in the Open Water - Cycling: Filippo "Top" Ganna completing the double Road Time Trial + Team Pursuit on the Track (and why not? going for the Triple Crown, adding also the men's Madison -together with Elia Viviani- on the Track) - Athletics: Marcell Jacobs repeating himself in the men's 100m, just to shut those fuckin' mouths from USA and GBR up once and forever

part #2, the Nineties Albertville 1992, the first Games where I became a true addicted to charm of the Olympics once again, Alberto Tomba above anything else, but also the desperate cry of Debora Compagnoni in the women's GS, when she broke her knee just the day after winning gold in the super-G. the improbable men's combined event in alpine skiing, but also the birth of the golden age of the Italian Cross-Country Skiing (skipping school to watch Stefania Belmondo winning gold over the 30km...priceless). Barcelona 1992, one of the most memorable edition of the Olympics with a lot of unforgettable moments. among them, Montserrat Caballè and (the spirit of) Freddy Mercury at the Opening Ceremony, the long night of Giovanna Trillini, when she won the individual gold medal in women's Foil, the golden hour of Pierpaolo Ferrazzi (men's K1 Canoe Slalom -the sport making its Olympic debut) and of the poor Fabio Casartelli (winner of the gold medal in the Cycling men's Road Race). finally, the amazing men's Waterpolo final, when Italy beat Spain, refs, spectators, FINA and the King of Spain against all the odds. Lillehammer 1994, "the" Winter Games. "the" race: men's CC Skiing, the Italian relay outsprinting the entire Norwegina population and causing one of the biggest upsets in the history of that sport, if not of the whole Winter Olympics. but also our wonderful guys of the Short Track, beating the mighty Koreans in the men's relay and the alpine skiing, with the last medal won by "la Bomba" (the unbelievable comeback from 15th to 2nd in he men's Slalom), the golden GS by Debora Compagnoni and the rise of the new star of our alpine skiing, Isolde Kostner, twice bronze medallist in Super-G and Downhill. finally, the best Ice Hockey match ever (outside the NHL), the GMM between Sweden and Canada. Atlanta 1996, lots of memories...my first "night" Games and the fact that I was serving my military service (mandatory in Italy at that time, 12 months of wasted time), from which I don't know yet today how I could find the way to get a full 20 day break to watch the Olympics. and how to forget Muhammad Alì enlighting the Cauldron? or the terrorist attack at the Olympic Village? (luckily a minor thing compared to 1972). among the sport events, I remember almost all the Italian medals and many other great competitions...just to name a few, Paola Pezzo winning gold in the first ever Mountain Bike Olympic race, Roberto Di Donna winning gold in the men's Air Pistol (Shooting) only because of Yifu Wang shooting the last shot at the Moon, the medals raining in Track Cycling and Canoeing, especially Antonio Rossi and Josefa Idem winning the men and women's K1 500m one after another. Nagano 1998, with Italy started their decline in Winter Sports, my best memories are still Hermann Meier literally flying out of the Track in the men's Downhill and then coming back winning the men's Super-G after just 24 hours and Dominik Hasek and his Czech Republic winning in style the gold medal in the very first Olympic tournament played by the NHL players. more to come...

the event hasn't even started, yet... and here we go... a couple of Ukranians (surprise, surprise ) and, above all, the Olympic Silver medallist in the men's -81kg, Zacharia Bonnat, have already been caught with their hands in the marmelade... https://iwf.sport/2022/12/03/the-ita-asserts-apparent-anti-doping-rule-violations-against-4-weightlifters-prior-to-the-iwf-world-championships/ https://iwf.sport/2022/12/03/ita-reports-adverse-analytical-finding/

Winter sports of any kind (Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Nordic Combined, Luge, Alpine Skiing, Snowboard, even Speedskating, if you have a Eurosport/Discovery+ subscription)... not into Winter sports? Football World Cup ( vs starting in a few minutes) or American Football (yesterday's college games rather than the NFL later @ 7 p.m.)... some club Basketball and/or Volleyball rather than Rugby... and from tomorrow, the doping...ops...Weightlifting Worlds, I mean...

to answer your pivotal question... it's really difficult to rank all of those sensational successes Italy has had over the past 120 years or so, especially because I normally enjoy sports that here aren't even a niche that most people ignore the existence of. so, I'm going with a fully personal list since my first Olympic memories... Sarajevo 1984, men's single Luge, Paul Hildgartner's gold medal and the first games of an international Ice Hockey tournament (in particular, Jim Corsi on the italian net stopping the Big Red Machine and the KLM line for more than half a game and all of the amazing Soviet team plays). Los Angeles 1984, the gold medal won by the tiny wrestler Vincenzo Maenza (greco-roman -48kg), the gold medal won by Alberto Cova (men's 10,000m) and the silver medal won by Sara Simeoni (athletics), the first Olympic chapter of the Abbagnale saga in Rowing and the tragic last meters of the Swiss marathon specialist in the very first women's race over that distance at the Games. Calgary 1988, well...I don't have great memories about those Games, also because of the very poor coverage they got on our TV. Except one (actually, 2) unforgettable events: Alberto Tomba's gold medals (men's GS and Slalom, especially this one -the most viewed sport event in the history of the Country outside some football games at the world cup) in Alpine Skiing. Seoul 1988, actually my most intense memories are about a loss, the boxing scandal when Vincenzo Nardiello was declared a loser against the Korean fighter, the same who then made an even bigger scandal by robbing the gold medal against Roy Jones Jr. then, the final day, when the poor Vincenzo Parisi won the gold medal in Boxing, followed a few moments later by the amazing Gelindo Bordin in the men's Marathon. more to come (sorry, but now I have to leave )...