Grazie Azzurri!

An unforgettable Olympics for Italian sailing: two golds in the same edition for the first time ever

©Elena Giolai/SLAM

Marta Maggetti, Women's Windsurfing Gold Medal

First comes Marta Maggetti, who was in exceptional form: she soared brilliantly into the final on her iQFoil, the new Olympic board making its debut in Marseille, quickly putting her opponents in check. She tacked in the perfect spot, at the perfect moment, taking advantage of a “blackout” by Britain's Emma Wilson, who went too long on the first tack of the second windward leg. After an excruciating 24 years since Alessandra Sensini’s windsurfing gold in Sydney, Marta Maggetti has brought the highest accolade in sport back to Italy, demonstrating an unmatched ability to interpret the new iQfoil medal series format in the best possible way. By reaching the semi-final alone, she was guaranteed a medal, but Marta continued to go above and beyond, remaining calm and collected while executing a masterpiece of a final, winning a well-earned Olympic gold, the first in iQFoil history.

Tita-Banti, Multihull mixed Gold Medal

For Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, our own SLAM ambassadors and already gold medalists in Tokyo on the Nacra 17, the objective was clear: to achieve "the greatest of encores". And so it was. From the very start of Olympics, the golden duo could only be described as otherworldly: up against the most challenging competition on the planet, the pair strung together first place after first place, immediately seizing a considerable lead over their opponents and projecting them into a different league entirely. Halfway through the Olympics, however, as stated by Tita himself, even they proved to be human, achieving two “modest” sixth places, following six partial victories and one second. There was no shortage of disqualifications for early starts, which were later recovered with a 5-2-4 performance that was enough to access the final sprint for gold, with the mathematical guarantee of a medal. It was between gold or silver, depending on the final placing of the top 10. The medal race was sailed in a light wind and the duo managed to remain in control of their most pressing opponents until finally conquering a second gold, with a disarming lead over the rest: 24 points above the second placed Argentines Majadalani-Bosco!

With a finish like that, Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti can return to earth having performed the perfect encore!

OLYMPIC WAVE

These two gold medals have immortalised Marta, Ruggero and Caterina upon the Olympus of sailing. But we must also be thrilled with the results in general of the entire Italian Sailing Federation team, of which SLAM is a proud sponsor, because this edition was indeed a tremendous team success, with Italian athletes racing for medals in almost all classes (disputed in the top 10).

What a team!

All the athletes showcased their ability to react to numerous challenges that become the norm in any Olympic race and even more so in a 5-ring debut. If sport can teach us anything, it’s this: to always know how to get back up, whether in competitions or in life.

Knowing how to react to difficult situations and setbacks sometimes counts more than results or medals. Never losing faith, never giving up. The skiff team Jana Germani and Giorgia Bertuzzi were the first to face this, the victims of a truly bad day that threw them into two seventeenths and a sixteenth. But the two 49er FX sailors never backed down: they picked themselves up and charged into the medal race with focus and cool blood. The same can be said for Nicolò Renna, also making his Olympic windsurfing debut on his new iQFoil board. After a leading start with a second place he broke his boom and was thus unable to compete in two races. After the unfortunate setback, Nicolò did anything but despair, however, and immediately returned to racing achieving a 4-2-5, the comeback of a true champion. Even though he couldn’t win a medal, at 23 years old and at his first Olympic experience, there’s no doubt he showed great character.

Even in the other Ilca 6 and 7, 470 and Kite classes, our Azzurri athletes demonstrated their determination to give it their all in technique, tactics, and heart, such as Chiara Benini Floriani's beautiful victory in the Medal race in the Ilca 6 category, taking 5th place overall at her first Olympics: the best Italian performance in history in the former Laser class.