The tenth edition of our awards in the new Palasport in Genoa celebrated the most exciting year. Velasco’s lesson: “In team sports it is essential to help each other”
The 10th edition of the Gazzetta Sports Awards celebrated an unforgettable 2024 for our sport. In the evocative setting of the renovated sports hall in Genoa, a night reserved for the champions of the last twelve months was staged. Champions who exalted the Italians. Jannik Sinner and the other protagonists of tennis, Inter, champions of Italy, Atalanta, queen of the Europa League, many Olympic medals in Paris including Alice D’Amato, the golden girls of the sword, Martinenghi, Battocletti and Furlani, as well as Marcello Lippi, who received the “Leggenda” award, presented by the director of the Gazzetta, Stefano Barigelli: a parade of stars applauded by 2000 present.
Cairo and Sinisa
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Urbano Cairo did the honors, awarding the coach of the year to the coach of the women’s national volleyball team, Julio Velasco. The president of RCS MediaGroup did not hide his satisfaction: “It is a great pride to be here for the tenth edition of our Awards. We have awarded prizes to great champions of the world of sport, champions who have done exceptional things. I think, for example, to Sinner, but also to Atalanta, to the women’s national volleyball team who won a historic gold in Paris and to Raimondi and Gilli, the Paralympic swimmers who won many medals, confirming themselves as the strongest after the triumphs of past”. The gallery of champions who have received the Gazzetta awards in this decade is increasingly rich, even if Cairo had a particular thought for one of them: “I remember Mihajlovic with great affection and nostalgia. We were friends, we saw and heard each other. He coached Torino and he wrote a book with us. He was a great character with whom I had a wonderful relationship.” Applause from the entire stadium. Velasco, interviewed by the host of the evening Pierluigi Pardo, was the first to receive the exclusive ring from the Damiani maison, symbol of the Gazzetta Awards. The coach recounted the five-circle feat: “I shared this award with my players and the staff. It was an extraordinary victory, obtained by losing only one set in the entire tournament. Is the group the key to our success? I would say no. If the group had been united and we had played badly, would we have still won? In my opinion, no. In team sports you must above all play better than others; being friends is important, but helping your teammates is essential.”
The feat of tennis
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In the 2024 Awards, as inevitable, Italian tennis had a great deal of space and received the “Company of the Year” Award. Sinner, “Man of the Year”, sent a video message from Dubai, where he is training. Berrettini and Musetti did the same. Paolini and Errani, gold in doubles at the Olympics, connected by talking about their goal: to start 2025 in a great way in Australia. While from the stage Volandri and Garbin, captains of the men’s and women’s Italian team, winners of the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, recalled their exploits on Spanish soil. “My girls in the national team become super heroes. I have seen them perform exceptional tennis” said the captain proudly, who had Lucia Bronzetti, one of the winning Italian players, next to her. Volandri said: “We are a family and this allowed us to beat everyone. Last year we promised Berrettini that we would triumph again, with him on the pitch, and we kept our word.”
Olympic dream
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Alice D’Amato, thanks to her gold on the beam at the Games, received the “Woman of the Year” Award: she collected it after her performance on the beam (together with Manila Esposito) which opened the evening. However, the women of the sword quartet who gave Italian fencing the Olympic title could not be missing: Alberta Santuccio, Giulia Rizzi, Rossella Fiamingo and Mara Navarria remembered their feat. Thanks to the Games, Nicolò Martinenghi also won a Gazzetta Award, gold in the 100m breaststroke (“Performance of the Year”), Nadia Battocletti, silver in the 10,000m (“Revelation”), Mattia Furlani, bronze in the long run (“Promise”) and the couple Stefano Raimondi and Carlotta Gilli, awarded as best Paralympians. Finally, Pro Recco received the “Genova 2024” Award.
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