Italy gears up for Rio 2016

The Italian Olympic Team 2016

 ROME -- As Italy’s Olympians prepare to set off for Rio 2016, there is a hope that the team will be able to build on the successes of recent years and rise up the medal table after an eighth place showing at London 2012. The finalised Italian selection has just been confirmed and will feature 291 athletes, up from the 285 who took part four years ago.

 As ever, one of the country’s premier hopes for silverware comes in the form of their cyclists. Fabio Aru and Vincenzo Nibali are currently racing in the Tour de France and will line up as part of a five-man squad in Rio. Nibali is considered as one of the top road riders in the world and this year prioritised his home Giro d’Italia, duly winning the general classification for the second time in his career. The Astana man is using Le Tour to build up his fitness for what will be a tough road race in Rio, while Aru is looking to use a strong showing in France as a foundation for a medal run in Brazil.

 "It's never easy to make a choice of this kind,” said the Italian coach Davide Cassani when announcing his squad. “Five places are not enough; above all because there are so many athletes who have been excluded and deserved to go. It's a strong team that will try to achieve the best results, although it will not be easy, given the challenging characteristics of the course. I chose athletes able to give their all right from the beginning. I'm confident."

 Following widespread success in recent years, Italian tennis is another sport targeting silverware in Rio. Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci will represent the women’s team, with Vinci currently ranked eighth in the world. Both women have previously reached Grand Slam finals, with Errani reaching the centerpiece of the 2012 French Open and Vinci taking part in the all-Italian final of the US Open last year.

 Flavia Pennetta, the winner of the final in the 2015 US Open, has chosen not to compete in Brazil after retiring at the end of last season, but with such quality to choose from, it is unlikely that this will affect the team’s chance of success.  Both Vinci and Errani have been involved in winning Fed Cup campaigns in 2009, 2010 and 2013 and as a result know how to succeed under the pressure of a nation.

 While the big hitters in men’s tennis including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all underlined their commitment to Rio 2016, the same cannot be said for golf, which is making its first appearance in the Games for over a century. The highest ranked Italian, Francesco Molinari, has joined a growing list of names to drop out of the tournament, which includes the top ranked golfer Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

 Molinari, who chose to miss Rio due to “family reasons,” will be replaced in the Games by Matteo Manassero, a golfer who has enjoyed a summer resurgence after a couple of seasons in the lower reaches of the world rankings. Nino Bertasio will also compete in the men’s competition. On the women’s side of the draw, perhaps the greatest medal hope is Giulia Sergas, who is an experienced team player having competed in the 2013 Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup.

 Unlike certain nations such as the United States, Italy has never been seen as a powerhouse in the field of Athletics. However, a number of Italians have strong prospects for medals at Rio 2016. First and foremost, high jumper Alessia Trost is a 2.00m jumper on her day and despite a disappointing sixth place finish in the recent European Championships, will represent a solid hope in Rio. Trost will be joined by teammate Desiree Rossit who cleared 1.97 to win the Italian Championships in June.

 There are also outside shouts of silverware in both the men’s and women’s marathon races. The former world silver medalist Valeria Straneo has proved that even in the twilight of her career, she can produce impressive performances, finishing seventh at London 2012. The men’s team will be lead by Davide Meucci, who is the current European Champion.

 The Italian team has been a stalwart of the Olympics since the beginning and has finished inside the top 10 on the medals table in every edition of the Games since Barcelona 1992. At London 2012 the country’s athletes won a total of 28 medals with eight golds, however this time around the Italian Olympic Committee are aiming for double figures in first place finishes. The Italian record medal haul remains the last home games, held in Rome in 1960, where the team garnered a total of 36 medals and 12 golds.

 In a move to bring the Olympics home for the first time in 64 years, the Eternal City remains one of the bid cities for the 2024 Olympics aside Paris and Los Angeles. A presentation of the Roma 2024 Olympic Games bid was held on June 30 at the Olympic Stadium of Rome, along with the Commonwealth Club of Rome as the upcoming Commonwealth Games was also presented.

 Those in favour of the hosting of the Games in Rome in 2024, view the bid as a way to channel a vast amount of resources into the capital via private and public funds, in a relatively speedy period of time. However, there are also many speculators who argue that the historic debt of around 12 billion euros coupled with the current financial situation, results in a failure to support even the most necessary services within the city and therefore the hosting of an Olympic Games would be a step too far in an economic sense.

 In a potentially detrimental blow to the 2024 bid, the new Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi has been openly opposed to the bid since she began her campaign. Prior to the municipal elections, which were held in June in Rome, the President of the National Olympic Committee in Italy, Giovanni Malago, stated, “the Olympic Games would go ahead in Rome even with Virginia Raggi as Mayor.” It is thought that Matteo Renzi is a strong advocate of the Italian bid and will meet with Raggi after the summer break to discuss options for the bid. For her part, Raggi has stated that she will decide whether to support the bid in October.

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