Manuel Lombardo, judoka, from Turin, is among the leading names of Italian athletes at the Mediterranean Games in Algeria

A large Turinese representation dresses in blue for the Mediterranean Games.
Among the 370 athletes selected by the Coni for the review to be held from 25 June to 6 July there are as many as 29 Piedmontese, including 17 from the province of Turin.
The name of Manuel Lombardo stands out, judoka who 4 years ago began his climb to the international top with his victory at the 2018 Tarragona Games, adding last year a European title and a world silver.
Only the Olympic gem was missing, but Pierangelo Toniolo’s pupil seeks redemption in Algeria. «I arrive at this review as reigning champion in the 66 kg, while now I would like to repeat myself in the 73 – says the twenty-three year old who grew up in Akiyama Settimo and registered for the Army -. In 2018 I was still a junior and it was my first important gold medal, so it would be nice to start the journey in the new category with the same medal ». Matteo Piras (Akiyama Settimo) and Francesca Giorda (Fiamme Gialle) also engaged on the mat.
In the long list of athletics there are, instead, the veteran of the hammer throw Marco Lingua (16 absolute titles and 2 Olympic participations), the returning Marco Fassinotti (4 tricolor golds in the high jump), the middle distance runners Dario De Caro and Pietro Arese (both in 1500), and Martina Merlo (3000 hedges). Then two archers, the fresh European team champion Alessandro Paoli and Tatiana Andreoli (fresh from the Tokyo Olympics), the fencer Riccardo Nuccio, the young cyclist Eleonora Gasparrini, born in 2002 just like the swimmer Luca Bruno, the wrestler Ciro Russo, Veronica Bruonori (karate), the Juventus player Lorenzo Dellavalle (football) and Serena Traversa (bowls). She is from Cuneo, but she moved from 2019 under the Mole to run and study Anna Arnaudo. «I will do the dry final of the 3000 hedges, I can’t wait – says the 21 year old of Battaglio Cus Torino -. Then, as soon as I get back from Oran, on July 8, the last exam of the three-year course in computer engineering awaits me. I have to thank the professor of Applied Electronics for moving it, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to graduate next month ». – © breaking latest news