The athlete of the Paddle College featured in Banja Luka Rebecca Barbieri twice on the podium in Auronzo di Cadore
PAVIA
The Pavese canoe does not miss the appointment with the podium, in the international commitments of descent and speed. In Banja Luka, in Bosnia, for the World Cup downhill race, the first post-pandemic planetary event, Tommaso Mapelli of the Paddle College of Pavia wore a beautiful bronze medal around his neck in the sprint race reserved for C1. Mapelli finished his test in 59.70 seconds, recording the third time behind the Czech Vladimir Slanina, gold medal (58.33 seconds) and the French Quentin Dazeur, silver in 58.94 seconds. In the same race, Giacomo Bianchetti – also an athlete of the Paddle College – stopped in tenth place. Mapelli and Bianchetti then joined forces in the C2 race ending the World Cup stage with an eighth and a tenth place.
The other races
In the other races the Cus athletes Francesco Ciotoli and Andrea Bernardi did well: in the three days of commitments, Ciotoli took home an excellent fifth place while Bernardi had to settle for eighth position in the K1 sprint race. Also interesting in perspective is the ninth square of Giacomo Abbiati (College of the paddle) always in the sprint race.
While the downhill skiers were busy in Bosnia, the classic international speed canoe race was staged in Auronzo di Cadore. Now in its fortieth edition, the spectacular setting of Lake Santa Caterina has hosted about 600 athletes from 9 countries. To report the debut in the blue jersey of the very young Rebecca Barbieri (Cus Pavia) who thus crowned a year that has always seen her protagonist.
Rebecca Barbieri, gold and bronze
In the long trip in the shadow of the three peaks of Lavaredo, Barbieri won a gold in the women’s K2 Junior race and a bronze in the K4 race, thus honoring the first race for the national team in the best possible way. Engaged instead with the Cus jersey, Elena Ricchiero and Mathilde Rosa also stood out, third in the K2 1000 meters race. Both then returned to the podium over a distance of 500 meters: Ricchiero dominated the K2 race together with Meshua Marigo, re-proposing the team recently protagonist of the Under 23 European Championship, finished in eighth position, within the national borders; Rosa finished second in mixed K2 together with Davide Marzani, then protagonist in K4 together with teammates Giacomo Combi, Roberto Soldi and Federico Vignati, who in one of the most demanding races of the program grabbed a beautiful bronze medal. Among the juniors, Jonathan Allen and Jacopo Sorzini also got on the third step of the podium over the long distance of 1000 meters. At the Canottieri Ticino home, however, the medal, again among the juniors, of Matteo Bazzano and Pietro Verda in K2 500 meters should be noted. If the sprinters will return to the competition only at the end of the month for the Italian company championships, the downhill skiers will already be busy next weekend for the U23 national team selections in view of the world championships. –