The dream for Italvolley stops once again just a step away. On a day of disappointments for the Italian team, from Tortu to Simonelli out of the finals, to Dell’Aquila’s defeat in taekwondo, with a partial redemption of bronze in cycling by Ganna and his teammates, even Fefè de Giorgi’s national team surrendered to Andrea Giani’s France. The journey towards the most precious medals ends with a 3-0 defeat: the French will face Poland in the final on Saturday.
Agenzia ANSAParis: shootout loss to Hungary, Settebello eliminated – Italia Team – Ansa.it
Campagna’s team out in the quarter-finals (ANSA)
The Italians still have the ‘consolation match’ on Friday against the United States, along with the curse of gold, despite the passing years and changing players. The palmares, in fact, shows three bronzes and as many silvers so far, starting with the ’96 silver in Atlanta with the Netherlands, when Italy was talking about the “Generation of Phenomena.” Velasco was on the bench, De Giorgi and Giani on the field; the latter two, today, found themselves on opposing sides, as often happened in recent years, with the coach of France being able to get his revenge after the 2023 European Championship semi-final lost in Rome.
Agenzia ANSAParis: Italy bronze in team pursuit. Ganna: ‘Worth more than gold’ – Olympics News 2024 – Ansa.it
Defeated Denmark in the third-place match (ANSA)
Meanwhile, at the South Arena in Paris, buzzing with home fans, Giannelli and his team fall after a magnificent comeback in the quarter-finals against Japan. The aftermath of the 3-2 victory on Monday is being felt: many energies, both physical and mental, were spent to recover a game that in the third set saw the Italian players already on their way back to Italy. Then 4 match points saved, and the rest is history with the Olympics that brought De Giorgi’s team to fight for a spot in the final against France. The atmosphere in the arena is heated, boos and ‘buu’ accompany every serve of the Italians (less effective than usual), while in the third set, with a comfortable lead, the French fans even start singing the national anthem anticipating a party that would start shortly. Yet the start of the game held promise, except for Italy faltering at critical moments of the match. At the beginning of the first set, there is balance until 14-14, then France seizes, and maintains, their lead thanks to Ngapeth’s plays.
Agenzia ANSAParis: Tortu and Desalu out of the 200m final – Olympics News 2024 – Ansa.it
Filippo ‘burns’. Desalu first among the excluded, ’10 years ago no one would have believed it’ (ANSA)
On the other hand, the Italians are imprecise in serving, while Giannelli fails to develop an offensive game that can put Giani’s team in trouble, leading to a 25-20 win for France in the first set. However, there are many regrets in the second set where Italy excels in almost all fundamentals, despite France always being superior in reception. Despite Michieletto and his team reaching 16-13, they fail to manage the set, also due to a general nervousness towards the refereeing of Mr. Denny Cespedes, with the Italian team claiming a lack of uniformity in judgment. France takes the set with 25-21, and the third set is never in question with the scoreline of 25-21 again, sealing the victory on the wings of enthusiasm heightened by the plays of ‘Monsieur Magique’, Ngapeth. Against the United States, Italy will still have the opportunity to end the Olympics with a medal, erasing the Tokyo zero regarding team sports medals. An objective for which Velasco’s women’s team is also competing, as they will face Turkey tomorrow in an Olympic semifinal never played before in their history, with Egonu and teammates trying to reach where their male counterparts could not.
Agenzia ANSADell’Aquila doesn’t make it, no bronze final – Olympics News 2024 – Ansa.it
Tendon injury forces taekwondo gold medalist to withdraw (ANSA)
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