The blue champion Gregorio Paltrinieri won the 5 km open water competition of the European swimming championships, held in the sea of Ostia. In second place the other blue Domenico Acerenza, 27 years old from Potenza of the Fiamme Oro.
SuperGreg, 27 years old from Carpi, bearer of the Fiamme Oro, won in a sprint in 52’13 “5, just seven tenths ahead of his compatriot Domenico Acerenza. Bronze went to Frenchman Logan Fontaine (52’20” 8). «It was a good race, during the third lap the sea“ rose ”and it was more difficult but beautiful. Finally the races have arrived and we will do them all, we have a super desire to compete. Now there are good conditions, let’s say decent conditions to face the sea », Paltrinieri told Rai Sport microphones. “We had fun, we did what we wanted to do”, commented Acerenza instead.
Paltrinieri’s is Italy’s sixth continental title in the 5 km. Since the 1995 Vienna edition, Luca Baldini in Helsinki in 2000 and Berlin in 2002, Fabio Venturini in Madrid in 2004, Luca Ferretti in Budapest in 2010 and Paltrinieri last year in the Hungarian capital have won gold in this race. The silverware rises to three while the bronzes are a total of eight.
Bronze for Gabbrielleschi
Giulia Gabbrielleschi wins the bronze medal in the 5km open water at the European swimming championships in Rome, held today in the sea in front of the beach of Ostia. The blue closes behind the Dutch Sharon Van Rouwendaal, gold, and the Spanish Maria De Valdes Alvarez, silver. For the Italy of swimming, the bronze of the 26 year old from Pistoia is the 60th medal in these European Championships.
Gabbrielleschi is the swimmer who, in April and May 2020, during the lockdown caused by the first wave of Covid, trained by swimming in a mountable pool tied to elastic cables, in the garden of her home, in Pistoia. The videos of these particular workouts of her went viral, and she explained, with a bitter smile, that “I’ve always wanted to have a swimming pool at home, but it took Covid-19 and quarantine to convince my mom to let me buy it” .