Diving World Championships, bronze Pellacani-Bertocchi and flying to Paris: what a joy

At the World Championships in Fukuoka, Chiara Pellacani and Elena Bertocchi won bronze and in Paris! An Olympic pass from the 3-meter synchro springboard for just six tenths of a point thanks to the best dive, the fifth compared to that of the United States, fourth with Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook at 265.39 compared to 285.99 of the blues. It is the twenty-first Italian medal in history, the first bronze in the specialty after the two silvers of Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallapè silver in 2009 and 2013. The gold goes to the Chinese (fifth) Chang Yan and Chen Yiwen at 341.94, the silver belongs to the English Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen at 296.58. Great emotions starting with the director Oscar Bertone: “They love each other”. Bertocchi was back from twelfth place for zero from the small trampoline.

What a race

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Sixth after the first mandatory dive and ex aequo fifth with Canada after the second. In the double and a half forward piked with a twisting blue convincing with 63 points and a provisional fourth place in a classification enclosed in 10 points. The Azzurri would have deserved more than 67 points in the fourth run which puts them in fourth place 7 points from the third occupied by the USA. In the double and a half pike 62.10 points, this too paid little for an overall 285. 90. The rivals make mistakes, the Canadians Valee and Ware (who was already diving against Cagnotto) are fifth at 284.22 points, the Australians are sixth at 279.60. It’s done. Double satisfaction for Italy, still in pairs after the silver medal in artistic swimming with Linda Cerruti and Lucrezia Ruggiero. The first words of the blues. Elena: “A wonderful medal, totally unexpected like the first gold medal at the 2018 European Championships in Edinburgh, Chiara was 16 years old and immediately became like a younger sister. She now carries me in a positive way compared to individual competitions. This medal and this pass are of great value to us, this medal is worth more”. Chiara: “After the last dive of the Americans I didn’t realize that we would be bronze, now we’ll train more for Paris… I grew up a lot in the USA, it helped me a lot to manage the tension and I’m happy with my choice ”. Then the dedication of both to their respective families who supported them so much.

You get along

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Seventh at the Olympics, at the European Championships gold in Glasgow 2018, silver in Budapest 2021, Rome 2022 and bronze in Krakow 2023, they are now a close-knit couple. Chiara, twenty years old and silver in the mixed with Santoro in Budapest 2021, is coached by Tommaso Marconi and registered for Fiamme Gialle and MR Sport F.lli Marconi. You won 14 consecutive medals between the European Championships in Rome 2022 and those in Krakow 2023. You have been studying psychology and have been training in the USA since 2021. You are the talent par excellence, following in the footsteps of Tania Cagnotto. On Instagram, she has over 16,500 followers. She is passionate about TV series, among her favorites is Prison Break. And she up until a while ago she was scared of flying. Your World Championships in Fukuoka began with an excellent sixth place from the meter, a specialty that you didn’t prepare much in this which is to all intents and purposes the pre-Olympic year. Her partner, Milanese, 28 years old from the Army and Canottieri Milano, boasts a world medal (the bronze from the meter in Budapest 2017) and 11 European ones. A first turning point in her career was the transfer from Milan to Rome. In November she underwent delicate back surgery which served to physically put her back in her place but which had not prevented her from winning gold from the small trampoline in 2022 in Rome. A sports science graduate, she loves listening to music (her favorite singer is Ozuna) and reading crime novels. She has a Chloè dog and has become a Roma supporter.