Even the head of state Sergio Mattarellaa great volleyball fan, joins the celebrations for the historian Olympic gold of theWomen’s Italian Volleyballachieved with the final won 3-0 against the United States. “President Mattarella called me and asked me to do the Well done to the entire women’s team that won gold at the Paris 2024 Games and to extend our congratulations to the federation, to president Manfredi, to coach Velasco and to all the staff. He hasn’t lost any matches of the girls and is proud of what they have done,” said the president of the National Olympic Committee, John Malagotaking stock of the Games in a press conference at Casa Italia. Mattarella, he added, “extended his compliments to the entire expedition, the athletes and the other federations for the results achieved and made an appointment with us on September 23rd at 11am for the return of the tricolour to the Quirinale with Olympic and Paralympic athletes”.
Malagò claims the score of forty medals with which the Italian expedition equalled the record result achieved in Tokyo 2020 (here is the medal table): “I told you so. We also succeeded with an evident, analytical precision that characterized the quality of the value of the medals: two more golds, three more silvers and confirmation of the leading role in the world sports scenario. Why was I convinced it would happen? Because we knew very well how many medal possibilities we had and when you have so many, many you lose them on the road even in the most daring ways, but you have the possibility to win them in other sports and this is what happened”, he adds, referring to the very many fourth places where Italy placed (above all those of Benedetta Pilato and Simona Quadarella in swimming and of Stefano Sottile in the high jump).
