Artistic gymnastics, World Championships: from Bartolini to super Maggio, Azzurri in flight already thinking of Paris 2024

First, forget about Kitakyushu. Or maybe keep the best of it, the awareness that a world gold like that of Nicola Bartolini can give you to the free body, realizing however that that was a particular story and, above all, a past one. Forget Kitakyushu with his four blue podiums and jump on Liverpool, the World Cup edition finally “normalized” after the calendar revolutions imposed by Covid, and above all fundamental towards Paris 2024. If the last Japanese World Cup had been debased by the Olympics just experienced a couple of months earlier, which had led to the forfeit of many protagonists and emptied others of energy, in the edition that opens today in Great Britain with the first part of the women’s qualifiers (Italy on the platform tomorrow) there are all, with the exception of Russians and Belarusians. And, above all, three male and three female team places will be up for grabs for the next Games.

Patches

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Italy arrives in Liverpool with patches. Of the four medalists of 2021, the only one present is Nicola Bartolini; Asia D’Amato, then vaulting silver, is recovering from the injury to her right foot she suffered in the same year at the European Championships in August, where she won gold in the all-around; as for Marco Lodadio and Salvatore Maresca, in Japan silver and bronze in the rings, they are in the pits for their respective injuries to the left brachial biceps and ankle. Considering the long-term absences of Vanessa Ferrari and Niccolò Mozzato, the best Italian generalist who in April broke the posterior cruciate ligaments and tibial plates of both knees – he still has some for 5-6 months -, you can understand how Liverpool for Italy is a construction edition. And how, in view of Paris 2024, it is more logical to think of team qualification for the 2023 World Cup, where 9 places will be up for grabs by genre, rather than immediately aiming for the three passes.

Men

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The two blue technical managers know what to ask of this World Cup. “If I had had to build a team to hunt for the performance of individualists, I probably would have made other choices – says Giuseppe Cocciaro, men’s dt -. The most important thing will not be the finals for equipment, but the team one. Qualify now. for the Games it is at the limit of the impossible, I believe that Japan and China will play gold and silver, for the bronze I see Great Britain and the United States, then there is the big group with Brazil, Spain, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Turkey, then our group, with France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary. In short, there will be 18-19 very strong teams. We aim for the final at 8, it will not be easy, but even at the European Championships nobody gave us silver. We confirmed that block, we come from a week of positive tests in Milan. I dissolved the reserve on the fifth athlete, who will be Carlo Macchini, while Mario Macchiati will be reserve. I preferred Macchini to Marco Sarrugerio because he brings a good horse and a bar super, where it is easier to go wrong. In the single tools, the points will be three: Bartolini is world champion in the free body, we aim to see him in the final even if there will be many strong opponents; Macchini at the bar and Levantesi at the parallels, also competitive for the final “.

Donne

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Enrico Casella must also make wine with the grapes he has. To the absence of the European champion all around D’Amato, was added that of Angela Andreoli (ankle), European bronze in the free body; in addition there is the doubt about Giorgia Villa struggling with back discomfort, which is why Elisa Iorio has also been called, who has not competed for some time but will be able to cover the beam and parallel bars. “Aiming for the podium is complicated – says the coach -. However, we want to enter the final at 8, so as not to have to go through the European Championships to qualify for the 2023 World Cup and maintain our status. Before the pandemic we were bronze at the World Championships, fourth at the Games, European gold in the summer. We have athletes who can have their say, we must be strong even if we are not at the top. There is no strategy but attack, I never play defense. Martina Maggio can aim for bronze in the ‘all around, if it is perfect, and can also hit the beam and free body finals; Alice D’Amato has good potential at the asymmetrical parallels, but in the qualifications she must not be wrong; rookies Veronica Mandriota and Manila Esposito will have to think above all about hold the tension “.